It’s been a busy week and with no wifi anywhere will have to cram it all into one post in about 10 mins before wifi is lost again. I left you on route to Vienna last Thursday. It was a quick journey to our campsite about 5 miles outside Vienna and we set ourselves up and spent a very chilled afternoon reading up in guide books and napping off Bratislava. The following day we were up and on our bikes cycling along the Danube into the centre of Vienna in the pouring rain. As has been the custom since we left Croatia the weather switches from bright sun and blue sky to rain and thunderstorms at any moment.

Vienna was lovely, although it was extremely busy and one of the larger cities we have visited. We had some big plans for museums etc but at £20 a go we couldn’t afford to go in to most. In stead we opted for anywhere that was free (one cathedral) and spent the remaining 5 hours wandering the streets and soaking up the architecture centering ourselves around the Hofburg. We found a film festival with street food stalls which resulted in two enormous plates of noodles – sounds strange but this was a real treat for us after so much European food! And we discovered a 1950’s pavilion cafe which was in the middle of a park making it feel very quiet and special. We enjoyed our day there but I don’t know why but even though the historic buildings were beautiful and the atmosphere buzzing I didn’t really feel blown away by Vienna. I think the extreme cost of everything didn’t help and think perhaps I preferred the look of the parks and river spots we passed on route to the city.

So the next morning we were up and on the road towards Salzburg – around 200 miles away. We had ideas for camping a night on the way but as the weather was cool and the camper running so well we kept going. After a full day of driving and pit stops we arrived at Camping Panorama which was set on a hill overlooking the city. No sooner had we parked up than the heavens opened and the thunder and lightning began it’s 2 hour performance. We spent the evening watching films by candlelight avoiding the downpour after a wonderful meal cooked by our camping hosts.

We awoke to beautiful sunshine and hopped back on the bikes for the 4 mile ride travelling along a stream filled with huge fish that lead onto the river and towards the city centre. It was a wonderful way to enter the city for the first time as all of the city centres around the river and the bridges between. There was a market along the river so we parked up the bikes and walked the remaining distance. We got a coffee in a inspiring 1920’s style cafe and made our plan for the day. By this stage I was already completely won over with Salzburg. As Mozart’s home town Dave was very keen to see his birthplace etc. we found this pretty easily but we were met with a £22 entrance fee for us- which with the danger of it just being ‘here is a room where Mozart used to sleep in a bed that may have looked a bit like this’ we decided not to cough up. we instead, again, opted to walk the city and make our own discoveries. We were sad to learn that we had just missed a Mozart concert in the festival hall – we had spent the morning wondering why everyone was so dressed up – we must get better at planning ahead! Salzburg is a beautiful city with very carefull consideration to preserving the look – even the modern part of town maintained the style of the old – and the baroque style is subtly present everywhere. If we were not on such a big trip we would have got stuck in more with the huge array of restaurants, tourists sites, boat trips etc – and seeing as I can imagine the city looks even better in the winter we may have to plan a return trip in a few years time.

The following day, after another thunderstorm, we left the wonderful hospitality of Camping Panorama and headed south in the direction of Slovina. After a day reaching hights of up to 1350 metres and passing through 5 tunnels of around 5miles long we made it to Villach – the very south of Austria. What incredible views we had had along the way (and no we didn’t break into ‘The hills are alive…..!) and we were lucky enough to have picked a campsite right on the shore of a huge lake meaning our final night was set to a stunning back drop.

We awoke on Tuesday morning and made the final short distance over the border into Slovenia…..