Montag, 28. Dezember 2009

More Photos of Salzburg, Austria

I only added a photo gallery with pictures of a winterly Salzburg, when I discovered a set of 45 photos from summer of 2008 that I always wanted to publish, but never had a chance to. Now I did - ennjoy a second "Salzburg in Summer" photo gallery on Visit-Salzburg.net! And, as a special treat for the skiers amongst you, not our new Salzburg Ski Webcam!

Salzburg in Summer - Part II

Kirche St. Andrä - Fortress (Salzburg Castle) - Dog on Residenzplatz - Maria Plain - Collegiate Church - Latin inscription - Dombögen & Franziskanerkirche - Statue Domplatz - artwork Kapitelplatz

Kapitelschwemme - Old Town & Fortress - Hellbrunn Palace - Neumarkt am Wallersee - St- Peter sun dial - Hohensalzburg - Hellbrunn trick fountain - Jesus on crucifix - Residenzbrunnen (Baroque fountain)

Panorama view old town - Kapuzinerberg & Capuchin Abbey - Pferdeschwemme (horse well) - view from Maria Plain - Baroque Fountain - Müllnerkirche (Mülln parish church) - Hellbrunn park - Petersfriedhof (St. Peter's Cemetery) - Mirabell Gardens

Salzach Austria - Salzburg Old Town - Nun at Maria Plain - Salzburg City - Salzburger Dom - Salzburg Old Town (again) - Salzach River - Salzburg Panorama View - Hellbrunn Trick Fountains

Salzburg City View - Stift Nonnberg Salzburg - Sun Dial - Stift St. Peter's Abbey - Mozart Memorial - St. Peter & Castle - Salzburg City Walls - Tai Chi in Salzburg - Trinity Church (Dreifaltigkeitskirche)

Freitag, 25. Dezember 2009

Salzburg Photos: New Winter Photo Gallery

Enjoy 45 brand-new photos from Salzburg - Merry Christmas!

Winter in Salzburg

Kapuzinerkloster in Winter - Horse Sleigh in the Old Town - Angel at St. Peter's Friedhof - Snowman with Salzburg - Salzburg Christmas Market - Mülln Parish Church in Winter - Red Berries in Mülln - Old Town (Altstadt) Skyline - Statues at the Mirabell Palace

Ornaments at Christmas Market - Salzburg Convention Center - Jesus in the snow (St. Peter's Cemetery) - Unicorn in Mirabell Park - Decorated door in Salzburg - Salzburg Skyline from Mirabell - Nonnberg Abbey in Winter - Dreifaltigkeitskirche (Trinity Church) in Winter - Statue at Mirabell Gardens

Lamb at Mirabell Palace - Decorated Window in Salzburg - Kollegienkirche in Winter - View on Mülln in the winter - Christmas Market stand in Salzburg - Kapuzinerberg Walls in the Snow - Madonna depiction in winter - Mirabell Garden in Winter - Winterly Salzburg View

Michaelerkirche with Christmas Trees - Altes Rathaus Salzburg - Beehive in Salzburg - Steingasse in the Snow - Lebkuchen (Gingerbread) at Salzburg Christmas Market - Winterly Mozartsteg Bridge - Ice Rink in Salzburg City Centre - View on Salzburg in the Winter - Mozart Statue in Salzburg Old Town

View on Salzburg Altstadt from Mönchsberg - Christmas Tree ornaments in Salzburg - Christmas Market at Salzburger Dom - Salzach River Promenade in Winter - Coat of Arms at the Residenz Palace - Johanneskirche im Imberg - Salzburger Dom Cathedral with Christmas Market - Schloss Mirabell Palace in Winter - Kapitelplatz and Hohensalzburg Fortress in Winter

Samstag, 12. Dezember 2009

New Salzburg Sightseeing articles

A handfull of new Salzburg sightseeing articles were also published today. Please note: Almkanal - Christuskirche - Andräkirche - Judengasse - Künstlerhaus - Rathaus

3-Star Hotel Salzburg: Cheap Hotel in the Salzkammergut

Yes, there is a cheap hotel in the Salzkammergut - and we found it! Welcome Three Star Hotel Obermayr to our hotel directory!

Gourmet Hotel Salzburg

Welcome to a new entry in our Salzburg Hotel directory: The Gourmet Hotel Rosenvilla is centrally located and famous for its luxury breakfasts.

Hotels in Salzburg: Province covered

A new era begins for Visit-Salzburg.net, as our new listing of hotels and private accommodation in all municipalities of the province has been published. Below, you see the links to individual articles. Enjoy!

District: Hallein / Tennengau
Hotels in AbtenauHotels in AdnetHotels in Annaberg-LungötzHotels in Bad VigaunHotels in Golling an der SalzachHotels in HalleinHotels in KrisplHotels in KuchlHotels in OberalmHotels in Puch bei HalleinHotels in Rußbach am Pass GschüttHotels in Scheffau am TennengebirgeHotels in St. Koloman
District: Salzburg-Umgebung / Flachgau
Hotels in AnifHotels in AntheringHotels in BergheimHotels in Berndorf bei SalzburgHotels in BürmoosHotels in DorfbeuernHotels in EbenauHotels in ElixhausenHotels in ElsbethenHotels in EugendorfHotels in Faistenau am HinterseeHotels in FuschlHotels in GroßgmainHotels in GrödigHotels in GömingHotels in HallwangHotels in Henndorf am WallerseeHotels in HinterseeHotels in Hof bei SalzburgHotels in KopplHotels in KöstendorfHotels in LamprechtshausenHotels in MattseeHotels in Neumarkt am WallerseeHotels in Nußdorf am HaunsbergHotels in Oberndorf bei SalzburgHotels in ObertrumHotels in PlainfeldHotels in SchleedorfHotels in SeehamHotels in Seekirchen am WallerseeHotels in St. Georgen bei SalzburgHotels in St. GilgenHotels in StraßwalchenHotels in Strobl am WolfgangseeHotels in ThalgauHotels in Wals-Siezenheim
District: Salzburg City
Hotels in Salzburg City
District: St. Johann im Pongau / Pongau
Hotels in Altenmarkt - ZauchenseeHotels in Bad GasteinHotels in Bad HofgasteinHotels in BischofshofenHotels in DorfgasteinHotels in Eben im PongauHotels in FilzmoosHotels in FlachauHotels in ForstauHotels in GoldeggHotels in GroßarlHotels in HüttauHotels in HüttschlagHotels in KleinarlHotels in Mühlbach am HochkönigHotels in PfarrwerfenHotels in RadstadtHotels in Schwarzach im PongauHotels in St. Johann im PongauHotels in St. Martin im TennengebirgeHotels in St. VeitHotels in Untertauern Hotels in ObertauernHotels in WagrainHotels in WerfenHotels in Werfenweng
District: Tamsweg / Lungau
Hotels in GöriachHotels in LessachHotels in MariapfarrHotels in MauterndorfHotels in MuhrHotels in RamingsteinHotels in St. Andrä im LungauHotels in St. Margarethen im LungauHotels in St. Michael im LungauHotels in TamswegHotels in ThomatalHotels in Tweng (comes with Obertauern)Hotels in UnternbergHotels in WeißpriachHotels in Zederhaus
District: Zell am See /Pinzgau
Hotels in Bramberg am WildkogelHotels in Bruck an der GroßglocknerstraßeHotels in Dienten am HochkönigHotels in Fusch an der GroßglocknerstraßeHotels in Hollersbach im PinzgauHotels in KaprunHotels in KrimmlHotels in LendHotels in LeogangHotels in LoferHotels in MaishofenHotels in Maria Alm am Steinernen MeerHotels in MittersillHotels in Neukirchen am GroßvenedigerHotels in NiedernsillHotels in PiesendorfHotels in RaurisHotels in Saalbach-HinterglemmHotels in Saalfelden am Steinernen MeerHotels in St. Martin bei LoferHotels in StuhlfeldenHotels in TaxenbachHotels in UnkenHotels in UttendorfHotels in ViehhofenHotels in Wald im PinzgauHotels in Weißbach bei LoferHotels in Zell am See

Sonntag, 6. Dezember 2009

St. Nikolaus or St. Nicholas - a happy one to all of you!

Today is the 6th of December, St. Nicholas' Day. A day of joy in Austria, especially for kids: On Nicholas', children get red bags full of sweets, little toys, nuts and oranges. Alas, only the good ones do - the naughty ones get beaten up by the Krampus. Note the related custom of the Perchten in Salzburg and other parts of Austria, which are going through their main season right now.

Mittwoch, 2. Dezember 2009

Smoking in Vienna / Austria

One of the many things I hate about Austria is the smoking. It shows that Vienna is essentially an extension of the Balkans. However, there is a group of people that fight smoking in public venues and hereby, I want to express my solidarity with them and link to their website:
http://www.rauchersheriff.at/

Christmas Markets in Vienna: Quick 2009 Review

Ok, the last two weeks I have toured several Christmas marekts in Vienna and here comes my verdict: Pretty good, actually! Some notes on individual Christmas markets:

1.) Rathaus: The one in front of the city hall is the main one, big and pompous as every year, a tad too touristy for my taste, but still authentic in terms of goods on offer and general atmosphere. I even liked the lanterns and lights in the trees better than last year. Must be getting old.

2.) Spittelberg: Tries hard to be anti-mainstream as every year, but from year to year, I am growing increasingly tired of this one. C'mon, this is Vienna and not Berlin! Stop being so f*ing bobo, nobody believes you anyway. Still a nice Christmas market, but gentrified and not anti-mainstream at all. Just Green-mainstream and crowded due to the high popularity the Spittelberg enjoys among locals.

3.) Schönbrunn: Touristy, not too big, but in impressive scenery. Good for a combination with a walk in the winterly gardens of Schönbrunn. As every year, no big change.

4.) Karlsplatz: The Christmas market in front of the Karlskirche is my personal favourite of 2009. It seems to be the new Spittelberg-Christmas-market in terms of being different from the others: Local crafts and simple goods, a bit off-mainstream, but without trying so damn hard to be different. Relaxing atmosphere, mostly local people, relatively few junkies for the Karlsplatz.

5.) Altes AKH: Clearly my least favourite for 2009. Similar to the Spittelberg, the Altes AKH tries hard to be the "it x-mas market" and fails miserably. Crowded, noisy and ways too commercial for being genuinely alternative. The Indian foods are nice, but don't save the experience. Save the Altes AKH for the summer season. Loads of students think its cool, though, because it normally is their campus.

Donnerstag, 19. November 2009

New Sitemap Arrangement for Visit-Salzburg.net

Another innovation: The Sitemap was re-arranged. Enjoy!

Salzburg Germany, Salzburg Europe & Salzburg Description: More and more new articles!

Another set of new articles for Visit-Salzburg.net have met the light of the world:

Description - Germany - Europe - Dresses

And, slightly more useful:

Walking Tours - Beer Gardens

Montag, 16. November 2009

Salzburg Art & Culture - and two more

Another set of new articles for Visit-Salzburg.net:

Firstly, some words about arts and culture in Salzburg, divided into several articles:
Main Article on Art & Culture: Music - Architecture - Fine Arts - Literature & Drama - Pop- & Sub-Culture - Customs & Folk Culture

And then there are two more: Gay & Lesbian and somewhat the opposite direction, Christian Sights.

Mittwoch, 11. November 2009

Universities in Austria: Students' protests continue

I have to admit that I did not expect such lasting resistance, for several reasons: I was a delegate to the ÖH (the Austrian Student's Union) myself until 2003 and remember how passive the Austrian students were; I went to the AudiMax in Week 1 of the occupation and saw how hardcore left-wing most of the students there are (certainly not representative for the majority of students); and I know that the conditions in Vienna are considerably worse than at any other university in Austria when it comes to over-use of facilities and stressed faculty.

However, they are still there: The main lecture theatre of Vienna University is still occupied. The good thing about this is, that education is now seriously debated in the media. Whilst the demands of the occupants are absurd (free education, 100% unregulated access to the universities, no tution fee anywhere in the world, etc.), some serious arguments are put forward. And Austria's young people are finally heard - quite an achievement in a country where retired people, farmers, doctors, teachers, unions, trade unions, general civil servants, railway employees, etc. have spent decades in forming an impermeable "insider" shelter.

For a new idea on educational matters sparked by the protests, see this article in today's Presse.

Sonntag, 8. November 2009

E-Mail from Rohrbach in Upper Austria

A friendly e-mail (in German) from the Mühlviertel for TMC:

---

Lieber Herr Mandl!

Ich unterrichte Englisch an den berufsbildenden höheren Schulen in Rohrbach/OÖ. Bei der Suche zum Thema „Clichés and Stereotypes“ bin ich auf Ihre Website gestoßen und finde sie äußerst amüsant und hilfreich. Ich werde sie sicher meinen Schüler weiterempfehlen. Als 17 – 19jährige, die meistens noch nicht über Österreich hinausgekommen sind, haben sie ja großteils keine Ahnung, wie der Rest der Welt uns sieht.

Als „zuagroaste“ Rohrbacherin bin ich auch angenehm überrascht, wie gut unser Städtchen bei Ihnen wegkommt. Viele hätten wohl befürchtet, Rohrbach unter den „crappiest places“ zu finden.

Ich bin auch Gastgeberin bei der internationalen Organisation Servas, d.h. ich beherberge immer wieder kostenlos Gäste aus aller Welt. In Zukunft werde ich diesen als Vorbereitung auf einen Österreich-Besuch auch gerne tourmycountry.com empfehlen.

Zusammenfassend also: Vielen Dank für die tolle Arbeit, die sie da geleistet haben! Und abschließend die Frage, ob Sie mir erlauben, für Unterrichtszwecke Teile Ihrer Website wiederzugeben. Ich habe ja nicht nur Laptop-Klassen, da wäre ein komprimiertes Handout oft hilfreich.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Freitag, 6. November 2009

Alexander Wrabetz & Austrian National Broadcast ORF in Trouble

My former employer, the Austrian National Broadcast (ORF) appears to sink deeper in problems as time passes on: Today, the tabloid daily paper Österreich reported a steep decline in viewers that the company seems to be unable of stopping. In addition, there is an increasing number of competitors - the Vienna-based private TV channel ATV just saw its highest number of viewers in the channel's history this week. Private TV channels from Germany, belonging to the Pro7 group, have extended their focus on the Austrian market since 2007, when all households in the country with TV sets could receive the digital "broadcasting". The ORF responds with pay-cuts, removes staff especially among its rather privileged managers via sometimes very golden handshakes and sends staff into early retirement. This is due to severe financial problems: The company reported losses of several dozens of million Euros.

Behind closed doors, ORF staff speculates about losses as high as 100 million Euros since 2007, when the current director Alexander Wrabetz took office. Rumour has it that the company lost a lot of money in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, via the Vienna-based Bank Medici. Whilst such rumours are without any profound evidence as of now, the highly political ORF will remain a topic of great interest in Austria in the coming year regardless of how the financial situation develops. Especially with regional elections in Vienna coming up, which makes the social democrats increasingly nervous after recent losses. The ORF director is considered a "red" manager and has been politically active for the left-wing VSStÖ during his student days.

Sonntag, 1. November 2009

Student Protests in Vienna, Christmas Markets in Salzburg

Whilst Vienna University is facing the most extensive student protests the city has seen for many years, Salzburg is gearing up for the Christmas season: The market stands for the many Christmas markets of the city are being built up.

In the skiing areas, the lifts are getting ready for the opening of the season. And even in the city, which is now between seasons, you will still find groups of tourists that come for sightseeing.

Samstag, 17. Oktober 2009

Negative/Critical Feedback about Favoriten article

Here we go, a negative response to the article on Favoriten, the 10th district of Vienna:

Sehr geehrter Herr Mandl,

ich war wirklich schockiert über Ihre Beschreibung des 10. Bezirkes auf Ihrer Homepage!!! Sie begnügen sich fast ausschließlich damit, die schlechten Seiten hervorzuheben (die es in JEDEM) Bezirk gibt, und erwähnen wirklich nur sehr kurz, und fast hämisch, die schönen Seiten Favoritens. Jeder Favoritner, der ihre Beschreibung liest, wird das als Affront empfinden!!!

Ich bin übrigens in Favoriten aufgewachsen und lebe immer noch dort ohne eine Drogendealerin oder ähnliches geworden zu sein!!!!!

Ich hoffe, Sie fühlen sich in Döbling bei den Snobs wohler!!

XXX

Thanks for asking - in fact, I do, despite of my dislike for snobs. Not that I had ever lived in Döbling, but I would certainly prefer it to Favoriten.

Montag, 28. September 2009

Samstag, 19. September 2009

News from Salzburg, Austria

A couple of new articles were uploaded on www.Visit-Salzburg.net:

Salzburg Facts
Salzburg Attractions
Weather
Shopping
Salzburg Card
Robinighof
Pfarrkirche Gnigl
Großarl
Lungau
Salzburg Flag

Plus, a dummy page as a filler: Youth Hostel Salzburg

Beyond that, many articles were supplemented with photos in the past few days - we will continue to do so in the next, so stay tuned.

Montag, 14. September 2009

Things not to do in Salzburg: Enthusiastic e-mail

Enthusiastic fan mail for Visit-Salzburg.net:

---

To everyone responsible for this website,

I want to say thank you for one of the best, funniest (humorous) informative, unique, imaginative websites I have ever seen. As I was making notes on the great "inside" information you provide, I was also laughing at the informality and friendliness of the writers of the information.

I love the "Crappy 10" and you are correct, not everyone in the US voted for that idiot George W. Thank you for knowing that. Your website was more valuable to me than all the others, many of which are all the same. I am 57 years old and a full time student at St. Cloud State University here in St. Cloud, Minnesota, US and I am majoring in Travel and Tourism and I can't wait to return to Salzburg again after so many years (1972).

Your website makes me feel genuinely welcome as a human being and not as a money spending ugly American. : ) I hope you are proud of your website. You certainly should be. Very well done and honest and real and sincere. Thank you again and keep up the good work. Best wishes,

xxx

Montag, 7. September 2009

Sporthotel Salzburg: Dachstein Ski Hotel

Give a warm welcome to the fourth entry in the Salzburg Hotel directory of Visit Salzburg - Sporthotel Dachstein West, a three star hotel from the Salzburg side of Mount Dachstein:

http://www.visit-salzburg.net/hotels/sporthotel-dachstein.htm

Good luck and a successful season!

Dienstag, 1. September 2009

Snowmobiling in Austria

Hi,
First, great website - thanks I will use your sight often as my sister just moved to Vienna.
I want to come over to see her this winter and I am wondering if there are any places in Austria where people snowmobile? Can you rent sleds - so you have any contacts?

Thanks so much, xxx


---

My reply:

Thanks for your kind words regarding my website! I have never come
accross snowmobiles in Austria except for emergecy services that use
them on slopes. So I am afraid I can not offer any information on that
- if you find a place that offers snow mobiles, I would be grateful if
you could inform me about it so that I can include a few words on it
on the website.

Thanks a lot and enjoy Austria,

Benedikt

Montag, 31. August 2009

Freedom Party Austria: More Feedback

Two posts down this blog, you see a message by a reader that thought I was too harsh about Carinthia's xenophobia and the Freedom Party of Austria. So I sent him a link to my article on Jörg Haider and the Freedom Party and received the following friendly reply:

---

Dear Benedikt,

I am forced me to recant my statement ; "too complicated and political to explain", since you do a very good job and do explain it very well, especially the corrupt political system. The summary of the Freedom party history is quite interesting, thorough without boredom. I always found it amazing, the tricks Haider would use to bolster his popularity, such as elaborate state visits to Sadam Hussein to tweak the nose of Uncle Sam and his critics.

Many Carinthians found this immensely entertaining as they understood full well, what he was up to. I'm not sure I would describe the party as xenophobic, though. Weren't they just trying to protect Austria from illegal immigration, people who came to milk the system. If you look at the Danish and Dutch experience, they learned the hard way.

I remember vividly my youthful summers spent in Spittal, comming home annualy to our family residence over the summers in the 60s and 70s and my parents engaging curious friends, neighbors and family, who would anxiously cross-examine us over everything in America. It was always fun and interesting discussions as they had a chance to get the real story from "die Amerikaner" as we were respectfully refered to. All knew, our family had found the "American Dream" and wanted to rub shoulders. Back then, Austrians had a hard time understanding, and did not want to accept, that yes, indeed, corruption existed in Austria through the stifelling control of the parties and was not exclusive to the US.

You describe that very well and I congatulate you and thank you for the link to the thorough, articulate description of the disgraceful party control over all aspects of Austrian commerce. May it be relegated to the dustbin sooner rather than later!

You are welcome to post my comments, anonymously, if you feel it would be of interest. In retrospect however, I feel that I was a little too harsh on you.


My best regards to you,

xxx

Sonntag, 30. August 2009

E-Mail from Rudolfsplatz, Vienna

Here is another friendly e-mail that I received yesterday - please don't think that I publish only positive feedback, I usually post all longer, substantial e-mails that I get through TourMyCountry.com regardless of whether the feedback is positive or negative.

"Dear Benedikt,

I am sitting in my flat next to Rudolfsplatz in Vienna's First District, and just came across your website. I'm getting ready to spend my second night in the city, since I arrived just yesterday, but I will be living in Vienna for at least two years.

Since I was a contributor to a blog, I know how much work goes into one, and, although I'm not in the habit of writing fan mail, I wanted to thank you for putting together a very informative and entertaining information resource. I've lived in a number of other countries, but I've never come across a website that provided such a down-to-earth and honest portrayal of a country. I think your website would be better, however, if you provided some background on yourself.

I think the personal information would help your readers to better evaluate your views and put it into perspective. For example, you must not be from Vienna, since you're so critical of the city, but knowing where you're from can perhaps also provide an insight on how Austrians from other parts of your country see Vienna. In addition, I wondered where you live now, and what took you away from Austria and whether you still live abroad. Information about your age and present occupation would also be of interest. As I read your website, I even wondered whether you were a man or a woman, until I saw the reference to your name. And judging from your family name, you might be Jewish, which, if true, would give your judgments regarding Austrian xenophobism greater credibility. In short, your personal story, posted on the website's home page, can provide another insight into Austria.

By the way, I had an interesting conversation with a colleague of mine, an American like myself who is married to an Austrian and has lived here since graduating from college. As we passed the Votiv Kirche, my colleague commented on the billboard in front of the church, mentioning that he knew the pastor very well, a long-time resident who is Maltese. I was personally shocked to see how the billboard obstructed the view of the church, but my colleague related how it happened. He said the pastor obtains a good income from the billboard's revenue, which is essential to the renovation, which cleaned the building's limestone and returned it from black to the original white color. The pastor said Austrians go through three stages when confronted by a new idea -- first they claim it is impossible to do, then they criticize it, and then finally they imitate it. (Evidently the other major Viennese churches have started to do the same thing.)

And thank you for letting me know that "Edelweiss" is not actually an Austrian song!

Best regards, xxx"

---------------------------

Here is my reply:

Hi xxx,

Thank you very much for your kind words! I appreciate feedback, since the website is a one-man-show, user feedback is the only measure by which I can improve the site. Regarding your suggestions to include more information about myself: I have to balance information because of the reasons you pointed out quite correctly (to underline the subjective character, to allow readers to evaluate my approach better, etc) with my drive not to make it too personal and blog-like (I hate websites that are done only for the sake of promoting oneself).

To accomplish this balance, I have a only short statement on the purpose of TourMyCountry.com with a brief biography of mine at http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/about.htm (don't know if you have noticed that, but it is linked from the bottom of every page). For those that are interested in me in more detail, I think that a google search for my name will take them directly to my "professional" CV website at benediktmandl.com, where further information can be found.

As for your friend's analysis on Austrian behaviour regarding novelties: I perfectly agree with it. For this topic, see also http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/lifestyle-culture.htm and
http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/like-dislike.htm and http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/badhabits.htm and http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/features-austrian-people.htm (with the latter one I just noticed that it needs to be layouted and linked properly - as I said: Feedback helps me improving the site).

If you happen to have a website, blog or facebook profile - I would appreciate links to TourMyCountry.com! Thanks a lot and have a great time in Vienna (I am in Luxemburg for the summer and will return to Vienna in late September)!

Benedikt

Freitag, 28. August 2009

Friendly mail for TMC

"I had first visited Austria in Wien in 1991, fell in love with my "clean NewYork" (born and raised there). Then later I traveled throughout Austria and now am a permanent resident with so much more to see and do.

I just happened onto your site and think it is great. You have given me moreideas. It is interesting that your home province includes my absolute favoriteplace - Bad Hofgastein. Keep up the great work"

Relaunch: Slightly new layout for Visit-Salzburg.net

Last night, TourMyCountry.com's sister-website www.Visit-Salzburg.net was re-launched with a slightly altered layout. For returning visitors, the online Salzburg travel guide might appear essentially the same as before, but subtle changes ensure improved usability, a tidier look and - most importantly - a more concise HTML code in the background. This means that loading times are shorter. The new layout makes the website more similar to TourMyCountry.com and will make it easier for the two websites to present themselves as two pillars of one strategy - presenting Austria as a holiday destination from behind the scenes.

Dienstag, 25. August 2009

Toni Sailer dies at 73

Sad news from Tyrol: The Austrian skiing-legend Toni Sailer died at the age of 73. For more on the skiing champion from Kitzbühel, see my article on "Toni Sailer" in the skiing section of TourMyCountry.com.

Montag, 24. August 2009

Supplementary Info on Carinthia & Austrian Culture

I got a message this morning that I think makes a good supplement to the information that I provide on TourMyCountry.com. As I state in the "about" section, the website draws my personal, subjective view on Austria - here you can read on an alternative approach from one of my readers:

"Darf Ich mich vorstellen, Ich heisse xxx, geb Spittal a.d. Drau und lebe seit xxx in NYC wo Ich meine Firma besitze. (May I introduce myself, my name is xxx, I was born in Spittal an der Drau and live in NYC, where I run a company - translation included by BM)

Since I don't have umlauts on my keyboard, and its simpler and less formal, I'm going to continue in English. I just stumbled accross your web site and felt the urge to write you and compliment you on a good job. If you will please endulge me,however, there are some things I take exception to, like the harsh and trivial way you deal with Carinthia for one. Don't get me wrong, I'm no big fan of many of my narrowminded provincial-landsmen, but because some Europeans didn't like Haider, it's hardly fair to describe them as xenophobes or right-wing nazis.

They are certainly not. You conveniently left out the fact that for almost 50 years, the Kaerntners, being good socialists, elected SPO for their Landeshauptman (governor - comment added by BM) and Klagenfurt, Villach and Spittal Mayors. That is until FPO's Hfrt. Leopold Guggenberger, former Mayor of Klagenfurt upset the applecart! Shame on you?

The Socialists of couse delivered the goods and votes for the party machine in Vienna, which took them for granted and usually delivered very little in return for Kaernten! But of course, that's to complicated and political to expain and you do have to sell google adds. (socialist co?) Which leads me to your analysis of Vienna, where you do hit the nail on the head. Das ist Wiennerisch - stets arrogant! Myself, like you, I love Salzburg. The Salzburger is open, friendly, productive, elegant, cultured, and business friendly. In short, the cutest little "big city"in Europe, and I've seen them all, while working in Copenhagen for xxx in the mid 70s.

It is my chosen home in Austria although I have cousins all over. Overall, you've done a great job of presenting Austria to the world, but remember one thing, before you bash Sound of Music, for all the corny stuff you correctly point out. Austria was unfairly labbeled a nasty little nazi country where Hitler came from. (promoted by the likes of Lillian Helman and Otto Preminger, who just wouldn't be persuaded otherwise by their good friend Chancellor Bruno Kreisky)

The movie broke that mold, and you should praise Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp family in Vermont for that ! ! ! Thanks to the turn of events from that movie, Austria and its rich culture, recieved renewed interest and a tourist tide from all over the world, which has not receeded to this day. You can thank your wealth and prosperity in many ways to that annoying (to us Austrians) fake movie. Keep up the good work and if your ever in NYC, look me up. Best regards and pfeadi.'"

Further Reading:
http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/freedom-party.htm

Freitag, 14. August 2009

Austria Travel Links: Directory online again

I recently encountered a few problems with my server, which resulted in the loss of the database for the link directory and broken e-mail adresses. Both issues are solved now and you can use the normal e-mail contacts as provided on the webiste again. Additionally, the Austria Travel Link directory went online again - thanks to the help of Manuel Will, who works as a programmer and web designer in Salzburg.

Here are the main navigation points of the directory:
Bars & Entertainment
Websites by Region
Hiking & Summer Sports
Hotels & Accommodation
Music & Culture
Public Institutions
Restaurants & Dining
Sightseeing
Skiing & Wintersports
Transportation & Travel
Travel Practicalities
Vienna
Wellness & Spa

Mittwoch, 12. August 2009

Biofuels in Austria: New Technology from Vienna

Austria has a strong agriucultural lobby, which promotes the use of biofuels to fight climate change. Whilst environmental activists have long recognised most of the arguments for first generation biofuels as highly dubious, second generation biofuels (those made from non-edible organic matter) are a big hope for future energy supplies. Researchers from the Technical University of Vienna have now developed a technique to transfer a funghus into an organism that reproduces sexually, which will make it a lot easier to modify it for the application in bio-chemical engineering. Read more details in English here or the original press release of the TU Vienna in German here.

Montag, 10. August 2009

A parent website for two siblings...

TourMyCountry.com has developed from an idea first tested at a different website - the independent, student-run website www.Visit-Salzburg.net, a travel guide for people who want to experience Salzburg behind the scenes of the usual cliches. This is essentially the idea that I tried to lift to a pan-Austrian level at TourMyCountry.com. Now that the two website's collaboration is still alive after more than two years, we set up a "parent" site that links the two: www.onreda.com will present traffic information and other background for the two Austria travel guides. In fact there is reason to celebrate: TMC went beyond 33,000 visitors last month, Visit-Salzburg beyond the magic 30,000. Together, the "Onreda Travel Guides" cover Austria in pretty good detail - and will continue their development.

Mittwoch, 5. August 2009

Haider Museum in Klagenfurt, Carinthia?

Some might have expected this, to me it is at least not very surprising: Fans of the deceased rightwing-populist leader Jörg Haider plan to build a temporary exhibition on Haider's life and career of their idol which might well turn into a permanent museum. The museum will be in an old tunnel in Klagenfurt, which was used as a bunker by local civilians - and high-ranking Nazi-officials towards the end of WWII, as the German paper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" reports (in German). For further information on Haider and the Freedom Party of Austria, see the respective article on TourMyCountry.com.

Jorg Haider Museum planned in Klagenfurt

Some might have expected this, to me it is at least not very surprising: Fans of the deceased rightwing-populist leader Jorg Haider plan to build a temporary exhibition on Haider's life and career of their idol which might well turn into a permanent museum. The museum will be in an old tunnel, which was used as a bunker by local civilians - and high-ranking Nazi-officials towards the end of WWII, as the German paper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" reports.

Freitag, 31. Juli 2009

Natascha Kampusch Case: Neverending story...

One of the ever-green stories of Austrian mainstream media, particularly popular during the summer break when nothing happens, is the case of Natascha Kampusch. There are never-ending speculations whether there was a complice of the guy who kept her like a slave in the basement - and there are fairly convincing indicators that this might have well been the case. Today (Friday, 31st of July 09), the head of an investigation unit and former judge of Austria's highest court, Ludwig Adamovich, was quoted saying that he wouldn'd unterstand the secrecy about the protocols from Kampusch's initial interrogation. For details on the current discussion about Natascha Kampusch, read the overview article on orf.at (in German). Meanwhile, Natascha Kampusch herself has made headlines by purchasing her kidnapper's BMW (English artilce in the Wiener Zeitung, which in my opinion follows the issue in the best manner of all media - but usually in German). For a sarcastic approach to the issue, read my article on "Austria for Freaks" on TourMyCountry.com.

Dienstag, 28. Juli 2009

Austria Travel Information: New Map Online

Whilst the credit crunch is eating the frist hotels in Austria and much of the tourism industry especially in Vienna and Salzburg are facing severe losses, there are also positive things to report: Note for example the fancy new Austria map with interactive features that the Official Austrian travel board has launched. A useful tool, especially as long as the map of TourMyCountry.com is offline (I am working on it, though).

Note also that the Haydnjahr is supposed to bring fans of the Viennese Classic to Austria, thanks to the 220th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn; in my beloved hometown, the less beloved Salzburg Festival has started in the meantime. I am also preparing a new focus on Austria's musical hertiage - to be launched soon.

Freitag, 24. Juli 2009

Aquarium & Fish Information Website

Once again a short posting on a topic that is not related to tourism in Austria (the regular theme of TourMyCountry.com). If you happen to have an aquarium, you might be interested on a website that a friend of mine is in the process of starting: It will deal with fish, aquariums, fish hunsbandry and technical aspects of keeping a fish culture. There is not much to see as of now, but this should change soon, so do stop by and have a look at the website once in a while. It will be published in German and English, with other languages to follow.

Dienstag, 21. Juli 2009

Internet Agentur Salzburg: New Rising Star

Are you looking for somebody in Salzburg doing a website for you? A bunch of friends have recently founded a company, for details see Internetagentur Salzburg - they do everything from web contect, web text, content management, design, production and technical things. The focus of this Salzburg Internetagentur, however, will be web marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO). They have collaborated with me on www.visit-salzburg.net and hope that they are diving into a successful future and that our collaboration will prosper with them! All the best, Gesagt-Getan!

Sonntag, 14. Juni 2009

3 More new Articles on Salzburg

Our sister-project www.Visit-Salzburg.net has three new articles:

Car Rental: Hire a Car - obviously in Salzburg
Hostels & Budget Accommodation - once again in Salzburg
Flights to Salzburg

Enjoy!

Montag, 8. Juni 2009

European Elections: Results of Austria

The European Elections were preceeded by generally boring, but at times very aggressive campaigns. The Freedom Party became extremely vicious with respect to muslims in Austria. As the results show, it didn't fare that badly with this strategy - however, for me it is more important that the main pro-EU party (the conservative People's Party) lost "only" three percentage points and ranks clearly as the number 1, far ahead of the Social Democrats, who have engaged on a "Yes, but"-policy that had a severe credibility problem.

The results are published for each province, district and community by the Ministry of Internal Affiars.

Recent Additions: Finishing up the County Towns of Austria

I have recently completed reviews of the remaining county towns of Austria - I hope I havn't missed any significant ones.

These were the last ones:

Amstetten & History of Amstetten
Gänserndorf
Hollabrunn
Korneuburg
Neunkirchen
Lilienfeld
Scheibbs - Part I & Part II
Waidhofen an der Thaya
Zwettl

Note also the new article on the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.

Montag, 1. Juni 2009

Maria Gugging re-opens as a top-notch research facility

The IST Austria opened this week, which is great in my opinion, because I am a scientist and think that Austria is in great need for high-quality research. Maria Gugging is located just north of Vienna, in Klosterneuburg. See this article by my dear colleague Erich Witzmann of "Die Presse" for further details.

Donnerstag, 21. Mai 2009

Salzburg Hotel List updated

My big sister www.visit-salzburg.net is in the process of becoming my little sister - recently, I overtook the much older website on Salzburg in terms of visits, later also in terms of page impressions.

Nevertheless, www.visit-salzburg.net is doing well and just had it's Salzburg Hotel Directory re-vamped. Have a look if you plan a visit to Mozart's city in the near future.

Sonntag, 3. Mai 2009

Tardy TourMyCountry.com

Sorry for being somewhat lazy on TMC recently - things have been busy for me workwise and will continue to be so until summer (July, that is).

Nevertheless, there are a few new things to see.

For example, a series of articles on nationalism at Galician universities in the 19th century; or background information on Austrian and German Studentenverbindungen (fraternities).

The Austrian background & culture section is under re-develpment, too.

Have fun!

Benedikt

Mittwoch, 25. März 2009

New Articles: Haider & the Freedom Party of Austria

There is reason to celebrate: TourMyCountry.com has grown to more than 1,000 articles! This refers to editorial content only and excludes the link directory and other dynamic content.

The most recent additions were a set of articles in which I have tried to explain the lasting success of the Freedom Party and the deceased Jörg Haider. The articles are written in a rather neutral and descriptive manner. Here's the first page: http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/freedom-party.htm

Furthermore, I re-arranged the background pages: http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/background.htm

And with very few exceptions, all county towns (Bezirkshauptstädte) of Austria are now considered with an article.

Mittwoch, 21. Januar 2009

Kind E-Mail for TourMyCountry.com

Here's a friendly message with a request that I got from South Africa. Maybe my reply might be useful for other readers of TourMyCountry.com as well, so I thought I would publish it.

Question

Hallo Benedikt,

We are a couple from South Africa (about 60 years old) considering to explore parts of Austria (including neighbouring parts of Germany and Switzerland) in May and June of 2009 during a three week trip. We intend to have a car, drive ourselves and try to *experience* the country, rather than just *see* it, and herein lies the problem that I thought you might please be able to offer me some advice on. We plan to start and end the journey in Venice and I'm including a map picture of our planned route - the numbers represent chronological stops/points of interest along the route.

We are used to doing this kind of thing in Italy and we usually try to stay on the back roads, visit the small villages along the way, stay in rural bed and breakfast places and generally avoid the big hotels and city centres - other than to visit them during the day for the places of interest and have a meal or drink in at night. During my searches for places to stay in Austria, I always seem to get Hotels, even though they call them "Guest Houses", "Pension", "Gasthof", or "Bed and Breakfast". These "Hotels" seem to focus on the skiing tourist and my biggest concern is that they might not have a pleasant atmosphere for us as non-skiers to enjoy. So my first question is really - does the family run 2 to 4 room bed and breakfast exist in Austria and how do I find them? Alternatively, is my fear about the Austrian Hotels unfounded?

Will not being able to speak German be a problem at the family run B&B's - our native language is Afrikaans - a little like Dutch with some harsh sounding words of German origin in as well - and we are fluent in English Many thanks for your site and all the information on it - I'm still working through the various sections to add your attractions to the list of places to see/visit. I realise we're still missing some parts of Austria, but it's mainly an issue of time and distance, not any other particular reason for skipping it. My last question is about understanding the way of life in Austria. We are used to planning our days around things in Italy being closed between say 13:00 and 16:00 and then starting to awake again around 17:00.

I gather this is not the case in Austria? We'd then want to sit down for a drink at say 18:00 to admire the scenery or people going by in the town square - children playing in the "piazza". Is this a thing you see in Austria? I appreciate your time in answering my questions

Best regards, xxx

My Reply

Hi xxx, Thank you for your interest in my website and congratulations for the detailed plan you have worked out for the Austria-in-depth tour; I wish all visitors of my country would be that considerate. The tour seems well-balanced for Western Austria; you will cut out essentially all of Eastern and South-Eastern Austria at the benefit of seeing Bavaria and parts of Switzerland, which is consistant though and in many respects "one cultural sphere".

I will also give you a reason to come back and do Eastern Austria/Hungary/Slovakia/Bohemia one day. The route you are planning is really long, so make sure you plan to have enough time. Small, family-run B&Bs are usually called Pension or Gasthaus/Gasthof (with inn). They usually don't appear online, as they often don't realise how important the internet could be even for small companies. It is best to book them the 'conventional way', either through the local tourist information centres or by phone. I think you are right concerning your worries about big hotels - especially in skiing areas, they can be very sad.

I am sure you can order catalogues of B&Bs from local tourist information centres. I recommend to cross the Tauern mountains via Heiligenblut and the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, given that it will be free of snow and accessible at this time of the year: It is an amazingly scenic piece of Austria. In Bavaria, I saw that Hohenaschau is on your route; I was there a few months ago, check out the fortress (only IF it is open for general visitors - which is concerned with the Adel-in-Bayern exhibition!) and maybe, once you are there, the monastery of Seeon. Other monasteries you might want to see (just off or even on your proposed route) are Wilhering (Rococo) and Kremsmuenster (mostly Baroque).

Regarding opening hours: On the country-side, you might have lunch breaks for one or two hours, but this is the exception these days. Supermarkets don't close for lunch and generally, the situation is more "civilised" in Austria than in Italy. Shops are closed on Sundays and after 7 pm, though (or even earlier). English is wide-spread even on the countryside, it will be easier to communicate than in Italy - even though elderly people might not be fluent. Piazza life is less charming than in Italy, but still something worth seeing and a drink at 6 pm is a concept followed by many Austrians, too. Have fun on your trip!

Best, Benedikt

Second Question

Hi Benedikt

Thank you for your suggestions, I've included them in our itinerary. We'll certainly take the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse route and we've decided to have an overnight stay at the Burghotel Aschau to have more time for the castle Hohenaschau I realise the route is very long and we've had to watch the time taking to visit all the stops - though fortunately some days turn out to be quite leisurely. As you can see I'm using Microsoft's Autoroute 2007 which does the hard work of figuring out the time taken to cover the distance using speed limits that I've set to below average driving speeds on all roads. My wife immediately noticed that your site "loads very quickly" so your CSS efforts must've paid off ;-) I especially liked your Dining and Cuisine section and as I have a rather sweet tooth and an inborn carnivorous disposition, I should do well in Austria.

And yes, we will bring our own tea. Speaking of tea, have you tried a South African tea called "RooiBos" - meaning "Red Bush"? It's a bit of an acquired taste because it's a bit sweeter than ceylon but very enjoyable once you've gotten used to it - not your typical herbal tea at all. You can read about it on www.rooibos.com and if you fancy a try just let me know - we'll drop you some off when we visit Salzburg because it is not widely exported and I can't imagine it being popular in a country that does not favour tea!? I just checked - they have a partner in Vienna - looks like an ex South African from the surname - so there goes a business opportunity ;-( Any other gastronomical interests we can satisfy? We have good wines too. And brandy's as well. Books on food/wines/cooking? Speaking of Salzburg - do you perhaps have a suggestion for a place to stay in Salzburg - somewhere close enough so we can walk to the main attractions but still easily accesible by car? Parking?

Many thanks and regards, xxx

My Second Reply

Hello xxx,

The fortress of Hohenaschau is only open since last autumn for a special exhibition - I don't know when this exhibition ends, but make sure not to spend too much time there if all is locked again (the fortress is normally used as a hotel for civil servants - rather bizarre, I know).
As for Rooibos: It will probably surprise you, but as far as tea goes, it is actually quite popular in Austria and sold under its Afrikaans name or as "Rotbusch". I quite like it; you can buy tea in Austrian supermarkets at good quality, in my article I was relating to the stuff you get in cafes and restaurants - various infusions of dried fruits and herbs and god knows what.
Funny that you mention the CSS - I have just changed that recently and didn't expect anyone to notice except for some geeky friends of mine.

Thank you for your offer to supply me with tea or other delights from South Africa! I am living in Vienna now, so I'm afraid we won't meet in Salzburg. But I can of course recommend places. For a central yet reasonably priced hotel, look into Goldene Ente. Since you have a car, consider the much cheaper places such as Ferienhotel Herzog in Neumarkt am Wallersee (about 20 mins from Salzburg by car, the town where my parents live, the hotel is run by a very friendly family and faces the lake and mountains behind it - http://www.ferienhotel-herzog.at/index1.html) or Hotel Obermayer, which is run by friend of a friend and is said to offer very good value for money: http://www.hotel-obermayr.at/

The hotel of a friends' parents can be found here: http://www.stefanihof.at/ Situated by the beautiful lake Fuschl very close to Salzburg - but be warned: The pension looks less fancy than the website, their son is a professional web designer. I would expect fairly good value for money, though, and Fuschl is nice. Parking in Salzburg is free if you are willing to spend a lot of time looking for space, or costs a small fee if you are not - in any case, the fee will be less than what you will save by staying at the Herzogs or in Hintersee.

Best wishes, Benedikt