Me and Olga had to think very carefully about what to do with the luggage. Our hotel for the evening was 9km east of the town of Villach in southern Austria near a village called Friekenstein which is high up in the mountain. We knew we had quite a bit of a walk up the mountain (by road of course) and according to the map and directions we got for the hotel, the walk should only take around twenty minutes. (Yeah right!)
So we left our luggage in the self service lockers at the train station (€4 for 24 hours) and only took the items we needed for the nights in our rucksacks, so this made the walking a lot more bearable.
After purchasing our tickets from the ticket office in the train station (or a bus service operated by Austrian railways) and buying some goods from the local supermarket at the bus station outside, we were on the bus to Friekenstein. Fifteen minutes later, we arrived in the village, and followed the signs for the hotel from the main side street onto the climb of the mountain on this country lane. After a while the views were great (looking upwards) at all the other mountains surrounding us, with some low clouds on the tops. There were cliff faces overlooking the roads, and we saw mountain climbers climbing up the sharp drop cliff faces and absailing down them. There were loads of them.
The road was quiet, a few cars passed. Eventaully a twenty minute walk turned into a ninety minute walk and Olga wasn't really enjoying the walk towards the end of it.
I was kind of enjoying myself as the clear blue skies and amazing views around were surperb and the smell of the green green grass all around. Small deers roamed near the top, so did sheep and birds flying around. By the time we got to the top, it was dusk. We checked into the hotel and ask the staff who were really friendly, if the restaurant was still serving food and we made it just in time. So we ordered some lovely Austrian style soup with pancake strips in it. The views from the restaurant balcony at night was amazing with the sun fully set behind the mountains to the west, cricket sounds could be heard from the bushes and the glow of the water from the Faaker See (Lake) could be seen far away. The hotel room itself was great (I am happy as this cost me €70 for a night!) with a large big double bed, fantastic bathroom suite with all the freebies and a television as well with no channels in English! The balcony was massive and had the best view from a hotel room I have ever had with a mountain scence in front of me.
A fantastic finish to the day after a challenging walk up the mountain and nearly six hours travelling on the train.
FRIDAY 4TH JULY
VILLACH - FREE DRINKS ANYONE?
I was woken up with the bright sunshine somehow getting through the curtains.
It was around 8am, so I didn't bother going back to sleep as I wanted breakfast. Olga was now waking up, so I got up and went to the window and opened up the curtains. I forgot for a moment where I was and then, right in front of me, was green green grass everywhere, with the lake down below, mountains all around, and sheep roaming the fields.What a fantastic way to start the day. It was beautiful. So I opened the balcony door and rushed to the edge, took a deep breath and smelt the fresh alpine air. Then a couple having breakfast on another balcony in view saw me and started laughing at me as I stood their in my white underwear! I kept quiet and walked back in, grab some clothes and walked down with Olga to the restaurant. It was a buffet breakfast, so we grab our food and made our way outside to the balcony, while the couple got their eyes set on me again, smiled and got on with their business. I kept quiet and didn't meantion a word to Olga as I knew she will burst out laughing at that point and all the customers on the balcony will have eyes on us.
After breakfast, we made an early start to head back to Villach as we wern't quite sure how to get back to the town, as we didn't know bus times or train times from the village.
So walking down the mountain road, pass the green fields which in my head, I had the tune of the 'Sound of Music' song going round and round, and this annoyed me a little bit. Before I knew it, we were in a small hamlet near the hotel which had a few houses and a outdoor theatre built around the 15th century. Walking up the steps pass a door who loved a pat on the head, we strolled into the arena which overlooks everything below. The stage, the seats, and steps, the whole building was made out of big grey stone blocks. All was needed was colourful medievil flags waving high above the stage and maybe Harry Potter to fly by on his broomstick. Now I was thinking stupid and it was time to move down the mountain before I see a red cow with a big yellow bell round its neck ringing a tune, and can't stop smiling (the one from the Swiss Cheese advert back in England called 'The Laughing Cow')
The walk took over thirty mintues and on the high street we found a bus stop.
We found out the bus only goes one direction. Villach to Friekenstien, around the Faaker See lake and Egg (yes, a village called Egg!) and back to Villach and this only goes a couple of times a day. We were in luck. We only had a twenty minute wait. A quick trip to the local Spar shop was needed to get some drinks as the sun was out and I was sweating. I brought this juice which I haven't tasted since I was a child, and Olga brought this drink the previous night for me to try. A passionfruit juice drink which is produced in Austria. It was bloody lovely and wanted more. Before I wanted more, the bus or should I say coach came, we sat in front and took in the brillant views of the lake, buildings and the overlooking mountains.
Arriving back in Villach and double checking our train departure for later that afternoon to Ljubljana in Slovenia, we headed off to the town centre.
A nice white church stood out right in the heart of the centre, with a tall white sphire on top. Restaurants and bars lined up the main high street and children playing with the water sprays from the water fountain on this warm lunchtime hour. We did a bit of shopping, then had some really lovely ice cream which we eat in some private grounds of the hotel. Then we went to a bar and sat outside for drink. The waitress served us, I had beer while Olga had Coke Light. The seats we were seating in had no shade, and by now the heat of the midday sun was so hot we moved seats to where there were shade. Great choice. So for an hour and trying to kill time, me and Olga talked away and at the same time (the street we were in was closed off to cars) old rally cars from the 1930-1970's period came rolling down the hill and parked to one side of the street. Must be some sort of rally or car show for the local public. We sat there, and by this point we wanted to pay our bill. We havent seen our waitress, and we were sitting there for around ninety minutes now. Other waitresses didn't want to approach us, so me and Olga thought, well, if they don't want our money we go, and that is what we did.
We walked off without paying. I was willing to pay, but they didnt want to charge us. I don't think I be going back to that bar in a hurry.
After collecting our luggage from the locker room where we stored our luggage the previous night, we headed to the platforms and killed some more time there. We eat some food which we got from the local supermarket again and then this guy approached us. He had a few dreadlocks, in his mid-20's, white, tattoos, backpack, guitar and a goatie beard. "Hey guys" speaking in broken English. I can't remember his name now, but he was from Finland, and had flown into Venice the previous day from Helsinki and then caught the train from Venice to Villach today and wanted to know if the train we were waiting for went to some town in Slovenia.
I said he was at the right place, and then explained that he wasn't much of a traveller and was going to a music festival at this town. He seemed to be a nice guy. I looked around and before the train had departed, I noticed a lot of music lovers on the platform. Also on the train into Slovenia, it was packed full of passengers mostly going to the same place. In the end, me and Olga managed to find seats in first class. The ticket examiner didn't care about us sitting in first class with standard class tickets and so we entered our forth country of the trip, Slovenia and it was around 5pm when we arrived in Ljubljana, the capital city.
Accommodation - Hotel
