The first weekend we visited Austria to try some sledging with a group of Indo-Pak colleagues from his work. Being my first time, and a road trip, I was rather fascinated at how in Europe the borders are so fluid. I wouldn't have noticed we had crossed from Germany to Austria if a girl in our group hadn't announced it. I took my passport with me, of course, but ultimately didn't require it. It was a rather strange sensation.
The following weekend we visited my in-laws in Paris and this time took the train. On the way there, again, I didn't need my passport but there was a random check on the train back to Munich, which my husband said was the first time he'd been asked for his passport in his over one and a half years of making the same trip.
With Europe having such fluid borders, it made me realise how different it is to live in Britain where travelling abroad is really quite an adventure, one that requires much more preparation, thought and a triple-check that you have your passport on you. While our continent-based counterparts usually will have a national ID card as well as their passport, we're dependent on our little red book. Our island life affects our relationship with the continent no doubt: the Euro currency, the Schengen visa system and much more but we have our own little passageways into Scotland and Wales creating a mini-continent.
But having made these trips, despite the painfully long 6-hour trip to Paris, a sense of excitement and freedom sort of awakened, making me realise how much I can explore just being in Europe alone. I don't have the restrictions of those with the limited Schengen visa, since they can't visit the Uk without applying for a separate visa, and I can just access these new places. It's liberating and fascinating, but all travelling requires a little bit of cash and I guess if I do motivate myself out of being a hermit into more of a traveller, there is quite a lot of potential out there for me.
Below are a couple of pictures of our adventures in Austria
Our hotel
A short walk from the hotel
A mini waterfall on our walk
Walking back up to the hotel
In the town
View from a bus stop
Heading back to the car
A view of the valley from the mountains taken on our sledging route
Apple
Crumble
A Tunisian couscous
Batch one of raspberry and white chocolate muffins and a chocolate-covered crème de châtaigne cake
Second batch of muffins... after one had been stolen
