Let no one sleep...

Luciano Pavarotti died today.

I will never forget him singing Nessun dorma, from Puccini's Turandot. I don't know how it happens, but I hardly can refrain my tears every time I feel that tremendous energy from all'alba vincerò (at dawn I shall win).

Exploring Austria (v)

We spent the last days of our vacation in Munich. I know Munich is not really in Austria, but I could not resist the thrive for completeness and I called this post "Exploring Austria (v)" to set an end to my (hopefully not boring!) vacation series.

One of the biggest clashes that we experienced as we moved to Salzburg was the contrast between life in a (quite) big city like Barcelona and life in a (quite) small city like Salzburg. I think this might have been as hard as the different language or the different mentality.

We miss the big city. We miss its constant beat, its life, its breath. Even after three years, we still have not got used to not being able to watch any interesting movie for a month, because there is really no interesting movie going on for a month (!!). We miss the perfect anonymity that only a big city can provide. We miss the wonderful mixture of people that you'll only find in a big city. I even miss that feeling when you get into a bus and you know that, even after a one hour ride, you'll still be in the city.



I guess that's why we go so often to the big cities around. Munich is the one closest to us, and it is always worth another visit. Maybe because of the strange attraction that I have about some of the darkest passages in its recent history. Surely because of the Viktualienmarkt, where the most incredible products may be found, where the hobby photographer gets really crazy and from where you actually can feel the heart of the city.



Maybe because the Englischer Garten always invites to take off your shoes and feel the grass on your bare feet. Surely because of the irresistible combination of a couple of Münchner Weißwürstel with sweet mustard and a Weißbier. Maybe because you can find the most incredible restaurants in Schwabing (our latest discovery was Ignaz, a vegetarian so good that we had to have dinner there two days in a row!).



We really enjoyed our stay and it was a perfect finale for a great vacation. Most of all, because Munich is, above all, gemütlich!

Exploring Austria (iv)

Our next visit was Burg Hohenwerfen, where we were again astonished by the spectacular flight demonstration of the birds of prey, although the weather conditions on that day were not really good. There was no wind and the poor eagles, and especially the vulture, had it really difficult to take off and to get some altitude.


It is always worth it to see the birds at Hohenwerfen Castle.

On the same day we visited the Eisriesenwelt in Werfen, allegedly the world's biggest ice caves with galleries spanning 42km under the mountain. The guided visit takes one hour and even though some of the caves are as big as cathedrals, sometimes you have to go through really narrow and dark passages, not really friendly if you suffer from claustrophobia. It was a pity that no photos were allowed inside the cave (mainly to avoid broken groups of visitors, and that someone gets lost inside the cave) because some of the ice formations are really incredible. The temperature on the inside keeps constant and slightly over 0°, not depending on the outside temperature, so we had to get ourselves some warm clothes before going in.

On the next day we went to the Großglockner Hochalpenstraße, the highest alpine road in Europe (read more about the Austrian need for numerical precision in a previous post). This road crosses from North to South through one of the most important passes on the Eastern Alps, the Hochtor at an altitude of 2504m, which has been continuously used for a long long time (yes, the Romans were already there, but they were not first). The highest point of the road, the Edelweißspitze (Edelweiss peak), has an altitude of 2571m. I love this road because you go through the different types of flora as you drive higher and higher.


The Swarovski look-out and the Großglockner and Johannisberg in the background.

The road continues to Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, at 2369m, with an insuperable view of the highest peak in Austria, the Großglockner (3798m), and of the largest glacier in the Eastern Alps, the Pasterze, 9km long approximately. It is said that in 1856, as Emperor Franz Joseph ascended up to this point (hence the name), the glacier reached up to there. Today it has lost half of its volume and there is a cable car to go down, which in 1963 arrived at its foot, but now there are still 300 steps downwards to reach it.


The marmots had still not got enough food from tourists and looked at us.

Besides mountain and glacier, marmots and ibexes are the big highlights. Spotting marmots is relatively easy, especially if you arrive early in the morning, before the tourist hordes have fed them massively with apples, bread and cookies, and they retire to their dens to digest everything. The ibexes, also called by their German name, steinbocks, are shy and not willing to be near humans. To see them you need a little good luck, lots of patience and good binoculars. We only spotted one ibex, far far away, under the shadow of a rock.

Our day ended with a visit to the Krimml waterfalls, the highest in Austria with their 380m divided in three sections. A path goes up the waterfalls, and you can look at them and hear them roaring from little balconies each two or three hairpins. In some of them you are likely to miss a raincoat!


The Krimml Waterfalls. In the picture you see the middle and lower sections.

Two days of records, then:
- Eisriesenwelt, biggest ice caves in the world
- Großglockner Hochalpenstraße, highest mountain road in Europe
- Großglockner, highest peak in Austria
- Pasterze, longest glacier in the Eastern Alps
- Krimmler Wasserfälle, highest waterfalls in Austria

The last part of our holidays brought us to Munich in Bavaria...

Exploring Austria (iii)

We left Neusiedler See under a violent rainstorm that made us change our original plan to go through a mountain road to Semmering and Mariazell, and we decided to go directly to Graz.

Even though Graz is a very nice city that deserves an own post, this visit was so "blitzy" that I can't leave any fotos. After enjoying some delicious Ochsenherzenparadeiser (literally, ox heart tomatos; that's how those huge and sweet tomatoes are called) and walking up the Schlossberg, we hit again the road to visit Saint Barbara church in Bärnbach.


Hundertwasserkirche shines magically in the sunset. I love tomato photography because of its roundness.

When the church needed renovation, the town council decided to let Friedensreich Hundertwasser take the project. And looking at the result, I think it was definitely the right decision! A walk around the church leads through a number of colourful gates representing world religions. There is even a gate without any symbol for the atheists! Afterwards we continued our way home to Salzburg, which was our base for the following visits.

We visited Hohensalzburg fortress in Salzburg, enjoying the magnificent views of the surroundings. Legend has it (and tourist guides as well) that this fortress was never taken by any enemy. Given the slope that one has to walk up to reach it, I understand it totally.



On the next day we did our favourite Salzkammergut tour. The landscape in this lake district is smooth, green and perfect, as if you were in a model train. Hallstatt, one of the eight World Heritage Sites in Austria, hangs impossibly between the vertical Dachstein walls and the Hallstätter lake. Besides of giving name to an Iron Age culture, Hallstatt is one of my favourite towns in Austria (with permission from the newly discovered Rust). I love its narrow streets, finding little details behind every corner, walking on its roofs, and the fact that the lake and the mountains make for the perfect background to every angle...


The ossuary at the Catholic church in Hallstatt preserves skulls with their owners' names written down, decorated with little crosses and flowers. Other countries, other fashions... ;)

After an inexcusable visit to Zauner pastry shop in Bad Ischl (the same that served cakes to Empress Sissi), we ended the day taking a walk that skirts the Wolfgangsee not far away from Sankt Gilgen.



The next days brought us to the Großglockner high alpine road, to Krimml waterfalls and, last but not least, Munich...