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What better way to escape the Australian winter than by heading north? The Australian winter coincides with summer in Europe, and our member ozmatt has made somewhat of a habit of visiting during this popular travel period.
Each Euro-summer I head to Europe for as long as I think I can get away with it with work. I base myself in my favourite little city of Tallinn and travel to different parts of Europe from there. I have been doing this for close to 10 years now and looking back, my trips from 2007 to this year are a bit of a contrast.
My trip this year sees me in Europe for 5 weeks with only a couple of sidetrips outside of Estonia. I am heading to Salzburg for four nights and later in the trip to Odessa for another four nights.
A combination of Finnair and Qantas was used to travel to Europe. Finnair is a popular choice among Australian flyers due to their relatively cheap Business class airfares. From Australia, passengers can travel in Qantas Business class to either Singapore, Bangkok or Hong Kong, flying onwards to Europe with Finnair. On this occasion, ozmatt stopped over in Singapore. The trip got off to a great start on board Qantas’ refurbished A330 in a new Business suite.
QF does seem to get a bit of stick but I have to say my BNE – SIN flight was fantastic. Seating of 1-2-1 and sitting in 6A. Window seat with direct aisle access. Pick of the food was the crab pancake entree. Service from the all male crew could not be faulted.
Our member spent much of the trip rediscovering the Estonian capital of Tallinn. As well as the many fantastic restaurants, one highlight was the Sea Plane Harbour.
Today I went for a run out towards the Sea Plane Harbour. If you strike a rainy day in Tallinn and are after something to do, or if you are travelling with children, slot this into your itinerary. I haven’t been inside for a couple of years but it had some very interesting exhibits and I remember I spent many hours in there. Outside there is a flotilla of old ships to explore.
Several side trips were made from Tallinn to other parts of Europe. One of the destinations visited was Salzburg. The home of the “Sound of Music”, Salzburg is also famous for its salt mines and the spectacular scenery afforded by the Austrian Alps. It seems our member had a friend in Salzburg, and they made sure the visit was a memorable one.
Arriving into Salzburg railway station one of my good friends met me on the platform and rushed me straight off to some mountains she wanted to show me. As it turns out it was the absolutely spectacular Grossglockner High Alpine Road. I have not really seen anything like it. I love watching le tour de France each year and this was classic high mountain scenery straight from le tour!
Along the way, our member also came across a museum full of aircraft and Formula One racing cars, as well as an Austrian town with a rather unfortunate name!
Enjoy the full trip report HERE.
