It seems I brought the warm weather with me when I came to Austria. Today was another scorcher. Today in Villach it got up to 86 (F) and it was common place in the suburban areas to see grandparents in swimwear sitting on their porches.
Since it was my day off I left Sattendorf (where I live) to catch the train at the St. Urban train stop (which is almost in Bodensdorf). It was about a 15 min walk and I managed to catch the 9:32 am train into Villach.
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| Train ticket machine at St. Urban |
The next couple of paragraphs are paraphrased information from my Villach brochure:
Villach is the closest large city (the other being Klagenfurt) with a population of about 58,000. It was founded by Romans (initially was just a road and bridge point). Over time it traded hands quite a bit going from King Henry II to Archdiocese of Bamberg in 1007, purchased by Marie Therese in 1759 (including properties that are now modern day Italy), market law declared in 1060, and finally in 1240 it was declared a city. The city also experienced many disasters like earthquakes, fires, epidemics, and being crushed by a piece of mountain (1348). Apparently though the city was able to survive with the traffic of goods from Venice. During Reformation, Villach became protestant (1526) however during the Counter Reformation all the protestants were driven out.
Apparently even Napolean reached Villach and held it with his regiments from 1809-1813. During WWI, Villach was used as a front city to Italy and during WWII the Allied Forces chose to bomb Villach (because it was an important railway junction). In total Villach experienced 52 air raids and in addition to the railway being destroyed 1,300 civil buildings were destroyed including large parts of the historical town centre.
The train ride was only a half an hour and I arrived in downtown Villach. I didn't really have a plan of where to go other than to wander around. Right away I saw a church with a clock tower so I made my way towards it. On my way over I stopped by a bakery and bought some strawberry ice cream (throughout my wanderings I discovered that a simple cone with a single scoop of ice cream is 1 euro). I also ran into St. Nikolas Church and the tourist information booth (where I picked up my brochure). I crossed the Town Bridge (which apparently is considered the oldest in Carinthia, Carinthia being a region in Austria). From my reading I learned they used to collect tolls to cross it and that it was wooden until 1858. The bridge I saw today was built in 1960. Once I walked over the bridge I entered into what appeared to be the main street of the historical district (no driving, only walking) and my map tells me it is called the Hauptplatz. Much to my amusement I saw a McDonalds (yes I took pictures) and a Oakleys on the street.
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| Map of Villach (courtesy of PlanetWare) |
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| Crossing the bridge |
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| Looking up the old main street Hauptplatz |
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| The McDonalds on Hautzplatz! |
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| The Oakley store on Hautzplatz |
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| Statue on Hautzplatz |
A couple blocks up I ran into the church I had spied earlier which I later learned was St. Jakob's church. Hoping there was a way to climb the clock tower I wandered around the church looking for signs or an entrance. I didn't see any signs but I did find two doors. One was open and has prices for adults in children. Assuming this was the clock tower I walked in and paid the man (who only spoke German) sitting at the counter 2 euros then started climbing the stairs. It turned out to be a very long climb. In some ways it was nice though because every flight of stairs there would be a wooden floor where you could take a rest and read the signs and information they had on the church. Unfortunately all their educational material was in German so I had to depend on my brochure:
It was first mentioned in 1136 as a Roman Basilica but they don't actually know how old the foundation is because the old church was destroyed in an earthquake in the 14th century. It was rebuilt in 1360 in Gothic style and in 1526 became the first Protestant church in Austria. However in 1594 it became Catholic again. The church's spire was destroyed in an earthquake in 1690, and while it was rebuilt it wasn't finished until 1847 and eventually it was connected to the church. It is 94 meters high (highest in Carinthia) and has 240 steps.
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| Church of St. Jakob |
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| Statue near door of St. Jakob's church |
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| Signs on St. Jakob's church in German |
I had somewhat underestimated my climb and when I had reached a steep spiral of stairs I thought I was almost to the top but in fact had 2 more flights of stairs to climb. Once I reached the top though I was able to exit on a walkway that circled around the top and even included benches to sit on. I rested up there a little bit before navigating my way down (photos will be added in later).
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| Stairs of death in St. Jakob's Church |
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| View from top of St. Jakob's church |
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| View from top of St. Jakob's church |
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| View from top of St. Jakob's church |
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| View from top of St. Jakob's church |
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| View from top of St. Jakob's church |
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| View from top of St. Jakob's church (Hautzplatz) |
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| Diagrams of St. Jakob's church found at the top |
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| Photo of Hautzplatz (found at top of St. Jakob's church) |
Once down I wandered into the church side of St. Jakob's church and took some pictures of the alter and then went back to St. Nikolas church to take pictures inside there as well. I then proceeded to wander the rest of the city. Other interesting shops I found was a Singer store (for those who know their sewing machines) as well as a 100% lavender store that had a purple bicycle out front.
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| Inside St. Jacob's church |
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| Inside St. Jacob's church |
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| Inside St. Jacob's church |
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| Inside St. Jacob's church |
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| Inside St. Jacob's church |
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| Inside St. Jacob's church |
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| Inside St. Jacob's church |
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| Inside St. Jacob's church |
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| Inside St. Jacob's church |
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| Inside St. Nicolas's church |
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| Inside St. Nicolas's church |
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| Inside St. Nicolas's church |
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| Inside St. Nicolas's church |
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| Inside St. Nicolas's church |
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| Inside St. Nicolas's church |
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| Villach building |
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| Lavendar Shop |
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| Lavender Shop (bicycle) |
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| Lavender Shop (bicycle) |
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| Singer store |
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| Statue in Villach |
Starting to get hungry I wandered into Park Cafe and tried to order some lunch (menu in German; waitresses spoke German). Luckily I knew the word for water ('wasser', the w is pronounced like a v) and I chose something called penne verdura (sounded safe). It turned out to be pasta with eggplant, onions, tomatoes, and peppers (turned out to be a large serving). I sat there for probably an hour working on lunch and rehydrating.
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| Park Cafe |
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| Lunch in a big bowl! |
Afterwards I wandered around the streets a little bit more and stopped for some ice cream. I tried to get some peppermint ice cream but somehow ended up with strawberry again. I worked my way back to the train station and bought my ticket back to St. Urban. When I hopped on my train back to St. Urban it took a stop before I realized I was on the wrong train. I had mistakenly thought that the final destination on the train I was suppose to get on was St. Viet when in reality I wanted the train going to Freindorf. I realized my mistake pretty quickly though and hopped off. I had to wait a half hour to get to catch a train back to Villach and then once I reached there I doubled checked my platform and train. Luckily I got it right this time although two minutes before arrival the train switched platforms (I followed everyone else to the right platform).
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| Strawberry ice cream for 1 euro! |
Once back at the St. Urban station I walked back to my house in Sattendorf and had some dinner (bread, cheese, yogurt). My austrian family has some nice cheeses in there fridge which I might break into if I get hungry later this evening. I may or may not be in Klagenfurt for the next couple of days and I won't know until tomorrow. But I will keep you updated.
Overall what I noticed today is:
1. Villach doesn't have (from what I observed) English signs or many English speakers
2. Pointing goes a long way
3. Ice cream is EVERYWHERE and only costs 1 euro for a scoop
4. Cafes are more numerous than restaurants, however cafes often provide food so they are similar to a restaurant
5. The population seems very homogenous. From what I observed there aren't the same types of ethnicities I would see back in the U.S.
6. There are still many things I didn't get a chance to see or visit in Villach, so when I get a chance I will try to travel to Villach again.
UPDATE: Photos uploaded!
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