How to Retire Without Money
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE: AUSTRIA
IN A NUTSHELL. Once proud Austria, largest of European Empires, now has a land area of but 32,375 square miles and a population of about seven million. She compares with Maine or Indiana in size and her total population is less than that of New York City.But although the Austro-Hungarian Empire is no longer the gigantic hodge-podge of nations it once was, Austria herself still lives and there is a unique feeling, in this little land, of glories of the past that never leaves you.
Vienna, for instance, once the capital of the empire, still retains the charms of yesteryear and there are few cities in the world more charming, more beautiful, more gay. And Vienna, despite the smallness of the country today is the 22nd largest city in the world with a population pushing two million. It is the great metropolis of Central Europe.
But Vienna isn't Austria, no matter how proud the Austrians may be of their capital. Austria, despite size, packs a great deal of wallop into her countryside. In the western provinces such as Vorarlberg and the Tyrol, we have Alpine grandeur equal to that of Switzerland, and the winter sports enthusiasts are as keen about this area as they are any place in the world. Salzburg, on the German border, noted for its music festivals and as the birthplace of Mozart, is proclaimed by many to be the most beautiful example of Germanic medieval city remaining in Europe. And Innsbruck, another age-old town, is in the most striking mountain setting I have ever seen.
But listing interesting and lovely Austrian cities could take several pages and we have space limitation. We should also touch on the Austrian countryside, because if the Austrians themselves are to be considered judges of the outstanding qualities of their land, it is the countryside that is above all appealing. I have never seen a people so prone to take off at the least sign of a gleam of sunshine and go hiking, driving, picnicking, bicycling, canoeing, and mountain climbing as the Austrians. I seriously estimate that at least one million people stream out of the city and head for the forests, rivers, mountains and fields. You've never seen anything like it. Hundreds of thousands of them will be wearing lederhosen (short leather pants) and carrying knapsacks on their backs.
They are a people devoted to the outdoors and there is no wonder in this since the Austrian outdoors are surpassed nowhere. I believe that one of the strongest memories I shall always have was a picnic I went on with an Austrian couple one unblemished July day. We drove from Vienna to Mariazell, a small town to which yearly are made pilgrimages. Nearby a towering mountain's peak can be reached by a cable-lift (a startling experience in itself). On the very top we spread our lunch and ate and drank our Gumpoldskirchner wine, while looking out over what must have been the greater part of Austria.
This book is by no means a travel guide, but in dealing with Austria I must certainly mention the fact that if you are a good food fan, then Austria is a land you will love and Vienna a city you will adore. Austrian restaurant prices are a fraction of those of France or Italy and by the very cosmopolitan nature of Austria's capital, the variety of dishes is endless. The specialties of those lands once contained within the Austro-Hungarian Empire are also specialties of Austria so you can run the gamut from Germanic sausages to Italian pastas, from Hungarian goulash to Czech roast goose, or Yugoslav brodet. And I must add a personal note; as a beer drinker from way back, I have never found a beer I liked better than the Viennese Schwechater dunkle (dark).
If retirement on a shoestring is your desire, if you wish to find a beauty spot in which to settle down, permanently or semi-per-manently, you have few better bets than Austria. If I were to list in order the cheapest countries in Europe it would probably go: Spain, Greece, Austria, Portugal, Ireland, Norway. But if I had to list them by compatibility of the people it would be: Austria, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Greece, Portugal. Because there is one important thing Austria has which the other economical countries haven't to nearly as great a degree. She has a people that you will get to know, who will be your equals (if not superiors) in education, culture and progressiveness. In short, you will love the Austrians. Everyone does.
There is just one word of warning. Personally, I like to follow the sun and I haven't spent a winter in a northern climate for some years. Summers, yes, winters, no. Austria is a country as famed for its winters as it is for its summers. If you like the change in season, wonderful. If you like winter weather, swell. But if you don't, stay out of Austria because she has winter and lots of it. The warm months are from the middle of May to the middle of September.
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