..you're only lost if you know where you're going..
Posts tagged beautiful
Beautiful Porsches and Parks in Stuttgart
0For me, our trip to Stuttgart was about three things; killing some time between our stay in Amsterdam and arrival in Domat/Ems (Switzerland), breaking up the potentially long journey between the two cities, and the Porsche Museum. However, from the moment we walked out of the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof I had a feeling the short stay we had planned was going to turn into something more than I had intended.
Our trip to the Porsche Museum did not disappoint. While I was only going because Jase wanted to visit, I did enjoy the day. The museum was really well done. Aesthetically, the building itself and overall design and layout of the displays looked amazing. Of course the cars were also nice to look at, but I really appreciated the blend of technical information and history behind the company and the people. It was very inspiring to read the story of Ferdinand Porsche and his son Ferry, how both of them had dreams that they were going to see through to the end. Their determination and passion came through in all the work Porsche has done.
The two great surprises of Stuttgart for me were the shopping mall and the parks. For some reason I envisaged Stuttgart to be a small town, nothing really to do other than go visit one building with lots of Porsches inside or another with a lot of Mercedes. I was happily proven wrong when we spent the day walking around a huge shopping district and then sat in the adjacent park on luscious green grass, soaking up the rays of sunshine that filtered through the clouds. After our visit to the Porsche Museum we once again spent some time in the outdoors, exploring a fantastic park that included an amazing playground – one which would certainly have been pulled down or at least made ‘more safe’ if in Australia.
I guess it is always the way, but it has taken me these two months to really find myself as a traveller. In the beginning I struggled with what we were doing and the concept of what the typical Aussie backpacker is ‘meant’ to do while travelling. While this trip has always been about seeing the sites for me, it has also confirmed the type of people Jase and I are. So regardless of whether or not it is the ‘thing to do’, we have been most happy on this trip spending time in the great outdoors – even if that is just a small park to the side of the city.
As we leave Stuttgart and enter the final month of our European trip I am happy with what has been and what is to come. Visiting family and friends and spending a bit more time off the beaten track will truly be a special, and a more ‘us’, way of ending our trip.
Snowboarding at Tarvisio, Italy
2699 days
A picture is said to speak a thousand words, so here’s my 6000 word post on Snowboarding at Tarvisio in Italy.
I all seriousness though, Tarvisio is a great place. Although others insisted on paying for the snowboard hire and lift pass for us, I don’t believe it was too expensive for the day. I do know that for 4 hours on the slopes it will set you back 24EUR.
It was just over an hours drive from where we are staying in Zompitta, (Udine) and very close to Austria and Slovenia. It’s surreal for us to be an hour away from the snow, and an hour away from the coastline. Let alone at the corner of three countries!
If you’re looking for a place to go skiing or snowboarding, definitely check out Tarvisio. There were very few people around which made it a lot easier for us to keep learning in confidence – Jess and I are really starting to link our turns well!
Vienna
3We arrived in Vienna around 2pm after catching a train from Prague. As always when arriving in a new city, our first task was to check-in and drop our backpacks off at the hostel. A quick read of the U-Bahn (metro) map and we dumped all of our loose Euro coins into a ticket machine. The U-Bahn was quick, clean and efficient, and before long we were at Volkstheater station – the closest to our hostel. We exited the station, looked around for street names to find out bearings, and found our hostel about 10 minutes away by foot.
Our hostel was excellent. It was basically a large two bedroom apartment that has been converted into a hostel/share house. We met many people, including a girl from Adelaide of all places, and an American boy who is currently living in Rome and has offered to give us a tour when we visit in a week.
I think I often make my decision on a city within the first day or so of arriving. On the first afternoon after we sorted out our accommodation, we walked past the Volkstheater, Naturhistorisches Museum, Parliament, Wiener Eistraum, and then through some of the streets nearby. It was sunny, and we were both extremely happy. I was in love with Jess and Vienna.
From there we passed through the Volksgarten, which without the support of the Summer months, was perfect. Many plants or areas were covered (presumably to stop the damage of frosts) or fenced off for maintenance, but the walk was still exactly what we needed. Time together, whilst relaxing outdoors.
We continued on to the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Nowadays it has been split up into different government run facilities, such as museums and libraries. Some are aimed at tourists, while others are for the locals. Following the directions of others at our hostel, we walked past the Spanish Riding School to see some Roman Ruins at Michaelerplatz.
By this time it was around 5:30pm and the locals were outside everywhere enjoying the sun. We returned to our hostel via the Burgarten, where there were teenagers playing soccer, families sitting on the grass and so on. It was really nice to see people just having fun.
We realised early in our visit that Vienna has it’s fair share of money. After visiting Poland, the cars in this city amazed me. I think the average family sedan in Vienna is an AMG or a Maserati. Literally in the first half hour of walking through the city I spotted two 4-door Porsches
We spent the next few days looking at the buildings and walking through the parks and shopping malls. As far as history goes, as in just about every city we have visited now, there is plenty. Palaces, churches and gardens are extravagant and really very impressive.
On our last day I was feeling a little under the weather. Travel takes it’s toll if you don’t relax, not to mention the cold taking it’s toll on two Australians. I had suggested to Jess that we visit a place called Donauinsel – Danube Island. She seemed a little reluctant but I managed to convince her. There was a U-Bahn station right on top of the island, so we caught the metro from Volksgarten. Donauinsel is a man-made island for all of the right reasons – it is part of Vienna’s flood protection system, however it is known to most as a recreational island, where locals can walk, ride, canoe, rollerblade, and even bathe at a man made beach. We walked down the Donauinsel and talked, just like we do at home.
Ultimately, I really enjoyed myself in Vienna. Albeit expensive and probably not the best location for a backpacker trying to travel on the cheap, we will be back.
Interlude
4Today we are on the OBB EC 531 train from Wien Meidling (Vienna) to Villach Hbf, which is in Southern Austria.
Before I begin though, I don’t want to detract from what we have done on this trip. The entire thing has been a great experience to date and we have learned a lot about history, geography, and most importantly eachother, and “us” as a couple. With the exception of Langkawi and Singapore (because a lot of time was spent in nature there) we have experienced times that have been boring, disappointing and in some ways depressing.
For sure, I sound like some 25 year old from Australia that has every opportunity in the world and still complains. It’s not like that.. You see, Jess and I aren’t really city people. I mean, we love our home town of Adelaide, but realistically we don’t spend every night sitting in a restaurant, or out on a terrace having a drink. When the weekend rolls around we head for the hills or go for a walk down Linear Park.
Stockholm was fun. Warsaw was exciting because of our friends. Prague was cheap and beautiful. Vienna is amazing and probably my favourite city so far (and one of us will blog about this soon), but as I sit on this train and stare out the window I am finally really excited about where we are at.
As we roll on the beautiful little villages pass by. Forests are everywhere, broken up by green grassy fields. As we climb the mountains, snow begins to litter the forests. We pass through a lot of short tunnels so the mountains must be steep, and every so often we will cross a river on a very picturesque bridge.
Usually a short distance from a village will be a small industrial area, however they aren’t ugly like those next to most railways. Yards are small and tidy. It is interesting, not repulsive.
As we rise higher into the mountains there is the occasional chairlift in the distance – if you look closely you can see people skiing down the slopes. The clouds amongst the snow capped mountain peaks make me imagine just how fresh the air must be out there.
We are on our way to Udine in Italy. By the time I post this we will be there. We alight the train in Villach and catch an Intercitybus from there. Here we will stay with Jess’ family, something we are both really looking forward to.
Like I have said, we are learning. We have realised that even though we are overseas, we still have the same interests. For example, while the museums here are obviously well setup and have a lot to offer, we never go to them in Australia, so why would we be completely amazed about one on the other side of the world?
This may read negatively, it isn’t intended. With just over a month of travelling behind us we have made some really important observations that will help us to enjoy all of our future travels.
From Udine we will explore Italy a little, then fly from Rome to Brussels. It will be a short stay in Brussels (it was the cheapest way to Amsterdam from Rome) and take a bus for a week or so in Amsterdam where we will see one of our favourite bands, Phoenix, in concert.
From here we aren’t 100% sure on how things will go. We will either head to Geneva in Switzerland or Stuttgart in Germany, and then make our way to see more family in a town called Domat/Ems, just outside of Chur in Switzerland. If we head to Geneva first we will probably visit Stuttgart after Domat/Ems, and vice versa. I’m hoping to visit the Porsche museum in Stuttgart but we’ll see how we go. If it’s too hard we won’t bother. Jess is all for it though – just another reason why I married her.
Regardless of what happens after Amsterdam, I think this will be a part of the trip that we will really love. We will get a chance to see some more countryside and some smaller towns – it will be a nice break from the major cities.
I am a little sick, but feel a lot better now than I did two days ago. We have been eating well and avoiding alcohol which has helped a lot. Hopefully in a day or so I’ll be 100% again.
Anyway enough typing for today. Time to stare out the window some more.
Love in Langkawi: Tanjung Sanctuary
8It is day three of the official “honeymoon leg” of our trip and Jase and I are completely and constantly blown away by all that Langkawi and Tanjung Sanctuary have to offer.
As the complimentary airport transfer van took us to our resort I was feeling the mixed emotions that I’m sure many tourist feel, seeing the impoverished conditions of some of the locals and feeling as those holidaying westerners are exploiting these people and their beautiful island home. However, on the flip side I feel that it is the tourism that is providing their main source of income. Irrespective of my concerns, I have absolutely loved every minute of our stay here.
Tanjung Sanctuary is an amazing resort. I know that while Jase was researching where to stay he had several, simple criteria that we wanted our accommodation to meet. It wasn’t much, just things like complimentary breakfast and airport transfers, private bungalows and a private beach, in a great environment – and all for a reasonable price. Tanjung Sanctuary certainly fulfills all of that.
The staff have made us feel very welcome and we are definitely getting special treatment. Upon arrival we were told we had been upgraded to a beach view room as it was our honeymoon, and when we arrived at our room after dinner at the restaurant we found a bouquet of roses and a candlelit bathroom scattered with rose petals and smelling of scented oil awaiting us.
Over the last three days we have enjoyed relaxing in our beautiful room or on our balcony, using the gym, laying on the beach lounges and swimming in the clear and calm waters of the private beach. Most recently, we have been kayaking around the coastline – which I really enjoyed. The view from our room is simply breathtaking. Even now as I sit on our bed my eyes cast through the lush greenery of the rainforest trees to the crystal blue waters of the beach, all the while listening to the calming sounds of the waves gently crashing on the shore.
The food has been delicious, with a wide variety to choose from – both from room service and at the restaurant, and I loved the cocktails we sipped on last night while watching the sun set. The prices have been quite reasonable in our opinion (after all, we are at a resort) with meals typically between 30-60MYR.
Quite simply, we are loving it here.
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