I hadn't planned on going to Europe this year, but I really needed a break!
Armed with a Eurailpass valid in Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia, I set off on this quick, three-week trip...

The route: Vienna - Bratislava - Ljubljana - Zagreb - Graz - Augsburg - Mariaberg - Munich - Vienna
(Click on map to show enlarged)

Saturday June 16: Depart Canberra/Sydney

Departed Canberra 12.00 pm. Some three hours to wait at Sydney airport. Brother Phillip and his wife Elaine came to the airport to see me off, which was nice. Flight left for Vienna at 16.20.

Sunday June 17: Vienna

Landed 5.45 am and took airport bus to the city. I had booked into Hotel Amarante, a few U-Bahn stops south of the city centre, but it was too early to check in. I dumped my bags at the hotel and took the U-Bahn to the centre.

By 9.15, I accidentally found myself listening to the Vienna Boys Choir singing a Schubert mass! Strolling through the grounds of the Hofburg (Imperial Palace), I had encountered a spruiker (in the form of a quite amiable middle-aged lady) selling tickets for admission to the Hofburg's Royal Chapel, where the choir sings a mass every Sunday. It happened to be Sunday, and I happened to be passing just as they were about to start! The spruiker had added a few euros to the cost of the ticket that others were lining up for, but what the heck? How often do you get to hear the Wiener Sängerknaben on their home ground? I bought the ticket, despite the fact there was no direct view of the choir: once inside, many of us sat in alcoves built into the side walls of the very tall chapel, while the choir (accompanied by a chamber orchestra, no less) were in the rear gallery. If I leaned right out of the alcove, I could see a little bit of the orchestra and one or two of the singers. But, in any case, the sound was terrific, and there was a video relay inside the alcove. Afterwards, as if that wasn't enough, I walked back to Stephansdom (St Stephan's Cathedral), where I heard the last half of another mass setting! This one composed by Ignaz Pleyel, a lesser-known contemporary of Mozart and Haydn. I'm not sure who the choir was, but they too were accompanied by a chamber orchestra.

View to the choir gallery of the Royal Chapel VIEW ENLARGED

Finally, I was able to go back to the hotel and check in, gratefully peel of the clothes I had been wearing since leaving Canberra 36 hours ago, shower a lot, and sleep a little. I set the alarm to wake me after 3 hours, forcing myself to adjust to local time (otherwise I'd have woken up at midnight!).

6pm: Definitely did not want to wake up, but two coffees at a nearby cafe helped. Went walking. Ended up on the "beach" of the Donaukanal (Danube channel). They've dumped sand and set up parasols, sun chairs and "beach bars" in a spot next the the river, close to the city centre! I was starting to feel human again, and after two beers at a beach bar, quite mellow! Any more, I decided, could be dangerous. So I headed back to the hotel for a proper night's sleep.

Monday June 18 : Bratislava (Slovakia) and Vienna

Woke up feeling much refreshed, and decided to do a day-trip to Bratislava, only an hour or so away from Vienna by train. In fact, if you by a 24-hour ticket for unlimited travel on the Bahn or Bus, which I had done, this can take you right to the Slovak border by rail. You only need to buy a ticket for the remaining short distance into Bratislava.

Low point of the day: I discovered my video camera had stopped working, for no apparent reason. Blank screen. Damn!!! The result is that the images on this page (except for those of Graz, which were taken by my sister after she joined me there) are stolen from tourism literature and web sites. I'm sure they won't mind.

Bratislava castle   VIEW ENLARGED

The first thing I did in Bratislava was to climb up to the castle. It was closed, but there's a great view from up there. Next, a look around the cathedral, near the foot of the castle hill, whose earliest construction dates from 1221. This has an unusual feature: a section of the floor is glassed, looking down into an opened section of the burial chambers below, where a couple of exposed human skeletons are on full view. Composer-wise, Bratislava was the birthplace of Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a pupil of Mozart. (If you haven't heard of him, don't panic! He's the sort of composer whose music you might hear occasionally on classical radio stations and think, "Oh, that's nice"). Bratislava has his birth-house as a museum. On this day it was closed. I subsequently discovered that in many of these cities, museums tend to be open from Tuesday to Sunday, and this was no exception. Never mind, I contented myself with walking every remaining street in the typically charming Altstadt ('old town')

Returned to Vienna along the Danube! There is a regular service by high-speed cat (called "Twin City Liner"), which takes just a little over an hour and costs about 25 euros. But definitely worth doing in one direction for the experience. Great scenery, and bar on board! (Wish I'd had the Video camera.)

Twin City Liner VIEW ENLARGED

Vienna's big wheel   VIEW ENLARGED

Back in Vienna, the night was still young. From where the boat docked, I took the U-Bahn a few stops north to Prater, the fairground park famed for its Riesenrad (giant ferris wheel), built in 1879. This was the first time I'd been here, and I took a ride on the wheel. It moves quite slowly, and is a little like London's Millenium Wheel, although nowhere near as huge, of course. Good fun. (Wish I'd had the Video camera.)

Tuesday June 19 : Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Awoke quite late and checked out of the Vienna hotel at 11 am. Took train to Ljubljana via Villach and Bled.

Lonely Planet suggests travel by bus in these emerging east European countries is more efficient than by train. I soon found this to be the case. The 'InterCity' I changed onto at Villach to take me into Slovenia consisted of a couple of 2nd class wagons only, and didn't reach Ljubljana until 8 pm! I wanted to be back in Graz, Austria, by Thursday, so any hopes I may have had of getting as far south as the Croatian towns of Split or Dubrovnik would have to wait for another trip! Anyway, the scenery by train was magnificent, especially the alpine ranges between Villach and Bled. And Ljubljana turned out to be possibly the most picturesque of the four cities I visited in these first four days, with quaint, colourful old buildings clustered around the river at the foot of the inevitable castle-on-the-hill centrepiece. Interesting hotel situation here. Most of the hotels anywhere near the city centre are new four or five star places, built as the country has liberated itself from its socialist past, in order to cater for business users and conferences. On the night I arrived, just about everything was booked out, due to several conferences in town. But I was finally able to get the very last room in the imaginatively-named 'City Hotel'.

Ljubljana on the river VIEW ENLARGED

Wednesday June 20 : Ljubljana - Zagreb (Croatia)

I might have stayed another night in Ljubljana, but the hotel room was unavailable. So, after a late breakfast and checkout, I decided to leave my bags in the care of the hotel while seeing the sights of the old town, and then carry on to Zagreb (Croatia) in the afternoon.

Ljubljana castle VIEW ENLARGED

Here's how to "do" a town in two hours!... 11.45 : climb up to the castle 12.00 : explore open areas of castle, admire views etc. 12.15 : walk back down to the town 12.30 - 13.15 : Walk through the streets of the old town, viewing such notable buildings as the Philharmonic and the Town Hall (Yes, I covered every street - it's not that big an area!) 13.15 : Collect bags from hotel, head to station. 13.30 : Beer in station cafe 14.08 : Train to Zagreb

The train was crowded, but there was a not-so-crowded restaurant car. So I remained there for the 2.5-hour trip and had another beer. Yes, alright, maybe two. It was a very hot day, and I'd done a lot of walking. The ticket collector came through, checked my ticket, then drank a beer himself before moving on to the next car!

Arriving in Zagreb, it seemed that, as in Llubljana, there were not many 3-or-less-star hotels near the city centre. However, I found a reasonable room at the imaginatively-named 'Hotel Central', right opposite the station, exactly as recommended by Lonely Planet. After checking in, I took a stroll to the old part of town, about a 20-minute walk away. While Zagreb is quite a big city, the old section (the medieval Upper Town) is relatively small. But there are some interesting things to see. Most unusual is the eastern gate, or Stone Gate. A fire in 1731 is said to have destroyed most of the large wooden gate, leaving intact only a painting of the Virgin and Child by an unknown artist, which can still be seen. People now come to pray here and treat it as a shrine, believing it to have magic powers. My route back to the hotel took me through some wide streets not open to traffic, where open air cafes stretch down the middle of the streets. A big band happened to be playing some pretty good swing music at the top of one of these streets. Earlier I had also passed a youth choir singing on a podium in the middle of a park. I think Zagreb was having some sort of outdoor music week. It all made for a nice atmosphere.

Zagreb (the arrow's pointing at my hotel) VIEW ENLARGED

Thursday June 21 : Zagreb to Graz

I had planned on leaving Zagreb in the morning at 9.44, but the train didn't appear at the platform indicated. When it disappeared off the departure list, I asked at the information desk and they said it had gone. I have a feeling it left from another platform. Next train in the direction of Graz would be 13.15. So, another stroll through the town, this time at a more leisurely pace. Finally, the afternoon train did appear and took me with it.

In my first four days I had visited Vienna (Austria), Bratislava (Slovakia), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Zagreb (Croatia). Graz would be my 5th city in as many days, but there I would remain for the next week...