Note: Before we get started, why does the title say kind of like a local??? Easy… we’re vegetarians and I’m fairly confident in declaring that most of the locals in Austria are not. But I digress… There’s nothing better than making new friends abroad and then visiting them in their home country.  Except maybe visiting them at their parents’ house where their mom fills you full of all sorts of &#91read more]

What do you do with yourself when you’re living in a small industrial/farming town of 4000 people in Lower Austria?  You borrow a bike (preferably for free from your landlord), cycle the famous Donauradweg trail along the Danube (in the UNESCO World Heritage Wachau region), and explore all the nearby castles and abbeys. Cycling the Danube While you would be hard pressed to find more than a few tourists in &#91read more]

An apartment of our very own. One place. One bed. One whole month. As we neared the end of the Camino, we knew that this was exactly what we needed. We were tired of being tourists – after constantly being on the move and having to orient ourselves in a new town or city every day, we were ready for a break from it all. Enter Loosdorf, Austria. Population: 4000. &#91read more]

I’m in a bit of a rut… just like the title of this post suggests, I cut my hair every six months whether it needs it or not. That may seem like a long time to go without a haircut, but it’s not really. I get it cut short (probably because I’m frugal and I don’t want to pay for more hair cuts than I need) and don’t touch it &#91read more]

Mike’s biggest disappoint at Versailles, France was the absence of a hedge maze. In his mind, every self-respecting castle or palace should include a confounding labyrinth of greenery in its gardens. Preferably with a minotaur. Forget chandeliers, intricate paintings, and fancy decorations… this is what every palace REALLY needs So, when we found out that the gardens at Schloss Schonbrunn in Vienna had an area called “The Labyrinth,” there was &#91read more]

After walking every day for a little over a month, we were ready to settle down. For the past three weeks or so, we’ve been renting an apartment in Loosdorf, a small town in the middle of Austria. To get here, we flew from Santiago de Compostela to Barcelona where we spent another lovely night in the airport. From there, we flew direct to Vienna. Barcelona Airport Vienna is the &#91read more]