Discovering the Austrian natural beauties: Hallstatt!

Are you a foreigner in Austria, looking forward to discovering the country’s wonders? Then I would like to recommend you with all my heart Hallstatt!

It is a mountain-lake destination, perfect for a day trip or a maximum 2-3 days stay, either as a couple, family or just friends. I loved this place, so let me tell you why.

We planned the trip quite in a short notice, about two weeks ahead. The possibilities offered by Austria were many, so picking this one has been a matter of internet information and recommendations from friends who have been impressed it. Hallstatt is actually a village situated by the lake with the same name and next to mountains of heights of about 2000 meters. Apart from this spectacular location, the village is famous for being part of the UNESCO patrimony and the salt mine that you find here is the oldest one in the world. In this area, Salzkammergut, there is a series of small mountain villages, each of them offering different attractions, like glaciers or trekking trails. This website gives you more information about a few of the notable locations. However, Hallstatt is the most famous and, from my point of view, the one that is worth visiting the most.

We went there from Vienna by train, which cost 52 Euro/person/both ways, each time having to change two trains. It took us about 4 hours to arrive to Hallstatt and we have been lucky to enjoy a sunny and wind-less week-end. From the train station in Hallstatt, one has to take a boat to arrive in the village, but it takes only 5 minutes, costs only 2-3 Euros and is a very good opportunity to have another perspective of the scenery. As soon as we arrived, we have been impressed by an enchanting atmosphere with colorful houses built basically on the steep mountain, cafes and restaurants by the lake, elegant swans, clear water and autumn-like forest. However, despite its long history, I have to admit that nowadays it seems to be mostly a touristic village so this is not the place to go to if you are looking for an authentic place where only the locals go. But it has its own authenticity and unforgettable landscape. By the way, it was quite funny to find out that the Chinese people built an identical replica of this village in their country. This helped in building its fame, reason for which you will encounter numerous Asian tourists.

Concerning the accommodation, you should know that it is very difficult to find something and the best thing would be to look for it at least two weeks in advance. We did not have this time so we searched just in the week before going and we have been extremely lucky to find something. If you are curious about the prices, I think an average would be 50 Euro/pers./night, but there are also cheaper ones provided you look for them early. If you are in a deadlock, my advice is not to take as an alternative accommodation in another village if you don't go by car. They are not too far one from another, but the distance is still too large to be walked and the buses are crazy – there is a schedule but, as we experienced ourselves, it is not respected and even the bus drivers might give you wrong information.

So, what can you do in Hallstatt? I will tell you my own experience, but the website can give you more options.

• Visit the Salt Mine. The price is around 22 Euro/ pers., if you are a student. It is worth the money because you get to go with the cable car, you have a nice view from up there, including a panorama point, you also get to walk a bit, the cave is very interacting and also funny (the highlight for me was the means by which you went down – something similar to a roller-coaster).
• Have a walk in the village and take lots of pictures
• Go trekking. There are also marked trails which you do not have to pay for. My favorite was the stairs-one. You see some stairs going up and then you think “Let’s see where they lead” and at some point you expect them to stop. But they go and go and go… Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to discover the path until the end, but it was quite exciting.
• Take the bus to the villages around (they have as well some sights that might interest you)
• Have a coffee or a meal by the lake

Don’t expect any nightlife, not even evening-life to a certain extent, especially if you are going there during the week-end. If you are familiar with Austrian customs, you should also know that very few things are open on Saturday or Sunday evenings. At 9 p.m., you can already count by the fingers of your hands the number of the restaurants or cafes still open.

Of course, adventures did not miss from the trip! It started just from the beginning! Who could have guessed that one of the subway lines was under repair?? So, I had to wait extra time for a tram to get me there which, as you might suppose, takes anyway more time than the subway. Everything seemed fine when I met my friend in the second subway, but we soon realized that we our papers were actually not the tickets. Luckily, after a careful reading of the confirmation e-mail, we found out that we can print the tickets in the train station, at one of the QBB machines. We rushed there and, to our relief, we eventually settled everything. In 15 minutes the train arrived and we comfortably sat in our chairs, eating a free croissant and drinking coffee, excited and diverted like small children on a trip to Disneyland.  

There are many more places left to discover in Austria and this is just the beginning. But, in the end, Hallstatt was a good choice that could be described as relaxing, inspiring and simply beautiful.

P.S. This is a useful website for more travel suggestions in Austria: http://www.austria.info/au  

Life assumptions?! Time to refresh them!

Have you ever challenged your life assumptions? Have you ever thought about your inner perceptions about the world? If not, then you should give it a thought.

One of the effects that journeys have on me is to bring out my philosophical side and make me more aware of myself. You may wonder why life assumptions are particularly important. I see them as a set of unwritten rules, embedded in you, that govern your individual life and perhaps your social life. There is a theory that I like very much and can be applied here –constructivism -, saying that our identities are socially constructed.  Moreover, it also states that the structure and the agent construct each other.  Applied, these things can mean that the way you see the world shapes your identity and personal structure but, in the same time, you have the power of remodeling your ideas and assumptions. To add on, as long as you have the wrong or just inappropriate perceptions about the world, your social relations are also different and this in turn it affects your identity.

Maybe it seems twisted, but it is actually quite simple. To bring your life assumptions to surface, practically, you just have to think about your own decision-making process, about what makes you happy and sad, and especially about the situations that make you feel uncomfortable. Particularly these last ones have the potential to reveal hidden assumptions. And then, talk! Just find someone that you rely on, that is really close to you and that does not judge you, and talk things out!

It happened to me as well, though it is not to be shared here. However, it was an automatically generated inner idea that I happened to carry with me for years without even realizing.

In the end, it is a journey of self-discovery. Due to the fact that we are increasingly more dynamic every day, we tend to ignore our foundation, our history and the way we have been built. Perhaps it is the right time to give it a closer look and create a better self. 

Two months of living in Vienna! What's the news?

Today, 6^th of October, there are exactly two months since I moved to Austria… When did they pass? I don’t even know! But this makes it a perfect time for reflection, for doing a check if everything is on the right track.

Unfortunately, I did not write here for a month, even though I had lots of topic in my head. Many things happened, which left me little time to write. Also now, it does not mean I have time but, on the contrary, I feel the urge of writing, I miss the feeling of doing so.

Stadtpark in Vienna

What should I start with? Well, I began university! And now, my first term is almost ending. It is the right time to tell a few things about Webster, which I plan to develop in a future article. It is an American university and therefore it is structured in a particular way: the university year is split in terms, each having 8 weeks and one week holiday in between them; you can also take a summer break for one term. For this term, I chose to take only one course (the maximum is two), which is Introduction to International Relations. And apart from the class, I got involved in many university-related activities, such as being a Tour Guide for the campus, getting into the board of the International Relations Students Union, participating in campus events or applying for a work-study scholarship. Therefore, my conclusion is that if you want to do something with your student life, there are indeed many options. It just depends on you to approach them and to strive for excellence. However, my standing goal remains to find a full-time job in the IR domain and many of my actions have this driver.

Webster University at the official opening, 1st of October

My social life has also been quite interesting. It makes me happy that I did succeed to see new places in Vienna, such as Karls Kirche, the Zoo, and also travel outside Vienna, to Hallstatt, in Upper Austria. Amazing place this one, it is also on my list of future articles! One of the highlights has been as well the Vienna Night Run! Webster University organized a group to go together and it also supported 2/3 of the tickets costs. The evening was great! Beautiful weather, impressive architecture to run by, a nice new friend to go along and support me. The feeling you get after running 5 km in 32 min. is unbelievable!

The Zoo

Vienna Night Run, 30th of September

 Above and below in Hallstatt

And how could I forget to mention that I had already completed a new level of German, A2.1, at Deutsch Akademie? My experience here has been very good: an excellent teacher (Verena) and a multicultural and joyful group.

Champagne for the last day of our German course! Cheers! 

One may wonder also if I felt any culture shock. Actually, not so much, almost not at all. However, I believe that some important factors have been the facts that I received regular packages with food from home (some things that one cannot get from here :X), my parents visited me recently and I also keep in touch with people from Romania. Of course, not every day is a paradise and not everything is 100% wonderful, but this is how life goes no matter what corner of the world you live in. It depends on what side of the glass you consider: the empty or the full one?

Briefly, my life goes on the right track. Keep in mind: take care what you wish for because it will come true! Your thoughts have the power to attract those particular feelings, actions and events… (as the outcome of a conversation with a good friend was…).