GENERAL INFO (Jump to Diary) The Republic of Austria is a federal parliamentary republic, covering 83.879
square kilometres. It is home to 8.725.931 citizens, of which 68& are
Christians, 24% have no religion and 7% are Muslims. The currency is Euro, worth 7,46 Danish Krone. The GDP is US$387.299 billion. The climate is diverse due to the mountains, with types: Oceanic, Cool/Warm-summer humid continental, Subarctic/Subalpine, Tundra/Alpine and Ice-Cap. The fauna have a few interesting larger mammal members; Wildcat (Felis silvestris),  Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), Golden jackal (Canis
aureus), Gray wolf (Canis lupus), Eurasian badger (Meles meles),
European otter (Lutra lutra), Boar (Sus scrofa), Alpine ibex (Capra
ibex), Moose (Alces alces) and Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra).Austria's topographic diversity accounts for a great variety of flora, but I will not be looking for anything in particular.
DIARY Then I get out to the Alps, and the sights this early and real clear summer day are fantastic! It is Tirol when it is best: Green grass, numerous different flowers, snow coned peaks and old huts. A few farmer villages and ski resort villages, but mainly just nature.
Some dark clouds are blocking the horizon in front of me,
and despite it is only a bit passed three, I start looking for a camp. I
can't make it to next sight anyway, but I have a lot of office worked to do.
I find a nice camp at a large lake, and start working. It is passed midnight
before I'm done. Tirol 5/5. I only have a short drive to the German border, and then the adventure continues in Germany. 7/5. I get back in the afternoon, and head straight for the narrow gorge; Lichtensteinklamm. Right from the border, the Alps are dominating the horizon and then the view. I reach the gorge at 17;30 - half a hour after it closed. Some dog-walkers are heading in behind the gate, and so do I. Here are not a single new plant, but the nature is nice.
I noticed another one close by, and try it. It is nice, and they even have a tumbler. I wash all my laundry and the soaked close, while I work. Well spend €4.
The photos of the day will be joined with those
from tomorrow.
8/5. The sun is up before me for once, and I head straight out to the first sight; Bad Gastein with the 341 meter waterfall; Gasteiner. It is through the beautiful, Alps in Austrian Tirol, and I truly enjoy the drive. Here are small groups of cows, horsed, sheep and even a few lamas on the fields.
The only farming I see is grass. In many valleys, it is
yellow by flowers. The houses are typical Alpine, and here are many hotels
and restaurants. I am heading west, and the sun is coming from behind, I reach the little town of Bad Gastein, and it is literally cut through by the Gasteiner falls. Unfortunately, it is several falls, zigzaging their way down the mountainside. I try to find an angle to get a bigger part, but despite I walk most of the town around, I fail. Next target is the Großglockner road. It leads from Zell am See to Heiligenblut Church. I get half the way, and then they want €26 for a whole day ticket for the car and entire family. I intended to spend half a hour on it, and refuses to be robbed like that. The first part was fare from that good! I head further out west through the Alps. Here are only a few small towns, and I stop in one to find some new flip-flops. Those I have, had to be glued yesterday. One shoeshop, but she don't have any. Then, as I exit the shop, she recall that she actually have on pair: They are black and my size. I feel lucky!
I make way too many photos of green meadows,
After a long drive through these lovely valleys, the
Krimml area starts. I have to pay to park, and again to get close enough
to actually see Europe's highest waterfall. Or, it turns out, a small part
of it. It is powerful, but one can only see the lower fall, around 30 metres
high.
I head further into the Alps, and a few times, assenting the other mountain side, I can see a bit more of the falls. It is yet another set of falls, zigzagging their way down a steep mountainside, but not ONE fall. I think the term is either fallS or cascades.
Here are a lot of nice flowers, and I stop several times
to botanise on my long way to Ginzling: "Old days Tirol". It is a great
drive, and I even pay The summerday-feeling keep going, and the views are fantastic. I miss a turn off, and get out of a real narrow farmers road - but it leads to Ginzling. I had expected a cluster of cuckoo clocks houses and cows in the streets - and I'm disappointed. Compared to all the great huts I have passed on the way, this is kind of modern! Well, tiny and undisturbed, but not "Old Tirol" for sure.
Considering the long drive, which I have to return bye
too, I decide to comforts
I engulf it fast, and set the GPS for next sight, way
back east, well knowing I won't reach it today. When I pass the camp I looked up in
this morning at five, I turn in, and call it a day. 9/5. I head into the Alps once again, and by a beautiful road it is. The barren peaks, the green meadows, the white rivers and all the other, keep louring me to make photos I don't use. But it is so pretty! I cross over a pass, but the sun don't make it.
The
I'm here before they actually opens, but I get to sneak
in anyway. Here are many figures, making it real authentic. I feel like
entering a set from Game of Thrones. I see most of the
castle,
and head down to the village. It was described as a fairy-tail village,
and this time, I'm not disappointed.
Here are so many real nice houses, and a river, running right through town. Again, I see most, but only wished I had some sun to go along. Here is not much going on, but it have everything a tourist town need, excepted tourists, endless lines of restaurants and cafés.
I
head back the same way I came, and now I have the sun in my back, and
everything is a motive! I stop at a narrow gorge with a waterfall, and make
so many pictures of peaks and meadows.
I
really enjoy the drive, and the sun does what is can to make it perfect. I
get to the big lakes, which they call See (sea). I stop several
times, and one time, I get close to an adder; Natrix natrix in the lake side. Back through lake-lands once again, and as the entire day; by the minor roads. The landscape starts to flatten out, and I have left the Alps. The farms and houses in general still look "alpinish", but a few farmers also have other than grass. One have deer, which along with a few cows are the only live stock I see today.
I reach the little farmer village of Fucking just
to make a photo of the city limit sign. The village is actually nice. From
here, it is through what almost look
Right after I have settled in, the distant thunder turns
real present, and I am so glad I'm not spending the night in a tent!
When
I have seen is all, I head towards Waidhofen an der Ybbs. The way out of
I have found a real nice route by the minor roads, and in
a perfect summer day like this, the drive is so enjoyable. I stop in a little town;
Seitenstetten Markt with a large, rather new
castle.
Something
is going on for sure, but I fail to find out exactly what. People are
dressed up, a Tirol-band is playing - quite well actually - and the bishop
is present. I rather I head on through the relatively flat farm lands, and passes a few cosy villages. Then the hills get larger, and end up being mountains. I reach Waidhofen an der Ybbs, and here are several churches with the special onion shaped towers.
Next
to the river is the impressive, but rather small Schloss Rothschild.
I make a walk around town, and get a vegetarian durum. A phone box is
transformed into a library on the square, and a rather I head on through the real nice farmland. It seems like grass it the only crop, along with conifers. Out of corner of my eye, I glimpses a black thing in a small pond. It turns out to be a Black Stork; Ciconia nigra. I had not expected to see one.
The
houses and farms turn more and more Alpinish, and the mountains grow.
It have been thundering for some time, and now the rain starts. I head back to the car and try to outrun the rain by driving to Melk. It have been hailing a lot in one stretch, and the road is still white - and real slippery! I meet a small group of ancient, small open tractors - true enthusiasts! Despite the rain, it is a great drive.
It sits on a small mountain, and look just as impressive.
But I have seen castles enough for now, and set the GPS for Vienna. The rain
catch up, when I sit and eat in the car, and I'm so glad I'm not in a tent!
11/5. Based on yesterdays success with a botanical garden, I start the day with Belvedere Gardens, which is both a traditional botanical garden and an Alpine. Annoyingly enough, I have to wait almost a hour to pay for the camp. There is nothing that keep me from just driving away, except my gentleman attitude. It is a expensive disease!
I drive right through Vienna, but the traffic is not that
bad. I find a place to park, where it is free for three hours. Then I see
the traditional gardens around the rather impressive
Despite what I found on the internet, I have to wait a hour for the other gardens to open. I head out in Vienna and see some of the beautiful old houses and the hideous new ones in glass. Here are trams everywhere, but apparently, this is not the true tourist area.
The normal botanical garden is more a "once was".
The remains of some dull collections, except the outdoor cacti- and
succulent collection, The small houses are closed, and the 20 caudiciforms
are a sad sight. I set the GPS for the northern border and Nationalpark Thayatal. It should have 1300 species of plants of which some only are found here. It is through a lovely landscape, but a poor part of Austria. The small houses in the villages start to lack plaster and paint. Here are a bit of vine, but mainly wheat.
Thayatal
It is really close to Danish nature with meadows and forest. Here are a lot of insects, and I do find a few unknown plants. Here are two species of Cyclamen, but I can't determine which ones, without flowers. I do a long walk, but it is limited how much interesting I find.
I
Austria have been great, and I might return one day to
see Vienna, if I can find the right company. I have driven 1502 kilometres
in total, taken 1581 photos and spend €252. It is a real pretty country, and
easy to travel. |
but instead of
taking the autobahn, I set the GPS for the smaller southern road. It leads
through the Alps, and must be one of the greatest! It does not take me long
to realise; this is not just transport! Right after the symbolic border, I
reach Feldkirch, which have some astonishing houses. Especially the
one next to the river are great looking.
The road leads over a tall pass, and the it is tunnels or
half tunnels for quite some time. Here are still some snow, and I can
imagine how much here have been! Big rivers and waterfalls bear evidence of
it. 
Then
it start to drib a bit, while the sun is still strong. It gains momentum,
and before I get to the gorge, it is hammering down - and I'm soaked. There
is a ticket office just outside the gorge, and no way I get around the
fences. I swim back, and set the GPS for the camp.
making the motives even better.
fields which
are yellow by flowers, small huts looking like Swiss clocks and spotted
cows, along with barren- or snow covered peaks. A few lakes ass just add to the
number of photos! 
I feel hustled!
the maut without feeling I'm that hustled. I
pass Samalpe, a 1617 meter high pass, and here are still a bit of
snow around in the ravines and shadows.
myself with some good food. The only restaurant in town
only offers a cheese bread, but naive, I think the price reflects
a interesting meal. I get two slices of tasteless rubber-cheese on a slice
of
white bread with half a tomato and a sliced strawberry!
work is going on, a yellow tower crane is on sight. It seems like
you just need one, even though you only repaint the guest toilet! And they do
nothing good for my photos! 
other side have mist and a closed down ski sport area. Only interesting here
is a Porsche tractor. Here is still quite some snow around, but the road is
clear, and I head on. I reach the little village of Mauterndorf,
where the first one see, is the castle. The last owner lived here until the
'50ies, and it is real well keeps.
Obertraun with Dachstein Mammuthöhle and Eishöhle; two
caves. Not that I'm that interested, but they are found in a interesting
area.
like Denmark towards the Donau
and Linz. Despite I kind of promised my self: No more fruitless tries on
botanical gardens, I have to try the one in Linz, which should have the worlds
largest cacti collection. It is getting late, and I find a campsite a bit
out of town.
10/5.
I find my way in to the little Linz Botanischer Garden, and
arrival just as they open. It is not big, but real nice. The garden have
surprisingly many hybrids, but the layout is brilliant, and so well
designed. 
Linz
reminds me of old DDR. Here might be a nice side, but I don't see it. I gas
station have vacuum cleaners, and I figure the Lupo have deserved a tour.
Unexplainable, there are crumbs of biscuits under the drivers seat - along
half of Europe's gravel.
see the traditional castle garden, but after seeing
most of the British gardens, it kind of disappoints.
special fountain is
perfect for the birds as bath. The houses are not that old, but they do make
a nice town centre.
Then I reach a flat area and a hill with the town of Mariazell on. It
have a lot of nice looking houses and an impressive church. Even more
impressive is the amount of souvenir shops in front of it. I have not seen
many here in Austria, but these make up for it!
I
reach Melk and Stift Melk Abbey. It is truly an impressing place.
However, I can't help thinking about how many poor people have suffered to
let the church construct a magnificent place like this. It reminds me a bit
of the Forbidden City; Yard after yard, one more impressive than the other.
I only see the outside, and head on to the other end of town and Sloss
Schallaburg.
Belvedere
Schloss. These gardens, on the other hand, are not so. These type of
gardens, mainly formed by small hedges need to be pristine weeded - and they
are fare from.
Finally,
I get to pay €4 for the Alpine garden, and that is around €4 too
much. It have not been proper weeded for a long time, and I fail to find any
interesting plants at all. Well, the odd bonsai collection do have some nice
plants, but that is it.
reason to waste more time here, and I find the car. It have been decorated
with a bill of €36, as the European citified parking meter I have apparently
don't work here!
have a nice EU financed entrance, but I can't figure, if I have to pay or
not. I wait ten minutes while the woman at the desk chats with a colleague,
then I recon they are not interested in my money, and head out into the wild.
return to the car, and while I brew tea, I program the GPS for Czech. It is
a short drive, but only in Riegersburg, I see something interesting; A nice
little castle.