Autumn colours in Carinthia

We're still way back in the past here! But it never hurts to remember how fantastic autumn is, even if we may feel a little sad right now that it has slipped away and turned to winter behind our backs! This is post one of two detailing a brief expedition I made to Carinthia (Kaernten) at the end of October. I visited friends who I have hosted repeatedly for many years in Vienna, but like a typical Viennese person, I had never managed to leave the bright lights of the city to return the favour until now...

I stayed in my friends' flat in a big house on the outskirts of Villach, a town of about 60,000 people close to Austria's mountainous border with Slovenia, and firmly among the Alps. However, I did not see anything of the town other than the train station, because there were much more important things around, namely woods and mountains!

It was another one of those warm, sunny autumn weekends that Austria is blessed with. As is common here in that most magical season, the valleys were covered in thick but extremely low hanging clouds/ fog at daybreak, which slowly broke up throughout the day. Waking early on my first morning I was encouraged out into the chilly mist to observe the view from the back terrace and discovered a direct view over fields and houses to a picturesquely perched castle on a nearby hilltop, wreathed in mist. A few hours later and the sun had burned the mist away, leaving the same castle surrounded by bright splashes of colour from the many trees.

After lunch it was time to head towards the castle. Not to go in, but instead to visit the japanese macaques living next door. Over 100 macaques live at the Affenberg (monkey mountain) attraction, chosen because they can deal handily with the alpine winters without having to be brought indoors. The monkeys were brilliant to see, and the whole experience was improved by the wise words of our guide through the enclosure (where the macaques run free and you have to watch out they don't steal your stuff!). My favourite fact was that social skills count for much more than brute strength if you want to push your way up the ladder in macaque society. A heartening thought!

After the monkey mountain we set out further into the woods, following a ridge with occasional views to a large lake to the north and a stunning alpine panorama to the south. The woods were perfect, huge splashes of intense colours making bold contrasts with stands of dark green conifers or moss-covered outcrops of metamorphic rock. In shaded areas the moss, swamp, standing water and bracket fungi provided a silvery blue-green palette in stark contrast to the blazing intensity of the stands of deciduous trees lit by the slowly sinking autumn sun. We wound up and down on top of the ridge for several happy hours, before descending to the shore of the lake (Ossiacher See) just as the sun was setting.

Pictures are as always at the link, and sometime soonish you will get another post about our adventures on days 2 and 3 of my stay!

Bis bald,

Der Tom