Austria

After almost 4 months, ten countries, and thousands of kilometers, we are home again. Just in time for the start of the summer holidays.

It actually did not feel that long. When you are stuck in the hamster wheel and working, time flies by. But when you are traveling for months, learning to sail, getting to know people and countries, and ending up in a new place every few days, it feels a lot longer. It seems to us that the sailing courses in Croatia were ages ago already. We experienced so many things and took in so many impressions. I hope we have not already forgotten everything we learned about sailing in the meantime.

Our last stops on the way home are Vienna, Salzburg, and Garmisch. We spend a whole week in Vienna right away. I do not have that much to say about Vienna, to be honest it feels a bit too showy for me. There are also really a lot of tourists wandering around in huge groups like zombies. On top of that, we get a sugar overdose in the coffee houses, which really are world class. Getting snapped at is just part of good manners here. We even go to see Beethoven’s Fidelio at the opera, and it was so exhausting that we had to leave halfway through.

Unfortunately, Salzburg is completely overcrowded, pure packed-to-the-brim stress. Since this year, tourists are no longer allowed to drive into the city center by car, Park and Ride is now mandatory. Salzburg’s old town is tiny, and crowds of people squeeze through the narrow streets. It is still impressive, though: for example, you can find the oldest restaurant in Europe here, in operation for over 1200 years.

You can also find the Fürst confectionery in Salzburg, which claims to have invented the Mozartkugeln. But it quickly turns out that almost every confectionery claims the invention for itself. Of course, we are Team Fürst.

In Garmisch, we visit one of Alex’s fellow students who lives here. It is definitely high season now, total traffic chaos, overtourism at its finest. But the natural beauty is breathtaking.

*This blog post has been automatically translated by a Large Language Model.