Austria, reliving once more.

This could be a long lost post about my travels in Europe. I had a great time in Europe during my internship; did it in a small cosy town, Wels, Austria. I thought it will be good to jot down the places that I've been and the little memoirs I had at all of the little places I dropped by. It has been a year plus since I came back from Europe haha but somehow most of the fond memories are still kind of fresh in my head. I still wish I could relive that moment once more. Definitely, want to visit Europe again in times to come.

So, here goes the diary of my travel. I'll start off with Austria itself as it is a wonderful country although small in its size, it gives you the best mountain side scenery. I love how Austria being the centre of the Europe surrounded by different countries where I find it convenient to travel about; either to the East or to the West. 

I live in a small town called Wels. I love how everything is accessible by walking distance. The supermarkets and shopping area are just 10 - 15 mins away from where I stay. You tend to meet your friends on the way and most of all, the weather is cool enough even during summer that you don't sweat while walking. damn Malaysians. lol

 During summer, you get to dip into the river and sunbathe by the river which is a usual hangout spot for the Europeans during this season. The water will still be cold even though it is summer and there is a nice traun (river in German) right behind my hostel. During the weekends, other than volleyball we will head for the river for some sunbathing. It is never nice to stay in the room during weekends because it is so hot inside there's no fan or aircond, you just need to get out and have fun :P

Ducks may also appear along the river, dipping together under the sun. They will disappear or maybe a proper word to describe is migrate to another area during winter since the water is icy cold. It is my first time getting this near to nature which I never do in Malaysia. haha

Most people own a floating boat which they will row along the river or just relax floating on the river. This is how clean and serene the place is. You can practically just do anything you can think of during summer. I mean there's hardly any restriction what you can do to the river as long as you keep it clean and legal. lol

Yes, cycling is part of the culture here. You either own a car or a bike or both. Bike is essential which get you anywhere quickly in town and apart from that, leisure where you can even get your bike on the train and head to another city to cycle. I have yet to try this sports as I have no bike. I will want to try one day. I think it's awesome you don't need to have a car to bring your bike to another city to explore. Just ride to the nearest train station and off you go as far as you can go.

During some weekends, I will go for a stroll with my friends in the small little wood beside the river. Just being with the nature you know haha I always get excited whenever we're having such plans. It feels good after a whole week of stress in the office. Usually, after the strolling we'll drop by some cafe or crash somebody's place to hang out and have a good chat. There are these few people whom we can get along, like have a good talk and laugh which I feel great after meeting them.

There's this place by the river that has good cocktails and drinks. Don't really remember the name but it is kind of obvious if you walk along the river itself. It only opens during summer as it is an open-spaced restaurant. So, it is closed during winter. 

You get to sip some cocktails or juices and enjoy the serene environment =) 

Another good place for kebap and pizzas is the Palace. If you're familiar with Europe, kebaps are kind of common in most places. When I said kebap, it is not the typical Malaysian kebap haha It is somewhat like the Subway but in a round burger shape instead. Too bad I have no pictures of it. In fact, there's two types of kebap, a burger shaped kebap and a wrap (like McD's twister). But I always prefer the round ones. 

These are the pizzas at the Palace. There are variety of flavours and they are seriously good. Must try when you're at Wels :D And it's a halal place actually as it is opened by the Turkeys. This was the first place I learned my German for food lol It is a good place to learn actually because the menus are filled with ingredients of the pizza which forces you to learn if you want to avoid certain ingredient lol 

The best part about Europe is the ice-cream lol They called it Eis in German. I never fail to get an ice-cream every week after work especially on Friday. haha Il Gelato serves superb ice-cream or maybe the only one in town I guess because I didn't see any other ice-cream shops. It only cost 1 Euro for a scoop. A big scoop actually and it is equivalent to Baskin Robbins here >.< 

My all time favourite is the Pistachio Mint and the Strawberries one (with real strawberries in it). Any flavours taste good actually and they're very rich which totally fulfilled your taste buds :))

Lastly, the thing that I always wanted to do most when I'm in Europe is to lie down on the park's grass land. lol Maybe we get to do it here also lar but then the feel is different with the environment so clean and peaceful, with the garden flowers so fresh and all. I love to drop by this garden called Burggarten in Wels. It is on my way back home. Sometimes, when I feel like it, I just drop by and turn one round before heading back haha Sometimes during weekends, I'll drop by, sit on the bench while watching people around or read a novel or something. It's really nice to have that feeling. Even the teenagers had picnics and hang out there which was surprising it was not the shopping malls they headed. 

During winter the ice skating rink (Kunsteisbahn in German) will open and swimming pool turns indoor with warm pool available. Outdoor restaurants all turned indoor and everything turns indoor lol At some place, you still get to skate outdoor which is awesome too with the lightings around usually nearing Christmas with the Christmasy feel :)

In fact, the ice rink here uses real ice according to my friend because she felt funny when I mentioned that we also have an ice skating rink in a shopping mall. She was curious how to have ice skating rink when there is no snow in Malaysia. lol The ice there is much drier also which makes me tend to fall off. Maybe I'm just not a good skater too lol 

Ahh, how I miss that small little town and friends. =')