Austria… its just very Austrian!

Okay, it’s also a bit “Sound of Music” and generally very Alpine but it’s also very self-confidently Austrian. They have a national culture, character, cuisine which they completely embrace. Seriously they DO wear lederhosen, and not just for the tourists. They play long alpine horns (and cow bells) as musical entertainment and every single house where there is a balcony is festooned with flowers, is there a law about this? You just could not get away with a scrappy front garden.

Obviously we have been in tourist places but in Weilderwald, they barely spoke English. With our German being pretty poor choosing from menus has been interesting.

But good for them, for being so whole-heartedly who they are and living life their way: whole families out in the fields raking grass by hand. Not that they are not a modern nation, automatic lawnmowers appear to be a big thing here. (Self guided hamsters that nibble your lawn all day long and then park themselves on recharge at night – genius, not very exciting to watch but still genius).