Part Two- Lower Austria

The huge sale in Villach

Looking out on the lake in Velden

Mahler's summer composing house

The statue showing how a few men killed a dragon to found the town

Well I woke up the next day and started my adventure. Klangenfurt was a really cool college town, and I enjoyed walking around taking pictures, and just wandering. I decided to go into the tourist information centre. I stumbled on an advertisement for one of Mahler's komponierhäuschen or "composing huts" Mahler worked at the symphony for 9 months out of the year, and the main time he had to compose was the summers. So I decided, heck yea! I asked the woman at the station how to get to the his composing hut, and she told me that there was a bus that went there, but the ticket was about 20 euros. So I decided to do the logical thing... save 40 euros and walk there. So I caught one of the city busses which took me only so far. I knew what road it was on, but I had no idea how far it was. Well it ended up taking me almost 2 hours to walk there... but boy was it worth it. You arrive at a parking lot and a small sign points you in the direction of the hut. It ends up being a wonderful 20 minute walk up the side of a mountain, through quiet, undisturbed forest. When I finally arrived, I was astounded at how small it was, only about 20' by 20'. I entered and was immediately greeted by a very friendly guide who was just as enthusiastic about Mahler as I was. He put on some of Mahler's lied and I perused the hut, which was PACKED full of Mahler information. The only problem was that most of the information was in German, and while I could read some of it, at times I would have been lost. But the guide offered to help me read anything that was confusing, or to help with German words, and that was really cool. I spent almost 3 hours reading manuscripts, parts of his diary, or letters to his beloved wife. It was an amazing journey into the life of Mahler. I left the hut and headed back into town, which only took 1.5 hours this time because I walked to the lake. I just relaxed and took pictures, had a snack, and just enjoyed the beautiful day and the beautiful "euro park" as they called it. I decided to leave Klagenfurt and make my way to my next destination; Velden. It was a short train ride, maybe 30 minutes, and I arrived in town at around 5. I checked what road the hostel was on and set off. The town was quite beautiful, however, it was empty. I could tell right away that this was a summer town, and in winter, it became a ghost town. I began walking down the street to the hostel, Seecourso 37, that should be pretty close I thought. After walking for a few minutes I came to a grim realization, on the right the numbers were even, the left odd. Since the left side was right against the water, there was only a house every km or so. So while the right side was on house number 42, the right was only on 9. I realized quickly that this would be a long walk. An hour later I arrived at the hostel, it was literally at the edge of town, 37 on the left side, and 246 on the right. So I walk into the hostel, and the man at the counter greets me, and we go through the normal procedures of checking in. I headed up to my room. And the hostel was extremely quiet, too quiet, actually, it was completely silent, and all the lights were off. I headed back down to the desk and asked the manager, "Will I have a roomate" he let out a small laugh, and then informed me that I was the only person here, and breakfast was 7-9. I was the only person in a 200 person hostel, on the outskirts of town... It was right out of a horror novel. To make it worse, the manager then proceeded to lock up and head home. So by 7:15 I was the one and only person in this huge building. Creepy. Well I decided to look around; this hostel was incredible. Swimming pool, game room, 3 dining rooms, this place had it all... minus the people. I decided that my only choice was to take the hour long walk back into town and see if I could find something to do there. Well this town did have something to do... one thing, gambling. The entire town was shut down and quiet... minus the casino, it was packed. People hurrying in, and it was only 8:30. I thought about going in, but decided it would be a bad idea. So after walking around for awhile and realizing that NOTHING was open on a Saturday night except the Casino, I headed back to the hostel. It was a one hour walk through mist, on a dark night. The only thing that was needed now was a storm and and axe murderer. But I arrived safely back at the hostel, and passed out. I woke up the next morning early and left that hostel just as fast as I could. After the walk to the train station I headed out to my next destination, Villach. The problem with my planning of this trip was the Sunday's. On Sunday everything shuts down in every Austrian town and everyone goes to church. Which is great... unless you are a tourist. So I wandered around Villach for a few hours, taking photos and checking out the architecture. It was now around noon and I happened to stumble upon a HUGE outdoor market. Hundreds of people had set up tables, laid out blankets, or just had their possessions in a box and were trying to sell them. I wandered around the parking lot for at least two hours, just making small talk in German, bartering, or just perusing. It was a really cool look into the lives of these people, the things they actually had in their house, what they thought might sell, what others were buying. It was a great experience. After that I caught the 4:30 train to Innsbruck, and another chapter in my story was about to begin...