All You Need To Know About Travelling To Austria

Did you know that Austria was the first country to publish postal cards? The idea was then adopted by various other countries. Austrians are said to have the highest standard of living in the world and the paid holidays for a month may or may not have been the deciding factor. My trip to Austria was the gift I gave myself on my 28th birthday. I had always admired their way of living and wanted to experience it first-hand. With my birthday coming up I wanted to spend it differently than I had. I booked the tickets a month in advance and even got a neat deal on the tickets and hotel. I informed my family and friends a week before my birthday that I will not be home this birthday. They were happy for me since this was the first time after my break-up that I was ready to come out of my shell and try things on my own. Break ups teach you two important things- one, that how capable you are of loving yourself and second, how much of that love can you share with your partner. The time after we parted taught me that I was lacking on the latter and therefore the relationship came crumbling down. I had no choice but to pick up the pieces and move on.

My wounded self, brought itself to Vienna International Airport (VIE). I had already made bookings in the, Hotel Sans Souci Wien. The hotel was beautiful. Most of the staff spoke conversational English and rest were good at gestures. My first day was full of exploring Vienna. The city was so breathtakingly beautiful that I didn’t feel the need to ask anyone about tourist spots or anything. Just roaming around, with film camera dangling from my wrist, I felt like I have been living here for years now. Everything looked like it had come out of a Baroque painting. After roaming for hours, I spotted a café at the corner of the street. Since most of the population of Austria speaks German, I had trouble placing my order. My German skills start and end with Guten Morgen and Giten Nacht, which are Good Morning and Good Night. I was even carrying the English to German Dictionary with me but my pronunciation must have been horrible since all the locals just stared at me with confusing eyes. I tried to translate as much as I could with Google translate. After having milkshake and and what looked like fries, I made my way to explore some more.

Austria has given the world legends such as Mozart. The streets itself looked like they were a part of a symphony. I booked tickets to an opera show. The singer moved me to tears, I couldn’t understand much in terms of language but the emotion penetrated through my heart. It was a composition about lost love. I felt myself feeling all the latent emotions in that span of two hours. It was cathartic to feel that somebody had felt exactly what you had been going through.

I don’t know if it was the opera or the unique food but something made me adventurous. I made my way to try Alpine skiing. For those who know me know that I have the coordination skills of a drunk panda. I could not walk 100 meters without tripping at least twice. To try Alpine skiing, snowboarding and snow hoeing were like alien terms to me. Thankfully my instructor was very patient through out and did not laugh even once (at least on my face). I somehow managed to ski for three hours before calling it a day. The air was chilly in the mountains but somehow was warming up my spirits. After my brave attempt at winter sports, I had hot chocolate at a nearby restaurant. The food is expensive and have few options for vegetarians like myself. But the warmth with which it is served makes up for all the Euros spent. The flight back felt like coming home to a new me. The one who is brave and wild. However, my vacation was amazing and memorable but it was only possible to enjoy there because of American Airlines Booking Number. I got my flight tickets just two days before my trip thanks to their number.