Austria - well, most people think about another small country in the middle of Europe, but once you have been there you will certainly appreciate the beauty this wonderful piece of earth has to offer. Once, one of the leading nations in the world (Austro-Hungarian Empire) it lost most of its territory after WW1 and the years after. Austria certainly can be seen as some kind of a first mulitcultural and united Europe a long time before we have heard anything about the European Union, the NATO or any other kind of union. The Austro-Hungarian territory once covered areas of now independently known countries and areas such as South Tyrol and Trieste of todays Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, the Herzegowina, Transylvania of todays Romania, Galicia of todays Slovakia and parts of Poland and Russia, Moravia and Bohemia which is nothing but the Czech Republic and the southern parts of eastern Germany today and of course all of todays Austrian territory. Did you know that there are more offsprings of Austrian immigrants living in the US than Irish, Italians or British? Ever heard about a referendum held more than hundred years ago in the US regarding the official language of the States? English was the result as we all do know, yet, only because it was cheeted. If the counters would not have been pribed all Americans would speak German now. Funny, what?
Anyway, Austria, member of the European Union since 1995 does certainly has a distinctive character and a lot wonderful things to offer. Its history is as old as Europe's itself and its people are a blend of central European tribes. Despite, Austria does not have any access to the sea, there are so many beautiful lakes where you can do any kind of watersports. No need to mention all other outdoor activities you can carry out in the land where besides Mozart many other great musicians and artists where born. You wanna go skiing or snowboarding, forget about the rest of the world. Austria is the Mekka of skiing. Ever seen an international skiing competition like the Olympics or a World Cup, guess what nation basically wins everything?
Not only mountains are the typical landscape of Austria. Go to the South-East and you will find a countryside as flat as the Pampas in Argentina. That's the outskirts of the Hungarian Plate, also known as the Puszta. In the North-East the Danube characterizes the landscape and you will find beautiful river vallies covered with wine yards and corn fields. Where do the alps end? Exactly, right in Vienna. Make a tour up on Mount Leopold (Leopoldsberg) or Mount Kahlen (Kahlenberg) and besides having an awesome view all over the capital of Austria and on a bright day all the way into Slovakia and the Czech Republic you can say that you stood on the easternmost tail of the Alps.
Surely one of the most spectacular places in Europe to go! Have fun and visit Austria!
Oh du mein Oesterreich!
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