Day 25 - Villach

Today's going to be dull. I don't think I'll be doing anything but traveling. Even when I get to Rome I'll probably just stay in.

I ate breakfast, showered, and packed my things. Then I walked down the hall to the reception where I was greeted by a very friendly and apologetic staff. They gave me my deposit back and a little something extra as an apology.

I accept.

Then I briskly walk down the street to the station to make sure I don't miss the the first train. I'm supposed to take a train to Villach, Austria and wait for a couple hours before boarding a bus that drops me off at a Venice train station just in time to catch another train to Rome. should be around 11hrs of travel.

Couldn't I be stuck in Venice rather than Villach, Austria for a couple hours?

I catch the first train and eventually we stop at the Villach station. I set the timer on my watch to count down to the time my bus leaves and then I start looking for somewhere to eat. There are quite a few places near the train station, but I want something more authentic.

Maybe there's a town square somewhere.

I keep walking away from the train station and I start to hear music. Eventually I come to a small square in front of a church where the music is coming from. There are a few temporary food stands propped up around the square. I'm deciding between eating at one of those places or continuing on in search of s better place when out of nowhere gunshots start erupting to my right. The sudden noise made me jump horribly. After a couple seconds I decide it's the sound of firecrackers, but I want to confirm. I walk around a food stand to look down the street. Are those..?

Whips.

Massive whips cracking in unison swung around by ten big Austrian men in liderhosen. They pause for a minute, then the leader starts up the routine again. It's awesome. I decide to walk the direction they came from and in less than a minute a big wagon pulled by four horses comes down the street with about 30 barrels of beer.

This is so awesome.

The farther I walk the more lederhosen I see. The women are all wearing traditional Austrian dresses as well. Eventually I come across barricades, police, and a ticket booth. There's a massive festival taking place on the other side. I gladly pay the €9,00 to enter the festival and I'm immediately glad I did. I don't quite know what they're celebrating, but by the looks of it, they're celebrating Austrian culture and beer.

Everyone is wearing traditional Austrian clothing and drinking Villacher beir. I assume Villacher is a local beer in Villach. I find a place to have lunch and a beer in the heart of the festivities. After my pint and sausage I head over to the main stage where the action is. Everyone in the audience is cheering, hollering, and clapping for the men and women dancing on stage. Traditional dances with intricate dance moves and authentic music.

I am absolutely loving it. My thoughts have drastically switched from 'what am I going to do for two hours in this town, to 'do I really need to catch that bus?'

I decide that, in fact, I do need to catch that bus.

I'll have to make the most of the next hour.

I stick around the stage because it's the most exciting thing around and the dancing is really starting to draw a lot of attention and enthusiasm. Towards the end of a dance a guy and girl about my age wearing traditional clothes join me where I'm standing. I've got the best spot in the whole crowd. I don't mind sharing with them though. Especially her, she looks spectacular.

After the dance ends the guy walks the girl up the stage and starts to point out things around the town to her.

She must be here visiting for the festival.

One of the original dancers whistles at them but they don't notice so he walks over to them to tell them to get off the stage. Before any words are exchanged, the dancer throws the poor guy on the floor and halfway across the stage. Then he takes the girl's arm.

Here we go. Nothing better than a couple lederhosen-wearing Austrians fighting over a pretty girl.

The guy gets up off the ground and marches over to the dancer, grabs his ear, and pulls him off his girl.

This is planned?

It soon evolves into a routine and the crowd is roaring. While the two guys fight and slap each-other across the face, a third dancer comes and takes the girl. Then he joins the fight, and eventually a fourth dancer does the same. It is awesome.

After 30 minutes of the most amazing dancing ever, I decide I have to walk back to the train station so that I can catch my bus to Venice.

I caught the bus to Venice, and the following train to Rome. It's a high-speed train.

Why aren't all trains high-speed trains.

By the time I get to Rome it's past 10pm. I checked into the hostel then went and walked around for a bit. I'll have to do most of my sightseeing Sunday and Monday.