Villach (22nd June 2014)

The 2nd and blazing hot half of the "weekend of extremes" was here in Villach, in the state of Carinthia (Kärnten). The winner of the 1997 Alpine Town of the Year is some distance west of Klagenfurt, the capital of Kärnten and is officially the 7th largest Austrian city. The river you see running through the city is die Drau (the Drava river). Located near the northeast of Villach is ruins of the Landskron Castle (Burgruine Landskron) which now houses a falconry.

Probably not the best of days to visit a city, but the fact that it was Sunday meant it was quiet and good for exploring or just going for a slow walk. If not for the blazing hot sun, I figured I could have lingered around a little longer. That said, there was a little farewell dinner hosted by Geoffrey in the evening, so, maybe the short few hours here was just right ;)

Pfarrkirche St. Nikolai, the neo-Gothic church from the local Franciscan monastery. It suffered severe damage during WWII due to bombings, meaning that the roof and windows had to be replaced.

Die Drau (The Drava River) that runs through Villach. It also runs through Maribor and a few other lesser known cities in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary.

Stadtpfarrkirche Sankt Jakob and its 94 metres high bell tower. It is said to be the highest in all of Carinthia. Unfortunately, the 239 steps to the top was not open for climbing. So no full view of the city then :(

It's not difficult to guess what this is... It's an Austrian city after all, so you know for sure it's a brewery... where the Villacher Bier is brewed.

The Landskron Castle is just ahead... It's all in ruins but it still looks pretty well preserved.

The ruined entrance to the castle...

From within the castle, you'll get the magnificent view of the Ossiacher See (Lake Ossiach), which is the 3rd largest lake in Carinthia.

In amongst the ruins of the castle... it sure was a blazing hot day... as you can see.

Found you, finally! Wasn't in time for the "eagle show" but managed to catch the eagles relaxing in the sun.

Turns out it was a huge blaze in 1812 that left the castle in a really bad state. It was never rebuilt after that and was allowed to fall into ruins.

The Landskron Castle with the Villach coat of arms.

Then I decided to make the craziest decision... To walk to Villach HBF from the castle. Completely roasted two times over, but capturing this shot made it quite worthwhile ;) If you love mountains, then you'll like strolling and hiking around Villach because it's surrounded by them. It's got a beautiful contrast of colours too :)

Stairway to Nothingness (21st June 2014)

Atop der Dachstein and around Schladming, which to my surprise still belongs to the Styrian state. I remember very clearly that the Dachstein Glacier was featured in the British papers last year so this was among the "have to go" list. Was so close to missing it out completely, so I was very grateful to follow my friends here (or I would have left Austria with some reGraz)... Here's another reason why "Summer's not coming" because it was freezing cold up here. Can't imagine who much colder it would have been earlier this year. Love being thousands of feet above ground, so it was a joy to be "strolling" around in the cold. But if you're afraid of heights, this might be a tad bit scary. Still, the magnificent and incredible view is a true joy to behold. Well of course, after surviving the cold at the top and being crowned royals, there was still time for some golf, where what was beginner's luck triumphed.

Here is the first half of the "weekend of extremes", at Ramsau am Dachstein and Schladming!

The "cold" starts to kick in at "base camp".

White as snow! The ski resort area of the Dachstein

The renowned suspension bridge is 100 metres long and features an amazing 1,300 feet drop beneath you as you walk along it. It is apparently the highest in Austria and offers the spectacular view of the landscape of the Austrian Alps!

Braving the cold and hovering 1,300 feet above ground!

Here's Niklas who's always as cool as can be ;)

The wind can mess up your hair, but sometimes it does this ;)

It's cold alright.. Good thing I brought an additional windbreaker :)

It's as if I thought I wasn't high enough to feel frightened... Needed a heck of a strong grip here!

After crossing the suspension bridge, you'll reach the 14 steps that descend to a glass platform (that is covered in snow here). This here, is the "Stairway to Nothingness"!

When there's snow stuck on the fence, you know this is only an inevitability :P

My turn to kick up a fuss ;)

While this monster is ploughing through the thick snow, we're trying our very best to slide down to the ice palace without falling face flat into the snow. Wrong shoes apparently...

All hail the Pretty Princess Betina!

Way too cool for the ice throne!

Time to hand over the throne. It's all serious as you can see!

Don't mess around with me, or I'll punch the daylights out of you!

That's as far as I get to looking like a prince...

In case you're wondering what's that glowing block of ice behind, it's supposed to be a bear...

The clouds have gone away and there's a nice little glow thanks to the sun!

When the clouds go away and the sun comes up, the mountains stand out so beautifully. The Alpine view is truly spectacular!

Back down to "base camp" where there's hardly a hint of snow except for those mountains in the distance.

The Schladminger Brewery...

Who says it's all "beginner's luck"?

This is how you do it... Like this!

Just down the street from our home for the night. Sure is a nice view so we're trying to blend in...

Now this is pushing it... Trying to act cute and all.

It's early morning, just past 6am here... Don't let the sunlight deceive you.

Just before the trio head off to Salzburg while I head to Villach to go on my solo hunt for the eagles at the falconry at the Landskron Castle.

Melk (16th July 2014)

The City of Melk is part of Lower Austria and is loacted next to the Wachau valley along the Danube River (die Donau). It is the home of the iconic and massive baroque Benedictine monastery, Stift Melk (Melk Abbey).

Decided to come here because I missed out on the water rafting trip with most of my friends and also because Sankt Pölten was quite disappointing. I figured there had to be something in Lower Austria worth seeing and sure enough, this little city of Melk, with only just over 5,200 people living here, proved to be the one I was looking for.

For me, Melk is all about the Melk Abbey and the River Danube. Was a day well spent admiring the amazing architecture of the abbey and then relaxing along the Danube River, enjoying the nice river breeze :)

Entering the massive Melk Abbey after a short climb up the hill from the city centre. Somehow the photos don't seem to show how huge it is, but trust me, it's really really huge!

The Melk Abbey is considered to be one of the world's most famous monastic sites. The dome seen here is over 60 metres high.

Once you enter the monastery church, you'll see how beautiful it is. This photo doesn't really do it justice but it's good enough to depict the very typical high baroque style it was built in.

Both the interior and exterior of the Melk Abbey are really beautiful. The lighting that day made helped me quite a bit as well as it amplified the unique yellowish glow the abbey had.

They did say that Melk was along the Danube River, so even if it takes quite a while to walk to the river, you have to go there. I was starting to wonder where the people of Melk were. Then I realized they were all relaxing by the river.

Now it does look blue... The Blue Danube! Enjoying the breeze while relaxing by the river as well as the late afternoon sun.

The little port along the Danube River has some ferries that take tourists for a cruise along the Danube. Not bad, when it's a windy day :)

It turns out that the sunlight wasn't staying for long... After heading back towards the abbey from the Danube River, the rain clouds were already on its way...

The Stadtpfarrkirche (Parish Church of the Assumption), which is very much different from the Melk Abbey itself, as you can see.

Due to the "massiveness" of the Melk Abbey, this is the best I could do to get both the abbey and the Stadtpfarrkirche in the same photo.

Was a wonderful day spent in Melk. The beauty of the Melk Abbey was well worth the really long train ride up from Graz here. Relaxing along the Danube River was really nice too. Thanks for the wonderful day, Melk. Auf Wiedersehen!

This is how massive the abbey is... Was waiting at the Melk Stadtpark for my train and you could still see that it's still quite big even though it's in the distance...

Was a wonderful day spent in Melk. The beauty of the Melk Abbey was well worth the really long train ride up from Graz here. Relaxing along the Danube River was really nice too. Thanks for the wonderful day, Melk. Auf Wiedersehen!