Hello Steemians,
Four years ago, I did a roadtrip (more a train trip actually) with two friends of mine. We went to Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia during three weeks. One article for these five countries would'nt be enough, so let's start first with Austria.
We started the trip with Austria and we also finished it in. We have a friend from highschool who is Austrian, and we decided to end our trip here because it would be more relaxing after more than two weeks roaming around !
We had prepared this trip months before to be ready. We had the chance to get a grant from the region, and in return we had to build a project (ours was about Couchsurfing and street art). We bought everything we needed to travel safely and to be as comfortable as possible. Forget the high heels, the hair straightener, the jewelleries, the make-up,... It was travelling bags, hiking shoes and a map.
- First city : Salzburg. The city where Mozart was born (we even visited his family house). To save money, my friends and I we used Couchsurfing to be hosted at people's place. You have to know that one day before our departure, the guy we were supposed to meet and stay at his place told us he couldn't anymore. What a wonderful surprise ! Fortunately, we found another person, Lukas, who accepted to let us sleep at his appartment. We weren't the only one, there was also a Russian boy who stayed at his place.
After a long travel from France, we finally arrived in Salzburg. We visited the city, went to Mozart's house and the Belvedere museum, visited a castle, we had a few drinks,... We also tried the bretzels, which are good. However, we quickly missed our french bread and pastries ! We had a really nice time in Salzburg, and we also had a wonderful host and a wonderful Russian fellow to improve the experience. I can assure you that when you do Couchsurfing for the first time, it is much better to be with someone as amazing as Lukas. He made us feel comfortable and we had many great conversations.
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- Second city : Vienna. There is a lot of street art in Vienna, next to the Danube, which was really great for our project. We spent a lot of time taking pictures. Vienna was one of the cities that I enjoy the most. There are large streets with a beautiful architecture. It is also a cultural city.
There, we stayed at Tanya's place who was also a couchsurfer (we found her thanks to our Russian friend from Salzburg). She was really nice and we went to a vintage clothes market with her. She gave us a lot of tips, the places to go,... With one of my friend we went to The Flex, which is a night club that looks a little bit like an abandoned place (but in a good way). We had an amazing night, dancing, meeting people,... .
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- Last city : Klagenfurt. It was our last stop in the trip (at our friend's house). The second photo is not a picture from Klagenfurt, it is in the countryside (maybe one hour from my friend's city). I just can't remember the name of this place, but it was really nice and we were there for my friend's father's birthay.
When you've spent two weeks and more struggling in countries you don't know, if feels so good to rest and relax in a safe place. It was like heaven ! We rode bikes, we walked in the city, we chilled out in the garden (which had the mountains right in front of it), and the best part was that the breakfast was ready every morning.
We also did hiking in the mountain with my friend's family, and for the first time I got pursued by cows. I just heard them running behind me, and I started to run on the side so they won't crush me ! Such a good moment !
Anyway, Austria is one of the country that I love the most, I had a wonderful time and I totally recommend this country. Next country : Slovakia !
I love this! I just went on a two week trip to Europe for my honeymoon in December and this is reminding me of some of this sites we saw. It's also reminding me over other trips to Europe and the U.K. and how much I love it over there. I'm actually going to start posting some articles and pictures this weekend of our trip to Belgium - which included day trips to London and Paris!
I love it! <3
Also, what grant did you apply for to be able to travel and create? I'm a performing artist and am always looking for ways to travel, but also work! :)
It is a grant called "young Europe" (it is for young people who want to travel only in Europe), and we applied for it through a counselling and orientation centre. It is not well known, but it payed us our train tickets which is huge ! In exchange, we created a diary/journal with texts, pictures, words from people we met and we gave it to them for a few weeks so they could see.
Very inspiring! Hope I was born in Europe. I love it there.
Thanks, I guess we all thought at least one time "if only I was born in ....". But I guess we have to enjoy what we already have aha