Graz/Thal Austria, June 12th 2014

We actually spent two nights in Graz, but we got there so late on the 11^th and left SO EARLY on the 13^th, we really only spent one day here. Our main trip to Graz was to actually head to Thal; the birthplace and home of Arnold Schwarzenegger. My husband is a mega fan of Arnie’s and has seen every single one of his movies and has lots of “useful” knowledge of the history of his life.

I have to admit, I thought it was going to be a waste of my time, but in actuality it was a great day trip! The bus rides (two busses need to be taken from Graz to Thal) were so beautiful. Large houses were nestled in the green hills and farmlands outside of the city. Then when we found the home of Arnie, we were the only ones there! I have a general theme of not liking crowds, so it was awesome having the entire home turned museum (called the Arnie’s Life Museum) to ourselves. The rooms were transformed into periods of his life, from childhood and early body building days, to movies, to politics. I actually enjoyed the politics section… after all, he was my “governator” in California!

As we were the only ones there, we made friends with the guy working there. My husband and him were huge Arnie fans and talked for ages… which ended up with us being allowed to pick up the sword from “Conan the Barbarian” and sitting on one of the motorcycles from “The Terminator”. We ended the trip lazing in the back garden sipping on a beer and Jayda pestering me to admit I had fun. I didn’t admit it to him, but I did. When in Graz, make the trip to Thal. It’s a cute little village and the Arnies Life Museum is worth the trip.

As it was opening day for the World Cup on the Thursday June 12^th 2014… we didn’t do too much siteseeing in Graz. We walked around for a bit and got dinner. The city is old clashing with modern. Modern art is everywhere within the historical walls. It seemed quite interesting, but other than that I didn’t do anything else. It was straight back to the hotel to watch the opening ceremonies and the match! When in Graz, go to Thal. It is well worth it !

Graz, Modern art in the river

Salzburg, Austria: June 9-11, 2014

Salzburg was absolutely beautiful! Actually, all of Austria is absolutely beautiful. Everything is so green and mountainous and absolutely gorgeous. Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart, so there is a TON of history here. It is also where “The Sound of Music” was filmed, so you can just imagine the green landscape surrounding the city. A huge Fortress also sits perched upon a mountain overlooking the city, so overall, it is quite a picturesque place.

My favorite day was our “mistake” day. We went on our own walking tour of the city and decided to take a detour. It ended up being a hike up a small mountain that overlooked the city. We had the entire place to ourselves with 360 degree views. It was sunny, hot, sweaty, and gorgeous! Salzburg is great, but due to its rich history, there are a lot of tourists in the city. Not an overwhelming amount, but after spending 3 days in Innsbruck where we felt like we were the only travelers, it was a different experience.

views from our hike

Salzburg has a ton to do, has great food, and is a stunningly beautiful town. However, due to all the tourism, I have to recommend exploring the other less traveled villages and towns as well. Austria is an amazing country rich in history and nature, almost every town and city will have a ton to do and see. A bonus is that they will have less tourists and will likely be surrounded by mountain ranges just begging to be explored.

Austria is a MUST VISIT country, but when you do visit, Salzburg is also a must see. It is too pretty to not go for at least a day to walk around and site see. Plus, there is a “love lock” bridge and if you’re lucky enough you can put a lock on the bridge and throw away the key! That way you've locked down your love forever in a beautiful setting. It is also A GREAT excuse to come back to the city and attempt to find your lock! I loved Salzburg, but am thoroughly enjoying Austria in general. 

Innsbruck, Austria: 6-9 June 2014

Hands down, the most beautiful train ride I have had in my life was when I was on my way to Innsbruck. We took the train from Zurich, Switzerland to Innsbruck, Austria. Deep blue rivers and lakes surrounded by the Alps. The train going in, out, and along the mountains overlooking such great valleys.  I cannot recommend enough this train journey. Taking the trains through Europe is always fun as there are always great views, but Zurich to Innsbruck was particularly incredible. Where else are you going to take a train ride through the Swiss Alps? We didn't leave on our train journey until almost 7pm, but as it is is summer and light outside until 9:30pm or so, we got to watch the sun set over the Alps. Incredible!

doesn't do it justice, but the view from our train ride to Innsbruck

Innsbruck is definitely a town for the outdoor adventurer. In the winter, there is an abundance of ski slopes and snow activities. In the summer, I also was surprised at how much there was to do. The “old town” is very small and quite possible to do all the sites and best museums within one day. The next day can be spent heading up to the mountain for great views of the mountains and the city. Once at the top of the mountains, there are A TON of mountain bike trails, hiking trails, and tons of people paragliding. We opted for a small hike and to watch the outdoor extremists take on the mountain. 

singing in the mountains !

our little hike above Innsbruck

Innsbruck itself is a tiny & adorable city. There are lots of interesting museums to go to. We opted for one that held exhibits on the cultural history of the Austrians. This may be one of the creepiest museums I have been to. Not that Austrian history is scary, but the artifacts and background music was so eery! There was an exhibition on masks, some of the scariest masks I have ever seen! There also was a section on the dress and fashion of Austrians, which would have been interesting if they were not displayed on creepy wooden life sized dolls. The museum was full of interesting items, but I couldn't help but being completely and entirely creeped out! It didn't help that my husband and I were the only ones in the museum.

creepy museum

My husbands favorite site was going to the Olympic Ski Jump; The Bergisel. It was interesting, but I enjoyed the views from it more as no one was actually practicing. However, it was SO STEEP and gave you an entirely new appreciation of the ski jump as a winter activity. It always was one of my favorite winter events, but actually seeing it, the athletes have to have some huge cajones to actually go through with it!!!

the Bergisel

Also, while in Austria, you cannot leave without having a huge giant glass of beer with sauerkraut & pretzels. Summer time in Austria is absolutely stunning. Sipping on large pints (mugs called a mabkrug) of beer and eating traditional food under the sun, surrounded by mountains, was just phenomenal. I actually was surprised by how hot it was. When in the Alps I always think of the snow, but it was 31 degrees Celsius or so every day! About 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

me and my mabkrug !

Innsbruck is an awesome town, like in Zurich, we enjoyed going to the grocery stores for picnic lunches and dinners and enjoying the sites of the town. Innsbruck in the summer is great, but I also would love to come back in winter as I can just imagine how adorable it would be with Christmas markets and instead of having beer I would be sipping on mulled wine. I am thoroughly enjoying my time in Austria and enjoying the laid back culture.

Zurich, Switzerland: 5 & 6 of June 2014

Zurich was stunning. It has the bluest of green river running through the center of town which leads out to a large clear lake. All around are the snow capped Swiss Alps. As Zurich is ridiculously expensive, we only spent one night here. We spent our time walking around the city enjoying the hot summer sun.

I will be honest, I didn't even go to a single museum or historical site! I was just enjoying myself too much. My husband and I went to a grocery store and picked up beers and food for a picnic along the river. It is SO GREAT being back in Europe. (is not was, as I am currently still here) I forgot how amazing the food is. I won’t be eating healthily until I am out of Europe as I just can’t stop eating cheese!

edam & beer, what more does a girl need?!

We grabbed some Edam, olives, sun dried tomatoes, fresh bread, & potato salad and spent an hour or so eating, drinking, and enjoying the sunshine and warmth. I am sure there is more to Zurich than beautiful architecture, scenery, and food, but for the 24 hours I had in the city that was all I cared about.

Swiss Alps over Lake Zurich

China: Beijing to Shanghai, May 19 - 27

China…. Not sure what to say here as, unfortunately, I have strong emotional feelings about this country; not all entirely pleasant. My mother taught me that, “if I have nothing nice to say, then don’t say it at all.” I think I must still listen to those simple but important words of advice as I wouldn't want to offend anyone. The only thing I will say about this topic is now I understand the frustration that the Hong Kongians have towards mainland Chinese.

The good: The Great Wall, 2 hours train ride outside of Beijing, was absolutely breath taking and definitely worthy of one of the Seven Wonders of the World…. And for me, that is about it. The second highlight was meeting up with a friend who was living in China. Having dinner with an old friend was absolutely fantastic, but I could have been anywhere to have enjoyed my time with him.

Our first stop was Beijing which is home to many historical places, such as the Forbidden Palace. The general theme of China was the sardine like feeling you have walking around with hundreds of Chinese tourists. I actually haven’t been anywhere in the world where the main groups of tourists were people of their own country. I am not sure why, but I found that strange. The Forbidden City was packed with hundreds & possibly thousands of tourists, so for me, that took away from the experience. I would say walk around the outside to take in the views which are more interesting.

Tienanmen Square, historically, is phenomenal due to the 1989 Massacre. What is ironic, is that you cannot discuss what happened here. Police are everywhere ensuring that no one discusses the tragedy that happened on June 4th 1989. Our friend who we met up with has lived in Beijing for 16 years, and he warned us that when we go, we must be silent, take photos and carry on our merry way. That was excellent advice, but also almost unnecessary as you could feel the tension towards the West here. If the huge painting of Mao wasn't a big enough hint to keep your mouth shut, the swarms of police made it obvious enough. It was so strange to be somewhere I had studied in history, yet was not able to discuss it.

It definitely was an interesting feeling being somewhere with such infamous importance, yet the people here were not allowed to “know” what happened. The blocks on the internet in China also meant that I actually do not think that the people know what happened there or have the opportunity. Even British Airways’ website was blocked, especially Wikipedia or Google. It was impossible to try to learn or read about any Chinese history whilst in China.  I honestly think that China is attempting to erase it from history. So the heavy amount of police here are to prevent Westerners from talking about it and accidentally informing someone who happens to know English.

Every other country in my travels have embraced their history, good and the bad. Yes, they may have a somewhat under-exaggeration of the truth, but they still have Museums, Statues, and historical sites where bad things have happened, in order to not forget and learn from the past. Fellow Communist country, Vietnam, has an awful history, but the country has embraced it to the best of its ability. Yes, many of the museums are anti-American and rightly so from the tragedies from the war, but it is informative. These museums and historical sites are available to its fellow countrymen and tourists to learn from the atrocities and not forget what happened. China, simply decides to erase the bad; I found this terrifying for the future state of Chinese politics.... but that is an entirely OTHER topic!

Beijing in general was okay…. Really nothing to write home about. It was nice to see a friend and go to the Great Wall. The Great Wall was the only highlight for me while being in the city. When it was time to move on we took the “supposedly” amazing speed train from Beijing to Shanghai.

This experience was ruined by the company among us on the train. We arrived to Shanghai and did the typical sites around The Bund, but in all honesty, we were just done with China. We cancelled flights internally and used that credit to get back to England early. This is the first place I have ever been where I actually just couldn't enjoy myself at all due to certain events whilst here. If one wants to know my reasoning behind this, feel free to ask, I just do not feel it is appropriate to post my negative opinions on the "world wide web".

Shanghai

It is very unfortunate I feel this way as I have friends who loved China. However, for the most part, everyone I have talked to have had the same experiences and even warned me prior to going. I was glad for the warnings as I do not think I would have lasted as long as I did without a few of the warnings. It is a shame as there is so much rich history in this country that would have been so great to see. Please don’t let my negative experience deter you from going. One must try everything out for themselves and create their own opinions.

It could very well have been my own personal state of mind for this unpleasant experience. It could have been because I had spent the past 3.5 months backpacking and I was just ready to get back to the Western world, or I was just done travelling in general and moving around so much, or was incredibly sick for a few days in China and let that influence me, maybe I didn't try hard enough to like this place or accept the mannerisms of the people? It could entirely be my own lack of trying, but I am still traveling and am enjoying myself. So, I am not sure? All I know is that I wish I enjoyed my time in the country more, but I will NEVER be going back to China.