New Season

Hello!

Here I am, returning to my homebase: the good, old reliable blog.

I have been exploring the world of Social Media and I've enjoyed twitter. BUT: in the end it's always the blog which serves as an excellent archive, contrary to twitter, when searching for a certain photo, forwarding stories to friends or browsing through memories.

This blog has always served as a "Best of", at least to me. No matter how outdated blogging is in 2016, it feels right to pick it up and continue where I stopped.

Speaking of favourite places: a few weeks ago I went down South, the lake disctrict in Carinthia is just 330 km from Vienna.

Evening at Lake Ossiach, first day of the vacation, before tanning ;-)

I have visited Carinthia many times for many years, having walked on many frozen lakes. The Carinthian lakes are excellent skating "rinks":

Silbersee, Villach, Carinthia on New Years Day

This time I went there during the summer season, for the first time in ages. You can imagine my excitement. No, you can actually see my excitement:

Evening swim after a hot day at the literature festival. Lake Afritz, Carinthia, Austria

During the vacation the "40th Festival of German-Language Literature" happened to take place in Klagenfurt.

Very entertaining. Readings and the following discussions, seriously: big time entertainment. The festival takes place at the regional broadcasting studio and outside, in the garden in front of the studio building.

Stairway to literature heaven/hell*

 *depending on text & jury

Put "nerdy" in one picture? This! People listening to literature, 32° in the shade

Me, having an excellent time

Reading and re-reading at the beach the following days

Exclusive beaches in July (high season starting 2 weeks later)

The Wörthersee (Lake Wörth) is famous for ....

... its bright turquois water.

Happy people, nothing to complain about :-)

Free public beaches are rare in Carinthia, but they do exist. To my surprise many villages around the Wörthersee – the lake which is known for luxury and decadence – offer various free public beaches. 

The following photo demonstrates the wide range of colours and character those lakes in Carinthia provide: from tropical water (Wörthersee, above) to emerald green, mountainous forest lakes, such as Lake Vassach in Villach:

Another free public beach: Lake Vassach in Villach.

Enjoy your weekend!
Paula