Posted by Martin Orr on
Monday, 31 July 2006 at 18:59
There's not much to see in Villach itself - it's just a small town in the Alps - but the point of coming there was to take a break from city sightseeing. I went for a walk yesterday to the Dreilandereck, the point where Austria, Italy and Slovenia meet at an altitude of 1510m. There's a notice pointing out that it's not just the meeting point of three countries but of the three main European language groups - Romance (derived from Latin), Germanic and Slavonic.
It was a little hard to get started as the first couple of roads I tried were closed due to a landslide. But once I got past that and got on to the right road it was fairly straightforward walking - just follow the road up and up and up. The weather was nice too: The sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot, especially as you were mostly in the shade of the woods except when you crossed the areas cleared for ski pistes.
Now in: Venice
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Martin
Tags
austria, holiday, slovenia, walking
Posted by Martin Orr on
Saturday, 29 July 2006 at 17:01
It was much cooler in Salzburg, and even rained. I'm not sure if this was because of the altitude or just because the weather has changed. The mountain scenery around is stunning and there is a steep hill behind the city, on top of which is an impressive castle. It was built by the prince-archbishops of Salzburg - a slightly odd combination but they seem to have been politically clever. Down in the city is the Mirabell Garden and Palace which Archbishop Wolf Dietrich built for his mistress.
Salzburg's most famous citizen was Mozart; you can visit two houses that he lived in, although I didn't. There are posters advertising concerts everywhere, many of them of his music - especially as this year is the 250th anniversary of his birth and this is the time of the annual Salzburg festival. There are a couple of opera houses, three or four big concert halls and numerous chamber music venues. I avoided anything that might be expensive or require a dress code I'm not carrying in my rucksack, and went to a performance of the Requiem in the cathedral.
Now in: Villach
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Martin
Tags
austria, holiday, music