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full country name |
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Republic of Austria |
| capital |
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Vienna |
| population |
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8.1 million (as of 2001) |
| surface area |
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83900 sq km |
| currency |
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euro (€) |
| exchange rate |
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US$ 1 = € 0.81 (as of March 2004) |
| language |
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German |
| main religion |
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78% Roman Catholic |
| Internet users |
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26% (as of 2000) |
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| Home Is Where ... The Backpack Is |
| Language. - The first time I visited Austria, I knew so little German that I accepted everything and was happy. The second time I visited Austria, I knew just enough German to realize how much I was ... (more) |
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Our flight from Toronto to Vienna via Frankfurt left February 25th, 2002. We arrived in Austria the next day and stayed for one month. From the end of March 2002 to July 2002, we used Austria as our home base for our travels in Europe, Egypt, UAE, and Turkey.
We spent a lot of time with family and friends, some of it at the Heurigen (a typical Viennese restaurant which serves wine from the owner's own vineyard and home-cooked food), at the Biergarten, or at the Gasthaus (neighborhood pub). We visited the capital Vienna, as well as Graz, Salzburg, Lienz, and many smaller towns. The highlights of these visits were: the Kernölpresse und Museum (Pumpkin Seed Press and Museum) in Heimschuh in the south of Styria, the Hundertwasser Haus in Vienna and St. Barbara Kirche in Bärnbach (a house and church designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser), an organ concert in the impressive cathedral in Salzburg, the inner rooms of the Festung Hohensalzburg (Fortress Hohensalzburg), Schloß Hellbrunn (Hellbrunn Castle) with its aquatic gardens, and last but not least the guided walk Der dritte Mann (The Third Man) which takes you to original filming locations in Vienna including the Vienna underground sewage system.
In 2004, we returned to Austria for a surprise birthday visit. Our flight from Delhi to Vienna left early in the morning of February 27th, 2004. Nobody had any idea that we were coming to Austria except for a few friends who helped tremendously with the logistics of the surprise. On February 28th, we walked into the birthday celebrations with our backpacks on our back. We spent most of our time with family, and flew back to India on April 6th, 2004.
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