Montag, 17. Dezember 2007

Tour of Salzkammergut Christmas Markets

A very short post for a highly recommended tour through the Salzkammergut: I went to Mondsee, St. Gilgen and St. Wolfgang last Saturday to visit the local Christmas Markets.

The ideal route involves a short cruise on Lake Wolfgangsee and if you are fine with struggling with loads of other tourists, I would urge you to stop by at least one of the markets if you happen to be near the Salzkammergut.

Hurry up, though - this is the last week for Christmas Markets, they will all close on the 24th.

Click here for a picture of winterly St. Wolfgang.

Freitag, 14. Dezember 2007

Modern Art in the Albertina, Vienna

Recently, there was a turning point in the history of the Albertina: The traditional museum in Vienna owns the largest collection of graphic art in the World and used to be almost exclusively constrained to graphics. With the donation of the Batliner Collection of modern art, it now owns a red line across paintings from the most important styles and schools of modernism.


Parts of the collection will be on permanent display; however, at the moment the show "Von Monet bis Picasso" includes 250 of the more than 500 donated Batliner-paintings. It is on until the 6th of April, 2008.


Expect a very extensive collection that includes individual works that deserve closer attention. The over-all spirit of the display is a "let's grab a few examples of everything" that smells of new money and little sense for art from the collector's side. Nevertheless, seeing the collection in its current mode of presentation is a rare opportunity that you should not miss if you happen to be in Vienna.

Mittwoch, 5. Dezember 2007

Dec. 5th: Krampus' Day in Western Austria!

It is Krampustag in Austria - a great day to go for a walk in the evening, especially in Western Austria (mostly Tyrol, Salzburg and the other Alpine areas): Young men dress up with devil's masks, furs and horns and chase girls on the streets. Hooray. Customs and traditions at their best.

Anyways, tomorrow is St. Nikolaus Tag ("St. Nicholas' Day"): A men with a - usually fake, but it took me years to find that out - beard and a bishop's costume comes to the houses to bring small gifts like nuts, sweets and little toys. By then, most Krampusse will have disappeard.

By the way, Ischgl (see post below) was a madhouse - next stop is Vienna, where I will go tomorrow for a meeting - which is supposed to involve Sacher Tart, so I am looking forward to it.

More information on TourMyCountry.com: I am currently preparing a re-launch with a slightly refined layout. Should be available by Christmas. Best,

Benedikt