Alluring Austria

December 29, 2024

I woke up at the wee hours of the morning, excited to finally take the trip to Austria, which we had been planning for months. The last few weeks were quite stressful at work, and I was very earnestly looking forward to a break. Any vacation would have been the break I needed but Austria was nothing short of alluring.

22nd December - Arriving in Austria

The flight from Amsterdam to the captivating city of Vienna was an hour-and-a-half long. The temperature was colder than in Amsterdam but there is no wind. Still, with the same amount of rain and absence of the sun, it felt much more comfortable here.

We dropped our bags at the hotel and went for a walk around the city centre (a UNESCO world heritage site), discovering the awe-striking architecture and jubilating Christmas spirit. I was transfixed at the thought that Vienna played a critical role in both world wars, houses United Nations headquarters, and is the city of both Mozart and Beethoven. It is certainly an old city hiding many stories, countless struggles and much wisdom.

Although we were naturally tired from the day’s travels, we made it a point to go to Vienna’s famous Christmas market in front of the glowing parliament building. To conclude the day, we partook in the city’s coffeehouse culture and dined at the famous Café Landtmann.

23rd December - Vienna’s Wonder

I woke up with a mild headache, perhaps from last night’s cold – I remember it being chilly and windy, not unlike Amsterdam. The wind reduces the temperature by five degrees, it feels.

The trams in Vienna go through narrow inner streets, quite hard to imagine it’s the same city with five-lane main roads. Different parts of the city have their own distinguishing character, and they coexist in harmony. The city has a blend of historical charm and modern vibrancy – buildings and telephone booths of decades past in coexistence with fast cars and modern camera phones in the hands of its citizens.

Our first stop today was Schönbrunn Palace. We bought a couple of jars of very spicy pickle made from Habanero (a type of Capsicum) from the Christmas market in the palace grounds. In the Christmas market, there were bales of hay for children to climb on, reminding me of the episode from The Office where Dwight builds a hay palace in the parking lot. We then went to Belvedere Palace, which although not as famous, had a much more scenic (and possibly larger) garden. Right across from Belvedere Palace was a Greek restaurant, which served us a really hearty chicken soup. But frankly, the warmth of the cafe made us much happier than the food!

In the evening, to commemorate the trip I gifted Mohana a ring made by the Austrian jewellery brand Swarovski. I had been wanting to gift her one for six months, ever since I first went to a Swarovski store in Amsterdam to buy a wedding gift for Ritvika. Prior to that, I never had the courage or the intent to buy jewellery from such an expensive luxury brand! Today though, I could afford to get one for my wife. Happy days. Of all the things I look forward to in life, all the promotions, all the bonuses, none of it will have been worth it if I could not get something nice for her. Come layoffs or not, today was a fulfilling day.

24th December - Infatuated by Innsbruck

We left Vienna for Innsbruck today, which I knew to be a much colder and smaller city. On the one hand, I am not very fond of small towns, even less so coming from the grand architectural backdrop of Vienna. On the other hand, I was quite excited about the prospect of visiting a snowy Alpine town that was twice a home to the Winter Olympics.

As the train approached the town, the density of snow on the ground kept rising - by the time we reached, everything was covered in a feet of snow, it was quite the view! My enthusiasm was at par with that of the youngest member of our group - five year old Brinda. Nature’s ability to captivate us transcends barriers of age.

In the afternoon, we found ourselves quite puzzled that there were no open restaurants or grocery stores. After a while of wandering the empty streets, we shared Italian pizzas for lunch at the only open eatery we could find, and even they insisted on closing shop soon. We learned later that in Austria, Christmas is celebrated widely on the eve much more than on the day.

25th December - My first white Christmas

It was Christmas morning in the snow-clad village of Innsbruck. Mohana and I left the warm hotel room to take a walk in -8 degrees. We saw the sunrise reflect on the grand white mountain peaks, we slipped on the snow, we held hands in allure of this mortal world’s incomprehensible beauty. Neither pictures nor words could capture the scenic marvel.

After a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel, we went to the old town centre at Innsbruck in the sun as the snow glistened and the mountains in the backdrop looked upon us. We spent some time in the city and then went to a ski resort — as we played with snowballs and made snow-angels, I recognized that this was my first white Christmas – with not a speck of green grass visible.

As I beheld the majestic mountains, my thoughts turned to my childhood. One of the many great things my father taught me is to seek out inner peace and inner happiness, thereby unburdening myself of seeking external admiration – just as the mountains surely do not stand there for our admiration. After all these years, I think all of it made sense right then and there - we are just insignificant footnotes in the face of nature’s vast allure. I felt a touch of inner peace at the sight of these massive snow-draped ranges.

When we came back, we played the game of Dixit and had dinner at the hotel.

26th December - Leaving the mountains behind

The sun rose quietly in Innsbruck, afraid of waking the sleeping mountains. There was a constant calmness that came with the cold morning air. At a distance, a church bell’s toll sheared the stillness of the cold atmosphere – as if to acknowledge an onlooker’s gaze.

We left the snow capped hills behind as we headed towards Salzburg. I did not yet know what was in store after Innsbruck but I would be lying if I said I was happy to leave. Innsbruck was heaven on earth, in every sense of the word. Every sight was a postcard, every photograph a masterpiece. Majestic mountains at the distance, at its foot the little houses in the valley – paying homage to the might of the giant hills. The mountains in turn protecting the valley from the rest of the world. A harmony borne of balance and mutual respect. Behind them all was a clear blue sky and a golden sun’s morning rays reflecting on a landscape coated in icing sugar. A chime of wrens flew by, celebrating just another day in paradise.

The train shot away at 250 kilometres an hour, ploughing through a snow covered land, from the window it looked like airplanes going through white clouds. I really liked the coniferous trees with snow resting on its branches giving it a shaded look from afar. Forests look like wolves with coloured fur.

When we finally reached the city of sound of music, Salzburg, we went to Fortress Hohensalzburg, the view was breathtaking but soon it became very cold. Battling the cold, we sat down to enjoy a hot wiener sausage and called it a day. Back in the hotel, we gathered around like old friends, and chatted about life in Amsterdam and Singapore and of the days of boyhood wonder and childish pranks in the streets of Calcutta. Sometimes that is all you need, the quiet embrace of family and familiarity.

27th December - A Snow-kissed Village

We went to an UNESCO village called Halstad from Salzburg. On the way to Halstad, the sun rose as we climbed the mountains, golden sun rays gently caressing the untouched snow. Standing before us, was a wonderful view of a frozen village – beautifully nestled in the Alps covered in snow next to a lake. Honestly, I thought this trip would be good. But even in my most hopeful optimism, I didn’t think it would be this good. I consider this to be the best trip I have ever taken thus far, including Switzerland, Egypt and incredible India.

It is hard to believe such an alluring land gave birth to one of humanity’s most tyrannical leaders. No one spec of dirt can diminish the enduring splendour of this land. I guess kindness always prevails, humanity always prevails, beauty always prevails notwithstanding the worst son of Austria.

We came back to Salzburg in the afternoon with a twinkle in our eyes. The ride back to Salzburg was a peek into nature’s unspoilt beauty – the bus ride went through hilly coniferous forests and vast trenches of land completely covered in snow. We walked around Salzburg, went to Mirabel garden, visited Mozart house (where he was born) and then to a pebble beach and threw skipping stones into the river. Simple pleasures of life. 

28th December - A Misdirection

We left from the hotel at Salzburg on the way to Vienna, one last huzzah before we head back to Amsterdam. As fate would have it, a couple of us got on the wrong train! We went ahead of the group with the intention of reserving window seats. Little did we know that there was another train at the same platform to same destination at the same time. Once the train pulled away earlier than our expectations, we discerned our blunder. We pulled the SOS button in the hope of stopping the train and we got seriously reprimanded by the ticket checker! We got off at the next station at Linz and joined the rest of our group when our intended train arrived – thankfully both trains did stop at the same station.

While we were on the wrong train, we worried that we might be charged a fine for sounding the alarm. We spoke about how life often gives us situations beyond our control. Somehow, my thoughts went to Negi, a friend of my brother, who tragically lost his life to a silent brain tumour, life can be harsh if it so wants and there is nothing one can do about it. One of us brought up the story of a cancer survivor, who fought for fifteen years but in the end, fortune was on his side. রাখে হরি মারে কে, মারে হরি রাখে কে?

As the correct train approached Linz, we almost missed the train again because it was only a minute’s stop. Although we managed to get on the right train at Linz. Unfortunately, we were separated from the rest of the group because the train had two parts with an engine in the middle. Therefore, it was not possible to go where the rest of them are sitting! So at the station after Linz, we again went out of the train, and finally made it to the right compartment in the right train! We did finally return to Vienna - the city’s architecture never ceased to catch my awe – even after our little trainwreck.

After reaching Vienna, we went to Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (Art History Museum). We saw items from ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, Roman era, and paintings. Of all the artefacts, the one that caught my eye was called “Triumph of St. Michael over Satan” by Johann Schnegg. It was a statue made of ivory, depicting St. Michael in white and Satan in black – an yin-yang of a different kind.

We realised soon that owing to the train debacle earlier in the morning, we blissfully forgot about lunch and all of us were hungry - we had to rush to a restaurant from the museum – we had dinner at six in the evening, a quite hearty meal, like all hungry stomachs deserve.

Soon after, I slept off early to catch the morning flight back to Amsterdam.