A sneak peek of Austria: stepping into dreamland (Part 2)!

[Continued from part 1]

"Morning shows the day!" - we know of this saying. Often in travels I have seen this statement come true. There is a certain charm that a fresh, new day brings and when I am out of house, I feel this much more. Sometimes the freshness stays on, sometimes I need to make an effort to keep it that way. Nevertheless, a tune for the entire day is set by how the sun wakes up, or the rain drizzles or the snow-cover paints its colour or the strong wind blows through the soul.

The next morning started meeting my nephew. My father would say - the younger generation is per default more knowledgeable, more reflective and more skilful than you are. I have believed in his statement. This is one of the reasons I feel at ease with my juniors. In this case I was in the company of an intellectual, erudite mind who had travelled far in life to come to continue his inquest in one of the most prestigious research firms in Austria. The breakfast was a schooling session for me, I got to learn so much from him about how to sharpen the re-searching mind. After all, it is to search all over again. We need to know the techniques, the theory behind, and above all, we need to have a life-long zeal to uncover what is not yet known.

The plan for the day was to visit a city called Klagenfurt. Using Public Transport in Austria was a charming experience. Much like the Buss ride, here too, we could enjoy the paintings of the nature. There were several lakes and the most famous was Wörthersee, which housed the city. The city was the 6th largest in Austria. The journey was soft and breezy. The "me" which spent a lot of time on phone was distracted that time - the short clips that nature offered were far more intriguing than the reels of Instagram! Train windows were like a screen for the motion picture - the hills faded, a lake came, over the distance revealed a country-house on the lap of a foothill. Then all these passed away to make way for another scenery.

Austria was beautiful, this was clearly evident. But what was more evident was that it was clean and green. The summer of 2025, at least for the western part of Europe, had been a kind one - with few days of heat and then spells of rain to calm things down. But the city council, the people, and the visitors - they needed certain discipline to keep a city clean. We started walking from the train station to the city square and on the way we found a carpet of flowers. They had been neatly kept intact and were giving their combined glow back to the onlookers and passerby. My mother would have been happy to see them. She found Europe sophisticated, mainly due to how people maintain their relation with nature.

We kept walking through the streets from one corner to the other, we would pass through a small aisle or would occasionally come across a Church or a monument. 

Walking is a relaxing experience wherever I am. 

Even though the weather was pretty hot, the colours around us and the spotlessness of the entire setting were unforgettable. I keep going back to city like Copenhagen, only to appreciate its purity and tidiness. Klagenfurt would also likewise stay with me in this regard.

 

 

After a stroll of around 30-40 minutes we were at the City Centre. Despite my limited German skills, I could connect and communicate with some fellow local people. It was nice to interact; I find interaction to netizens of a city a great way to understand a city. 

Beyond geography, history, food, dress etc. that definitely characterize a city, one should not forget the culture. One way to open the door to culture of a place is through talking to people in their language.

  

After some shopping and delicious lunch, we were back to our huts at Villach. The charm was never gone. The city of Villach was waiting for us to greet with its everlasting breeze. The same suave breeze which I had mentioned about in the last part! We sat by a bar and ate and drank our way to the late end of the night before going to our respective places..

[To be continued]