IF you happened to be in Salzburg recently you may have been surprised to see me busking in one of the city squares!

Fortunately, this is not because I have fallen on hard times. I was actually in the city doing some filming for the Austrian National Tourist Board and one of the things they asked me to do was pretend to be a busker with a cap to collect the money out in front of me.

I don’t mind admitting I was well out of my comfort zone as I had to try and sing Edelweiss, the famous song from the Sound of Music, in a couple of locations where they made the movie.

Luckily, an English family came along and helped me out. They knew all the words and it wasn’t long before we had a small crowd all joining in. Some people even gave me some money!

Mind you, this was not the first time I had sung professionally. Not many people know that I actually performed on a hit song about me in Finland called Mun nimeni on Eetu (My name is Eetu). It was written by Finnish song writer Irwin Goodman who sadly died just after he had completed it. Irwin was very famous in his own country and the song went to number 2 in the charts. (* see link to the song at the end of this article)

Anyway, back to Austria. Most people know the mountains in winter for skiing and snowboarding but there is also so much to do there in the other seasons.

In Zell am See I was filmed doing a special triathlon and I actually got to do some skiing. I went right to the top of the glacier at Kaprun, skied down to the snowline, then put on my running shoes and ran the rest of the way down the mountain to a lake where I paddle boarded to the other side. It was great fun and just one example of the sporty activities you can do there.

In Innsbruck I was briefly back on familiar territory as I went to the ski jump. But this was just a starting point for me to show how quickly you can get to the top of the cablecar that takes you high into the mountains around the city. From the ski jump I cycled to the city, then took a horse and carriage ride before going to the funicular which takes you from the centre of town to the bottom of a cablecar. I took a ride to the top and my whole journey from the ski jump to high up in the mountains only took 30 minutes.

The fourth location we filmed in was Graz. It is not as well known in the UK as places like Innsbruck and Salzburg, even though it is the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna, but it should be as its atmosphere and typical Austrian and architecture are just as attractive.

The city is very popular with foodies because of the culinary delights on offer. As well as the exciting restaurants there are great farmers’ markets with all kinds of local produce. Even I had a go at cooking on one of the courses offered by a top chef in a local restaurant.

I can honestly say the whole trip was absolutely beautiful. We had clear blue skies for the whole week and temperatures of between 20-30 degrees.

There are so many things to do. As well as all the activities I tried, you can play tennis, football or go mountain biking and if you don’t fancy cycling uphill you can get a lift to the top of a mountain and ride downhill all the way!

There are also plenty of watersports on offer such as white water rafting, sailing, boating and windsurfing. AND, of course, you can still ski or snowboard on the glaciers.

But don’t think you have to be sporty to enjoy a stay in Austria. As I mentioned, it’s a mecca for foodies and you can simply go for a stroll through the city streets or take a casual hike in the mountains where you can enjoy the spectacular views,

If you love the Austrian mountains in the winter, you really should look at going there in the summer as well.

* If you would like to hear Eddie’s Finnish hit ‘Nimeni on Eetu’ then click here.

Eddie sings the song in Finnish even though he cannot speak the language. The version here has English subtitles.

* Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards is writing for the Skier & Snowboarder throughout the year. The column is being supported by skiweekends.com who are also making a donation to the charity Ski 4 Cancer – www.ski4cancer.org

You can read Eddie’s column in the magazine and every month on the Skier & Snowboarder website at: www.skierandsnowboarder.com

Categories: Austria, Skiing with Eddie