Renting an apartment in Austria

Renting an apartment in Austria was trickier than we expected. There are a plenty of free apartments in Vienna and Mödling, but it’s hard to decide where exactly to live.

How far from the work? How far from climbing? If we move close to Wienerwald forest we could train on the hills. Or maybe we should live close to the freeway, we are probably going to drive somewhere a few times a week and on weekends…But there is also climbing in Mödling, should we live in that part of the town? After all, it would be pretty cool just to walk to sport climbing!

How about indoor climbing? Close to a climbing gym is always a safe bet, but close to which gym? It’s hard to know where we are going to train, or where our future friends will be training. On the other hand it’s possible to free climb year around here. So are we going to use a climbing gym as much as we did in Umeå? Probably not.

It’s difficult to choose, but what makes it even harder, is the Austrian law that says that whichever apartment we rent, we have to stay there for at least one year + 3 months notice time. And a two-months' provision plus three months' deposit (= 4000 €) makes sure you will actually stay in the apartment.

 Wine fields

Anu & corn fields, Wienerwald in the background

 A road

Hiking somewhere in Höllental. When you have a guidebook in German and cannot really read German… the approach can become a bit longer.

 Views from the road to Semmering

 More serpentine roads

 Aperol spritz is a popular drink here. It’s surprisingly bitter (and strong). Easy to drink too much.

 And we finally got an apartment. It’s in Mödling, right next to Wienerwald. The closest crag and gym are both 2 km from the apartment.

I found my inner hipster and decided to make some chili-walnut-protein-bread.

 More hipster stuff. I started to grow some herbs.

 Paprika

 Pepperoni. Sadly not a strong one.

 A lemon tree

 Husarentempel and a view to Vienna. This is on Föhrenberge in Wienerwald. 

 Naschmarkt in Vienna

 Findings from the market

 When you find a 3 kg tomato, it’s good to remember that also Arnold Schwarzenegger comes from Austria.

 A rainy day at crags. I guess there is a point in living close to gyms.

 Kletterhalle Wien. This hall is 1200 m2 and 16 meters high. There are 2000 m2 climbing surface and 400 m2 bouldering surface. 16 meters doesn’t sound too high, but as the wall overhangs more than 10 meters...it’s enough.

 They also have slab walls

 This is probably the best solution for a climbing wall structure I’ve seen

 Austrian way of belaying

 A small wall and a lowline for kids

 The outdoor part of Kletterhalle Wien. 3000 m2 area and 200 m2 bouldering surface

 150 m2 bouldering surface on real boulders. Looks like someone forgot a baby here.

A slackline

Hehe

No more folköl

After four days of driving we finally arrived in Austria. Our campervan didn’t break down, which was a nice surprise. I feel sorry for everyone who lost the bet.

I’ve been in Austria only for a couple of times before (usually just driven through) and never in the eastern part of the country. Many have asked if we speak German or have relatives or friends in Vienna. No we don’t. Yet.

More important things: Climbing. Vienna is not really known for it’s climbing, and we knew very little beforehand. However, as we just bought our second guide book, we are slowly getting an idea. The sport climbing guidebook covers 3000 routes and 1000 boulders within 80 km from Mödling, the town we are planning to live in. Shorter routes are similar to Frankenjura, a lot of limestone walls and pillars.

Yesterday we bought a guidebook for longer (up to 17 pitches) routes. The guidebook is called “Genusskletter-Atlas” (pleasure climbing atlas) and it covers 1000 easier (up to 6b) routes. One of the areas in this guidebook even has its own guidebook with additional 1000 routes.

So, it seems there is plenty of climbing around. On our first day in Austria, after checking out two apartments (we are still homeless...), we checked out three climbing areas and nine crags. All this was closer than the closest crag in Umeå.

Besides climbing, Vienna/Mödling seems to be a nice place to live in. Sun is shining, people are friendly, beer is cheap and it’s not folköl.

 Many have asked why we don’t sleep in our campervan when driving to Austria. Maybe this photo explains.

 First night we slept in Västerås at our friend's place, second night in the ferry from Sweden to Germany. Third night at this hotel in southern Germany. They had a Finnish sauna!

 This area is right besides Mödling. Here are several climbing sectors, even though there is no climbing in the crags in the picture.

 Anu likes approaches in Mödling. 

 I think this could be called as a children friendly crag

 Beethovenwand

 Engelstein

 Frankenjuraish road

 Frankenjuraish limestone cock

 Arnsteinhöhle

 Steep & juggy!

Indoor climbing wall close to Mödling. 1200 m2 climbing area, 18 m height and longest route is 28 meters long. Hejdå IKSU!