Easter in Austria

The Sun has appeared again and brought my long-lost motivation back. I realized I haven't one any of the things I planned to do while living in Prague. I decided to stop planning and start acting and booked a short holiday in Austria for Easter weekend. It only takes about 4 hours in a bus to reach Vienna and after the distances in Australia that is nothing. It is a amazing to be able to travel to another country in 4 hours. If you travel 4 hours in Australia you are still in your own backyard and not even very far away from the house.

Renewable energy being created

I like going for drives. Sorry for thinking in such a non-ecological manner but sometimes I miss so much just getting into the car and driving somewhere according to my own schedule, not necessarily to arrive anywhere but just to see the landscapes and be on the way. It's too bad I've become so scared of driving. There are plenty of attractive and idyllic little villages on the way to Vienna on both sides of the border but now I will never be able to explore them because I am too scared to drive out of Prague. Especially because there is an on-going construction on the highway. It was a pain in the ass to sit in the bus for an hour and notice we had only moved some silly kilometers. Even though I must admit the road needs fixing really badly.

Got to love Austria for their interest in renewable energy; there were a lot of wind turbines to be seen on the way. I've heard some people don't like them because they are ugly. Well, we might all ask ourselves if Chernobyl inside a concrete shell is pretty? I think it was fun to see the wind turbines doing their thing. It becomes the landscape much better than a nuclear fallout.

The holiday itself was limited to eating, walking and eating because unfortunately Austria was closed for Easter. I participated in a guided walking tour and got to see the must-see things, e.g. the balcony from which Hitler informed his annexation of Austria. I also learned that before the world wars Austria had the fifth biggest navy in Europe. That's quite and achievement from a landlocked country which is known for its mountains, not for its lakes.

Spring has already arrived in the central Europe but the weekend was very windy and thus cold. Being outdoors didn't feel like such a good idea but I managed to take some photos and see some strange things:

What is this? A new way to deliver newspapers?

What what WHAT? The sign for pharmacy should be green, with a snake and a goblet?

On the way I was thinking how easy it is to move between countries in Europe. No passport control, no nothing. On the border there was an abandoned office, probably the old customs. Landscape and architecture didn't change. Actually, they don't change much from Gdansk to Vienna (yes, I once went from Gdansk to Prague by bus. 14 hours. OMG).

On the border you can find a shopping mall, casino, amusement park and many many other things

To put it short, if you are interested in culture, opera, history etc, Vienna is the place to go. Weekend travelers, consider yourselves warned, Sunday is not a business day and shops are closed. Because of religion. So there is still a spot on Earth that is not ruled by capitalism. Sunday was really quiet, it had kind of eerie end-of-the-world feeling, a handful of people staring at the shop windows longingly. Tap water is drinkable, it comes from the Austrian Alps.

On the way back to Prague I saw a really strange sight. There were grown up guys with decorated tree branches on the way. In Finland it is a tradition for kids to go from house to house on Palm Sunday with decorated willow tree branches to bring blessings to the house but that is not the only reason I was surprised to see the men. The real surprise was to see a guy with an entire small tree decorated with bras. Looking for a fertile summer, walking around with is 3 meters.something rod?