This video clip was taken on August 4, 2007 during my explorations of my home town of Weiz in the province of Styria in the country of Austria. I began with the Taborkirche in my home town which dates all the way back to the 1100s and is named after England's Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Roman gravestones, about 2 millenia old, are built into the church's walls. Then I had a reunion with two of my friends from high school and we proceeded to have a nice walk and a very tasty Austrian lunch.

Then my friends Klaudia, Doris and I started our hike up the Schöckel mountain, the highest mountain in the area surrounding my home town. Aided by our trusted Nordic Walking sticks we climbed the steepest part of the mountain and enjoyed the gorgeous 360 degree view from the summit area. My friend Doris even sprang for a round of summer tobogganing and sent me on my high-speed way in a tiny sled on rails. A rather exhilarating experience I might add. We then had a look at my friend's newly built backyard pond and got ready for another Austrian gourmet dinner cooked by my brother who is an expert chef.

I am actually a travel writer who loves to explore international destinations as well as my chosen home town of Toronto. On Youtube you will find hundreds of video clips from a wide variety of destinations. Feel free to check out some of my 700+ articles and interviews on http//www.travelandtransitions.com. My personal travel stories are located at http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos.htm and my Austrian travel articles will be published in the next few weeks.

Also, my FREE travel ebooks containing stories from my trips to destinations such as Sicily, Havana, Mexico City, New York City, Chicago, Florida, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Halifax and many others are available right now at http://www.travelandtransitions.com/ebooks.html