TO VIENNA

Within 15 minutes of leaving the airport in Paris, we discovered that there was not one but two warning lights now visible in our vehicle. The original warning about turning on a fuse switch was still up and now we had another light as well. After about 20 minutes scouring through the manual which was all in French, of course, I discovered the new symbol was a warning for water in the fuel filter and since the car was diesel, we figured this wasn’t good. It didn’t take much longer for John to figure out that the car was not “gutless” as he originally thought, but that the light had triggered a limiter on its revving ability. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t rev over 3 000 rpm. Since we had to be in Vienna on the 13^th, we only had 2 ½ days to get there. So we really couldn’t afford to go back to Paris and get mucked around again.

Well this of course made it rather difficult as we were travelling on the motorway and our fellow motorists had no tolerance for someone who was holding them up. Overtaking of course was a real problem and the whole situation was made worse because we were yet to work out the toll system. We eventually sussed it out though. You just have to make sure you have plenty of change (€1 & €2) and a credit card or notes as well. Some of the stops you must just put change into the slot and get a ticket, while at others you had to actually pay up front. The trick is to work out which bay to drive into. They offer several options e.g. cash, card, ticket or just a red or green X. We opted for the cash or green crosses but beware, it is difficult to read the signs and you have heaps of other vehicles all around you hustling you along. I can imagine it would have been a bit of an issue if you went into the wrong lane.

Anyway we managed to keep the car going and followed the A4 all the way to Strasbourg. As we crossed the Rhine, we were of two minds whether to find a Europcar office and try to get another car or persist with this one when all of a sudden the filter warning light went off and the car was running ok except for the weird things that were happening with the electronics. Sometimes the electronic key wouldn’t lock /unlock the car, and when you used the key in the door it triggered the theft alarm. What fun it was!

Well we were pretty frazzled by the end of the day and were really happy to find a lovely little gastof (guesthouse) called Gastof Linde southeast of Strasbourg outside a little village called Biberach im Kinzigtal.

The people here were really friendly and patient with our lack of German. We managed to get a lovely dinner (although the red wine we thought we’d ordered turned out to be a white). It was quite nice though.

John's dinner - pork fillet on potatoes and bacon. He really enjoyed it.

Next morning we set off in a much better frame of mind and continued south-east toward Lindau,  which is on Lake Constance and right on the Swiss border. The lake is very picturesque and reminded me of Flat Lake in the US with its acres of farms growing mainly grapes and other fruits.

All of the houses have window boxes full of flowers and we saw several of the large, decorated poles as we drove through Germany. Click here to find out more about this lovely tradition. It would be great to see such an event.

One of hundreds of beautiful little villages we would see in
Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

We ended our day at a lovely little village called Nesselwang and found a room at Alpenhotel Martin, where there was one lady who spoke some English, which made things a little easier. We had a lovely time strolling through the old town before another hearty dinner at a local restaurant. You certainly wouldn’t go hungry in Germany although it is hard to find alternatives to their beloved schnitzel, some of which can be a bit dry if overcooked, and sausage.

This stream and wading pool is in the middle of the street in front of our guesthouse in Nesselwang.

Making items out of hay seems to be a common craft activity in most areas we visited.

We were feeling great when we took off in the morning toward Vienna. Imagine how that changed when, not five minutes out of town, the fuel warning light came back on and again, revs were limited to 3 000 rpm. I think if John had had a bomb he would have taken great pleasure in blowing the thing up. Instead, we headed back to our hotel, jumped on the internet and with the help of some other German guests, discovered that there was a Europcar agent in Kempten, about half an hour’s drive back west of us. We decided to go there and try to get another vehicle.

At first, after we explained our situation to the receptionist, she started shaking her head and suggesting we would have to pay extra to deliver their car back from Paris etc. I think she could see John about to explode so she decided to consult a guy there with some mechanical knowledge. He took the car for a drive and came back shaking his head. He agreed with us that we had been given a dud. He mentioned that they have trouble over here with some bug which eats the electronics leads, causing all sorts of problems. He also agreed the car wouldn’t rev and we were extremely grateful when they offered us another car. I think we really lucked out with them as they could only give us an Audi. John was pretty pleased with the difference as soon as he started to drive it. I can’t imagine us ever driving the Kia up the mountain passes that we were to do later in our trip. It would have been a nightmare!

You can probably imagine our relief as we pulled up outside our pension in Vienna. We had discussed the difference in personalities between the German, French and Austrian people with an Austrian acquaintance in Brisbane, so we weren’t surprised when our hostess at Hotel Pension Bosch, Barbara, seemed a bit gruff. She had little patience for our “dumb” questions but when we went up to register she was really helpful, explaining the busses and giving us directions etc. She even had 24 hour passes available so that made it really easy for us to get around and it was only a short walk from the pension to the bus stop. By the time we left she was all smiles and really friendly. It seems to be true that Austrians take a while to warm to you but are then usually really nice.

That evening we wandered down the street to get some dinner, and were delighted when we discovered that there was a free open-air concert in the local square. The band was excellent and played lots of Rolling Stones covers as well as other rock and roll greats. We had drinks, ate sausage and really enjoyed the happy atmosphere. It was a lovely way to start our stay in Vienna.

I was more than a little excited next morning at the thought of actually going to see the Spanish Riding School. We already knew where to catch the tram and gave ourselves plenty of time to find the place, collect our tickets and have a look around. The Palace is lovely. We didn’t go inside the palace itself but the atmosphere around the whole area is lively and charming. Of course I loved the horses. The Lipizzaners are just beautiful animals and the skills and discipline displayed by both riders and horses is amazing. I think I got much more pleasure out of it than John as his interest and knowledge of horses is limited but he could still appreciate it for what it was. I was also absolutely stoked after the show when we were walking by the stables, as they were leading out the horses for the next show. It was lovely to get so close to them. For me it was a lifelong dream come true.

Hofburg Palace

The arena where the lipizzaners perform is quite elegant.

Beautiful horses

After the show we strolled around the old city, which I fear is slowly being swallowed by modern structures, before walking through the palace gardens toward the university area. 

John thought this sign meant No Prostitution allowed. Turns out it just means the end of a "Pedestrian only" area.

As in most of the old cities we visited, there is a huge emphasis on shopping and eating, all designed to separate you from your money.

Imagine our surprise when we started noticing people in rather lavish costumes. Then we heard loud music and discovered that we were about to experience the Rainbow Parade which was very lengthy but very entertaining. It has been running since 1969 and is basically a show of solidarity by the gay, lesbian and transgender community.The atmosphere was great and we really enjoyed it all, even though we had to walk quite a way to catch our tram home as the normal route was closed until 7 pm.

That night we caught the tram back into the city and explored more of the many side streets before dinner and a fairly early night before heading off to Hallstatt, our next destination in Austria.