Klagenfurt, the Wörthersee and why you should visit it in your summer holidays

Hello everybody,

My name is Susanna (but for my friends Susi) I am 20 years old and I’m studying Austrian Sign Language and English at the ITAT in Graz.

 I have moved from Klagenfurt to Graz for my studies, although I am not really homesick, I want to talk about my beautiful hometown and its benefits in the summer holidays.

    Klagenfurt is the capital city of Carinthia (Austria) and known for its beautiful lakes, actually there are 1270 all over Carinthia. The biggest and I think the best known is the Wörthersee, it has a length of 16,5 km and at its deepest point reaches 85,2 meters.  Also many good tasting fish are swimming in the lake (which actually has drinking water quality), for example the luce or the carpe.

 The coastline, which is 45km long, is unique and has some really special and magical places to visit, like Maria Wörth (which is a peninsular and most famous for its church), Velden, Reifnitz, Pörtschach and of course Klagenfurt am Wörthersee (my hometown, ;) ).

But what if you are not really interested in sightseeing? You want something exciting? Let’s have a look at the big offer of events, which are the whole summer around the lake (well there are so many, I just picked the best ones):

           

 At first there is the IRON MAN, a sporting event which is in June. It’s not only a sport event, no it is the biggest European triathlon, and 2000 actors from all over the world are starting there. What do they have to do? They have to swim 3,8 km, afterwards 180km of cycling  and at the end just another 42,2km of running. That’s really tough, hugh??

           

 Let's continue with the Beach Volleyball Grand Slam (BVGS) which is (also every year) in July, an international Beach volleyball tournament which lasts for a week. But in 2013 there was something new. The organization announced, after some rumors, that there will be the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP (in German: EM). At first nobody believed that announcement but afterwards everybody was glad to be part of the EM.

It is my favorite event because it’s beside the “Klagenfurter Strandbad” (the biggest open air bath in Europe), so you can leave the event to go swimming and come back easily. The atmosphere is just amazing; there are so many people who party together peacefully (but to the disadvantage for the tourists of the nearby camping place it is a really loud week). At this event there are also a lot of side events around the lake, like the Champions Night in the Fabrik (the hippest club around the lake), or the Bacardi Beach Circus, a really freaky beach party.

            Then there is the Fête Blanche, or also called: the night in white. Maybe you can suggest from the name the topic of this event: everybody has to wear white clothes. In effect it’s really cool to be part of THE party, since last season there where really cool DJS like DJ Antoine (Fabrik) or Mike Candys (Velden). Unfortunately it is  a very expensive night…

            Well, at the end of this long list of events I will introduce you to some motor sport events, the GTI Treffen, an the Harley Davidson Parade.

The GTI Treffen is for car “freaks” who love the cars of VW. A whole week they are driving around the lake, making lots of noise and parties. Reifnitz is the so called main station, where all the “beautiful” tuned cars are.

At the End of the summer holidays there is the Harley Davidson week at the Faakersee (yes it is pronounced like the “F”-word…) there you can see bikes, bike-wear shops and party tents with rock music.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my introduction of the Wörthersee and maybe we will see us the next summer.

Better be there, :) 

SueC