Вне конкуренции или швейцарско - итальянская безупречность (продолжение. часть 5) Out of competition or Swiss-Italian perfection (continued, part 5)

Seventh day. Austria

So, early in the morning we are heading from Italy to Austria and heading for the city of lakes and gnomes Klagenfurt. We are met by the real pride of Austria, the land of Carinthia - an unforgettable lake district. The distance from Tavagnacco to Klagenfurt is 160 km. , two hours of driving through the extraordinarily beautiful mountainous hills, and here it is one of the most beautiful cities in Austria - Klagenfurt. No matter how they call it, it is both the southern pearl of Austria and the wonderful rose of Lake Wö rthersee. But we immediately noticed that Klagenfurt is a very green city, surrounded by bright carnival colors. /14/1581477.jpg" style="height: 600px; width: 400px" />

We are met by the guide Ella, a lady of very pleasant appearance, in an elegant suit, in general, the dress code is fully maintained (I even wanted to take a picture of her in order to present Akkod-tour with a sample of how the guide should look like). Ella pleased not only our eyes, but also our ears. The story was interesting and fascinating, only the pace of the tour was very fast, so the streets, fountains, churches, houses flashed before my eyes like in a kaleidoscope.

We walked around the city center, or rather ran on foot, in the historical center we felt like in the real Middle Ages - the old buildings admired the sophistication of style.

But meanwhile, it is very striking that here the past is reunited with the present, the old small streets turn into modern avenues, and the old architecture calmly coexists with modernity.

                                                        Despite its small size, the city is rich in sights. The Austrians, like the Germans, are very fond of legends. According to legend, the city was founded in honor of the slaying of a dragon. And in honor of this event, the monument “Dragon Fountain” or Lindwurm was built. .jpg" style="height: 600px; width: 400px" />

       Although the real history of the city's emergence is much simpler. It was built in 1246 at the crossroads of trade routes. But the location was chosen unsuccessfully and the city was constantly flooded. Then the ruling Duke Bernhard von Spanheim moved the outpost to a new location and thus, according to the official version, the city of Klagenfurt was founded. And on the square there is a statue of him, which is also a fountain. />

Another interesting and unique monument in Klagenfurt is the bronze statue of Empress Maria Theresa. It is unique in that it is the only monument where the empress is depicted standing. " style="height: 600px; width: 400px" />

Main square of Alter Platz. The main streets and alleys built up with old mansions flock to the square. On the square is the seat of the government of Carinthia - Landhaus, a building with a rich past. It was built in 1574-1590. on the site of the old castle, originally there was an arsenal in it. "height: 600px; width: 400px" />

There are only two administrative centers in Klagenfurt: the New Town Hall and the Palace of Estates. The new town hall is located on the new square right behind the “dragon fountain”, it was built in 1580-1582, but was subsequently rebuilt in 1650.

The building of the Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) was built in the 17th century. From 1737 to 1918 it was the seat of the city government. Since 1918 it has been the palace of the Orsini-Rosenberg family.

On the old square stands the Column of the Holy Trinity, it was erected in 1860 from wood, in gratitude for getting rid of the plague. Opposite you can see the oldest building in the city "House at the Golden Goose", specially built for the emperor, who gave the fortress to the city. /01/58/16/1581622.jpg" />

The center of the religious life of Klagenfurt is the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. It was built in 1578 and is the main temple of Carinthia and the cathedral of the Catholic diocese. But we, unfortunately, were not in it.

We visited another cathedral - the Church of St. Egidius, even listened to a tour inside the cathedral. 1581512.jpg" style="height: 600px; width: 400px" />

Klagenfurt has a very active theatrical life, which takes place within the walls of the Klagenfurt Theater, built in the Art Nouveau style. The building is very beautiful, but unfortunately my photo is not uploaded and I cannot show all its luxury and beauty.

                                                                                                                                                                                  — Yes, as luck would have it, the guide Ella decided to please us in parting with her vocals. The vocals, of course, had to be listened to and appreciated, which stole another half an hour of precious time from us. Then the whole group begged the guide for a little time to "spend it home", the guide gave time 30 minutes. In the supermarket, they frantically grabbed whatever came to hand, I just looked out for Austrian chocolate with the image of Mozart, some yogurts with a roll to have a snack on the road, and that’s it. We ran to the bus and it turned out that not everyone came, we had to wait for those who were late. In the end, everyone gathered and we went to Minimundus. The cost of the elective is 8 euros + the entrance ticket is 18 euros, the money was naturally collected by the guide in advance. We arrived, and then Katya announced to us that since we don’t have time, she gives us 45 minutes to visit the park?? ? Well, here I am, who all the time steadfastly endured all the ordeals of the bus tour, for the first time I rebelled - why even take us to the park, where there are 170 objects of world masterpieces for 45 minutes ???!! ! We won’t even have time to run through everything, and not what to consider at least something. After my screams, Katya added another 15 minutes to us, and now we were able to spend just one precious hour in this beautiful park, which is a blatant disgrace.

Minimundus is an open-air museum that presents the most significant and interesting buildings and structures in the world, made in miniature. The park, with an area of ​ ​.26 thousand square meters, was founded in 1958. Minimundus contains copies of buildings and sights from 53 countries of the world. All models, and there are more than 170 of them in the park, are built on a scale of 1:25. Each copy of the architectural masterpiece is made from the same material as the historical original.jpg" style="height: 533px; width: 800px" />

       In one day you can visit the whole world! See St. Peter's Basilica, Taj Mahal and Eiffel Tower. The attention to detail in each exhibit is simply amazing. The buildings look very realistic, the blinds, decorations, street lights and even the landscape is designed in such a way that you involuntarily feel like a giant. /01/58/15/1581552.jpg" style="height: 533px; width: 800px" />

This miniature world is especially enlivened by technical models made on the same scale: trains puffing with smoke move along the railways, cargo steamships and famous liners pass along the rivers and lakes. You can even watch the launch of the space shuttle from a replica of the spaceport at Cape Canaveral. And to manage some models yourself, for example, a giant space tracking antenna station.

My husband, like a child, rejoiced at the trains moving along the rails and endlessly filmed them.

The park has a playground, cafe and gift shop.

An interesting detail - Minimundus Park sends all proceeds from ticket sales to charitable foundations that actively help children.

In general, having run across the park at a trot and gallop, in the last 3 minutes we even managed to drink coffee in the park. Of course, I am delighted with the park, but in such a short time nothing really can be seen. Therefore, advice to tourists, never agree to this elective if it takes less than 2 hours. And by and large, you need to spend at least half a day here. But there's nothing to be done, with dissatisfied grumbling, we all packed into the bus, farewell tour through the territory of Austria, and we are heading to Budapest. The distance from Klagenfurt to Budapest is 500 km. Katyusha tells us about Hungary and its traditions, but no one hears anything anymore, everyone is overcome by terrible fatigue. At 10 pm we arrive in Budapest. The city met us with lights, shining bridges, in general, awesome illumination! style="height: auto ! important; width: 641px" /> And we are heading to the embankment for an exciting river boat trip on the Danube. Music was playing on the boat, the guide was talking about something, but everyone enjoyed only champagne. Champagne was unlimited, and 23 euros had to be justified, so the walk was more like a drunken party, but it was more of a plus than a minus. After a ride on a boat, we, high on champagne, finally got to the hotel. The Budapest hotel was located on the territory of the Buddha, far from the center, but it was no longer important, since there was no longer any strength or desire to see the city. Although I love this city very much and I am ready to return there many times.

Day Eight : Budapest - Lviv.

We liked the hotel, and we have already stayed in this hotel once. The breakfast was chic, after an 8-day half-starvation, my eyes ran in different directions. After filling the table with dishes and starting to eat, I noticed the stunned look of a Japanese woman who sat down at our table. She was slowly picking some peas on her small saucer with a fork, the rest of the space on the table was full of our plates with everything. For some reason, I felt ashamed, and for some reason it was funny to my husband, but nevertheless, we continued to destroy everything that was. Having had enough, we packed our belongings, checked out of the hotel, took a general photo as a keepsake, and went to cross the border. Before the border, we received a huge bonus from our "pani cap" Katyusha! We were given the opportunity to visit the Tesco! Praise the Gods! And finally, we “stinged home” in full, having spent all our euros, forints and depleted our card accounts. But stocked up as expected and satisfied with shopping, we went to pass the border. We crossed the Hungarian border quickly, stood in line for a bit, in general, the whole procedure took about 2 hours, and straightened to Lviv. Distance from Budapest - 580 km. We arrived in Lviv at about 22.00 at terminal A. Everyone was given time to clean up, have a snack, etc. , and an hour later there was a transfer to the Lviv railway station. And we stayed overnight at the hotel at terminal A. We booked the room in advance, it turned out to be very comfortable, a two-story room with a bedroom on the second floor (the price included breakfast for two).

Well, here we did the Swiss - Italian journey. But the gallop is enough for me. Next time we are planning a trip only within one country and most likely an air tour.

      Successful travels, new acquaintances, incredible impressions and fulfillment of all desires.

My entire opus consists of 5 parts. (who is interested in the whole route, I provide links to the rest)

1. Germany

2. Switzerland

3. France

4. Italy