If you are one of the lucky few who has been to Austria, you know. You know how incredibly awesome Austria is. Lots of people don’t even consider Austria while traveling around Europe, because what is there to do except The Sound of Music and skiing? Well, there are cows and sheep and a whole lot of pretty things to be seen.
Austria surprised us. When we first arrived, after eleven months in Asia and 15 hours on a plane, our first impression was terrible. Nobody was paying attention to us, nothing was going on and where was all the noise? After a day or two, we started to see the beauty in the boring. There was nobody that wanted our money or tried to hustle us, no fear of getting run over by a scooter constantly and oh my, the quietness while walking around the city was magnificent. I couldn’t get over how fresh the air is. I think I missed that most, fresh air and cool nights. I never appreciated that as much as I do now.
We traveled around a bit in Austria. We stayed in Vienna for two weeks. Vienna is a very vibrant city, especially in summer time. Everyone is sitting in the parks, drinking g’spritzter (best summer drink ever) and the days just don’t seem to end.
From Vienna we took a train to Salzburg. The train network in Austria is really good and not too expensive, which makes traveling around Austria very easy and equally relaxing. The trains are comfortable and the views from the windows are stunning. Salzburg is a boring little town, not too much going on there. Its economy is based on The Sound of Music-tourism and for us, it lacked personality. We did find a little coffee shop that served one of the best coffees we ever tasted.
In Salzburg, Nick’s dad picked us up and we spent 10 more days in a little bungalow in Wagrain. Here we spent most of our time hiking up mountains, drinking g’spritzter, radler and having a great time sharing our adventures with family. I also climbed my first real mountain there!
However much we love being back in Europe, we miss Asia daily and dearly. We’ve grown to love it, and we can’t wait to revisit pieces we’ve seen and all we haven’t in the future. We’re going to explore the nooks and crannies of our home continent, Europe, now, and we haven’t decided what’s next, but who knows. Sparrow in Space might be coming to a place near you. Stay posted.
Have you ever been to Austria?
- Two brothers reconnecting and deciding if they want to swim here or not
- Nick saving a dehydrated toad
- Contemplating life at the Jägersee
- Slovakian church
- Vienna is pretty awesome
- Resting with our dog during a hike
- Awesome signage in Bratislava
- Fortress in Salzburg
How are you? We’ve missed all of you! But we’re back! Back on the blog and back in Holland.
So, a lot of you guys have been asking what we’re doing back in Holland and if we have time to meet up. Yes, we do. Send us a message and we will meet up for beer and stories.
Why are we back in Holland? Well, as you know, after Indonesia we flew to Austria to go cruising around Europe for a while. In Wagrain, Austria we spent a week hiking up mountains and reconnecting with family and when they were leaving we just decided to tag along. After a long car ride, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by cows, sheep, windmills and wooden shoes (okay, no wooden shoes but we did see windmills). We missed being with family and friends and we can’t wait to meet up with everyone we have missed so dearly.
What will we be doing here in Holland? We are now living on one of Holland’s prettiest places, Texel. Nick was born here and we are living with his family. We have no idea how long we’ll be staying here, but we’re going to be really busy working on Sparrow in Space, blogging, building our portfolio, finishing projects for clients and expanding our business. We love being back here, eating cheese and sleeping in the same bed for more than a week.
What is in it for you? We will be blogging a lot more and we will be blogging more regularly, we will introduce a few new topics and you will see a lot more of us. Why is this good for you? Because we will entertain you, inspire you, make you smile and leave you feeling happy.
I climbed my first real mountain yesterday, achievement unlocked! It’s the one in the background!
This picture was taken two days ago. We were walking around a gorgeous mountain lake. I can never resist walking into a field of wildflowers. If you have a garden, that’s all you should do with it. Wildflowers and vegetables.
We are in a mountain village in Austria, enjoying the sun, drinking wine and catching up with family who we haven’t seen in a year. They brought our dog, which they have been taking care of for the last year. She is just as cute as she was when we left home.
What are you doing this weekend? If you’re escaping the heat or the bad weather and are looking for something to read, here are a few of our favorite links for this week.
One of my favorite blogs really got me thinking about how I do what I do // How you do anything is how you do everything
The moral of the story? Do whatever the fuck you want. Really // Do whatever the fuck you want
Oh my god, I miss Dutch fries so much // Mini travel guide to the Netherlands
We really miss having a kitchen and can’t wait to live somewhere where we can try all of these tasty looking recipes (also great website design!) // Spoon fork bacon
Couldn’t have said it better myself // Why you should quit your job and travel the world
Have a great weekend and if you can, climb a mountain. It’s awesome!
