Tunnelling into Austria

Crossing over into Austria is really crossing under – you travel through an 8km-long tunnel under the mountains.

The drive to Vienna was long and tiring, partly because we took a winding route which, while pretty, was no fun to drive. Our intended spot for a break proved a long way down the track and virtually impossible to find anywhere to stop in. It did provide snow enough for a quick snowball fight though.

There were some very pretty parts of the drive, especially at first when many of the surrounding hills had castles sitting on their tops. It was also interesting to see the different weather of the other side of mountains as we passed through several long tunnels on the way. The tail end of the drive was just a grind, made more so by a couple of wrong turns as we came into Vienna. Mercifully, dropping off the car proved painless.

So we rather staggered into Vienna at the end of the day, driven by a very grouchy me. It’s made up for by the view out our apartment window – we are right opposite the Vienna Opera House. I just opened the window of our home for the next few days to take the photo below.