When I met my friend Jodie in Budapest in August, it was my third visit.
The first time was pretty much unsuccessful – not Budapest’s fault.
The second time was also relatively unsuccessful – again, not Budapest’s fault.
The third time’s the charm.
summer
A European holiday with Australian flair
In August I was lucky enough to have a visitor – one of my best friends in the world was undertaking her very first Eurotrip and after a 14 day cruise from Amsterdam to Hungary I met up with her in Budapest.
The Austrian Mowing Uniform
You will be both thankful and disappointed there are no specific photos for this blog post.
I’ve mentioned mowing in previous blogs, Austrians’ need for a perfectly manicured lawn and their penchant for mowing around the flowers. But I have forgotten to mention one detail so far. There seems to be a kind of mowing ‘uniform’ in Austria… and it’s… bathers. Continue reading
Stinger City
There is a significant difference between summer and winter in Austria. And in summer, every plant goes mad. Something that was basically a grotty patch of mud two weeks previous can unexpectedly bloom a veritable forest of green and colour. It’s amazing to see.
Weird Things Austrians do – mowing around the flowers
Austrians are pedantic about lawn mowing. Their lawns must be perfect, mown weekly, shorn to an exacting length. I’m quite sure there are fines issued if you breach lawn mowing rules, or at least a disapproving neighbourly glare! Each garden boasts a lush lime carpet of soft grass, devoid of weeds or lumps and bumps. And while I don’t think I’d have the patience to maintain such perfection, it certainly looks amazing, and feels warm and spongy on bare feet in the summer – a huge contrast to the brown-tinged, prickly lawn I grew up with (because there’s a drought, people).
Four seasons, four years, four photos – fawesome!
This is a photography project, four years in the making. Now, I’m no photographer, I have no patience – I stand and I shoot. With this project I exhibited persistence rather than skill. I went back to the same places, in the middle of each season, to see what the differences between the four seasons really were. The results, for all my amateur skills, are pretty cool. Have a look – Wolfsberg – four seasons – enjoy!
Long Trips – Christmas in Australia – warmth, sunshine, family & friends
Returning after a holiday always leads to a multitude of questions: How was it? What did you do? And you answer: Yeah, it was awesome! We did heaps of cool stuff! But where do you go after that? How do you pick out just a few notables that that particular person might be interested in hearing about?
Well, I just spend a month in Australia. And it was awesome! And we did heaps of cool stuff! And if you really want to know more, keep reading!
Having a Garden – it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it
With the transition from an apartment and a tiny balcony, to a house with a huge backyard it was not only the Adventures of Green Thumbs that added additional work to our plate this year!
Green Thumbs – Part 2 – The Growing
Heading into the start of summer, low and behold, all (ok, most of) the seeds I’d planted sprouted small green leaves. The radishes were thriving so naturally I planted plenty more – so proud. The fail of part 1 became a distant memory.
5 pumpkins and 4 zucchinis emerged, and while I was fully aware that I’d planted too many, I couldn’t quite bear to pull them out. What if some died later? The better idea, I thought, would be to keep them.
Might rethink that next year. What on earth can we do with 60+ zucchinis?
Stadtfest (Town Festival)
Summer in Austria equals festival time! On any given weekend there’s usually something going on, be it a small, local event or a bigger, region-wide festival that completely takes over.
I have visited a number of town festivals over the last few years and although some of the bigger ones are a lot of fun, there’s nothing better than simply walking the 10 minutes to the Wolfsberg city centre when it’s our turn. Everyone in town turns out to crowd the streets, catch up with one another and party the night away. But no matter the size or the occasion, there’s definitely common elements to all.
an aussie in austria 