clairedavieswriter

Obviously, you can only reach the most superficial understanding of a country and its people from riding through it for a couple of weeks, but with that caveat in place, these are some of the things that struck me as a first-time visitor (barring a brief trip 10 years ago):

Overall, Austria – and in particular the western part of the country – seems to strongly value its cultural traditions. Church services are advertised on the way in to towns and villages; Christian festivals are observed (side note: I didn’t see a mosque or synagogue till I reached Vienna); and people wear traditional dress when they feel like it, not just on special occasions like the Feast of the Assumption (or Maria Himmelfahrt as it’s known in German):

In these western regions (the Vorarlberg, Tirol and Salzburg), people seemed to take great care over the look of their homes (which often had several places to sit and appreciate the outdoors):

And gardens were full of flowers and vegetables:

Throughout the country, there was a palpable connection to the land: from the high mountain pasture of western Vorarlberg:

Through the fruit orchards and vegetable fields of Tirol’s fertile Inn valley:

To the maize and soybeans of Upper Austria:

And the sloping vineyards of the Danube’s Wachau region:

To the vast, flat, already harvested arable land of the eastern border:

Though there was a striking difference between the beautiful old farmhouses of the Tirol:

And the rather more practical structures of Upper Austria in the east:

But across the country there was an emphasis on local, often organic produce, and in markets like this one in Innsbruck people queued to buy direct from the farmers:

The timber industry deserves a special mention. From the size and quantity of the log piles, you’d be forgiven for thinking there wasn’t a tree left standing in the whole country. Word of the day: Wurzelstockfräsen – stump-grinding.

Austrians clearly enjoy their natural environment – people of all ages were out hiking, biking, running and roller-blading (often as summer training for cross country skiing):

Yet, for all this human activity, it was striking how clean the countryside was. Just like in Germany, I cycled hundreds of miles and barely saw a scrap of litter. I’m guessing the reasons are similar: a strong sense of personal responsibility, respect for others, and a willingness to follow rules:

Evidently, the same goes for water courses. There were lots of people out swimming, kayaking, canyoning and rafting:

But I learned that Austria’s lakes and rivers are all kept so clean that their water is suitable for drinking.

This presumably explains the abundance of water fountains, where people can drink/top up their bottles for free:

Speaking of the outdoors, I have to mention the country’s fondness for Naturism, or FKK. And typically for a country that seems to like rules, permitted zones seem to be strictly regulated:

Perhaps understandably for a country with such a complicated history, Austria seems quite coy about her past, though there are occasional signs. This stumble stone embedded in a pavement in Salzburg remembers a Jewish ‘Zwangsarbeiter’ – forced labourer – who was arrested on 8 March 1944 and murdered the following day.

And on the wall of a nearby monastery, this plaque noted that the Gestapo had commandeered it between 1938 and 1945, and that the memorial had been erected by the city ‘in memory of the suffering, torture and death of innocent victims.’

Austria’s treatment of her national heroes seems equally low key. I was expecting Salzburg to make much more of its status as Mozart’s birthplace:

But while I love a bit of Mozart, there’s no question that, for a cyclist, Austria’s scenery is the main draw:

Clearly, some effort is required:

But as rewards go, cycling *downhill* into a ski resort is pretty epic, in my book:

And it helps to be in the land of great coffee. I quickly discovered that my favoured brew was a Verlängerter (top left), while my domestique preferred a Wiener Melange. If only I’d seen this poster sooner, I might have tried a One-Horse Shay, or perhaps, in honour of my former profession, a Konsul:

Speaking of my domestique – he’s pretty good at making coffee himself, not to mention everything else he did to support Team Bernard’s latest endeavour. Vielen dank Jonis!

So where will Team Bernard go next?

It’s the question we’re all asking. The list of potential candidates is long and varied, and choosing from them will be a job for the winter months – I’ll be sure to let you know the outcome. In the meantime, thanks for following and auf wiedersehen!