Austria

At the end of July my mother and I went to Austria for a week. We had previously been five years ago and stayed on a lake, so we stuck to what we knew and did the same again but this time at Fuschlsee, a crystal blue aqua coloured dream near to the city of Salzburg. 

Fuschlsee (first three images) • My long lost tan • Selfie? • The cable cars that take you to the top of the Zwolferhorn • Me twatting out on top of a mountain • Paragliders preparing for lift off • Salzburg • The motherland: Mozart's House • I repeat, the tan • Pretty lamplights in the town

Being fresh (or rather the complete opposite) off the plane from Zakynthos, I was a little taken aback by the tranquillity of the area. Nonetheless, it didn't take long for me to appreciate the scenery. The lake has a trail all the way around its perimeter so the picturesque view is never far. Every so often we would come across a little alcoved 'beach' that that the locals had already found. And let me tell you, Austrians love a good lake when the sun shines. Situated just on the outskirts of the Alps, I was also able to take in the view from a higher vantage point on top of a mountain; specifically the Zwolferhorn that overlooks Wolfgangsee (a lake named after Mozart). There are five lakes all within close proximity so a short bus ride will take you from one to the other in no time. However, this journey can be easily complicated with the addition of two Brits trying to speak German with no knowledge of the language whatsoever: enter me and my mum. Like the well cultured people that we are, we used good ol' Google Translate to ask for our tickets. We were practically locals. Now, learning phrases is all well and good until the bus driver turns to you and asks "Kind oder ein Erwachsener?". Yeah, I had no idea either.

Measuring 1522m high, we took a cable car to the top of the Zwolfer, after successfully making it on the bus. It slowly ascended out of the trees and you could see the lake open up in front of you. At the top, there are various trails that we walked along to get a view from all directions. The most fascinating thing in my opinion was the paragliders. The sunny, docile conditions were perfect so it was hardly surprising the amount of daredevils that were taking off from the top. I have to say, aside from the perennial fear of falling to your death, it did look pretty peaceful to be swirling around up there.

We also visited Salzburg. The city's architecture displays such a majestic history, it reminded me a lot of the Piazza dei Signori in Verona. I was really excited to see Mozart's birthplace; it's very location in the city has inspired a burgeoning music student population. Whilst the history of the city was fascinating, there was something else that had captured my mind: GIANT CHOCOLATE PRETZELS. There was a bustling food market that sold all sorts of wonders. Every so often you'd walk past someone with brown chocolate smears over their face and you just knew what they had been up to.

All in all it was a lovely trip. On our final post-food bonanza stroll in Fuschl, we were treated to a youth orchestra from England playing in one of the squares. It reminded me of when I used to play, even though I never went on tour. Furthermore, we were lucky to only have two days when the weather turned stormy. I remember one early evening sitting on a lounger by the lake reading and slowly the grey clouds rolled in. You could see everyone preparing by putting on their clothes one by one. As soon as the first drop of rain hit, everyone darted. It was pretty comical actually. When it wasn't raining, however, the sunset over the water was unreal.