So yeah, I’m still recovering a bit from the convention. So I’mma try to write a report anyway, kinda as a “recollection” exercise. It’s kind of a blur.

So, Awoostria. I read about it in the beginning of the year, thought “convention in Vienna, Austria, why not? I liked GLC in Switzerland”. Usually, I don’t travel by and for myself. I kinda have a (bit unhealthy) attitude “uh, why should I travel, I’mma sit around alone for the whole day anyway, might as well do this at home”, so conventions are a great excuse for me to get out. I see some new cities / locations I wouldn’t usually get to see, and at the same time I meet new people with a common interest. Sounds like a good deal.

Wednesday, July 24

I went the “early arrival, late departure” route. Might be to do with FOMO, but it’s also more relaxed. I was really surprised Vienna is only 5.5 hours of train travel away, and it’s a direct connection. So I went with Deutsche Bahn. It went relatively smoothly, no major delays (30 minutes), and in the Telegram group chat I even got some nice tips to switch to metro at Wien Meidling instead of going to Main Station. Was a good tip.

A not-so-nice experience, at Wien Meidling I was approached twice by people who went like “uh, hey, excuse me please…”, but I have enough of this experience here in Würzburg to already assume it’s probably just going to be begging, so I went into full ignore mode and simply went on to the subway. During the convention, I got really impressed by Vienna’s public transport. You can get “pretty much anywhere” (along the routes of public transport) pretty quickly. This proved really valuable on Friday when I went sightseeing with other furs.

The hotel was conveniently located. So I could get there by walking from the station Wien West easily. The day I arrived there was still some setup going on, regarding the decoration. On this day, I played some nice card games with other furries already at the convention (sadly, the only time I did that). Got something small to eat as well. Otherwise, I walked around near the venue, found a nice spot with a bit of a view over the city, but not much else going on.

Awoostria main banner, showing an anthro wolf holding a diamond, lit red and green, with a bird, cat, raccoon and marten in the background

Another Awoostria banner, hanging from a balcony, showing the con's name and theme

A panorama view over the city from above, taken from the city hall's steps

Thursday, July 25

First day, already some digestion issues. “Not off to a good start”, I thought, but it probably just was the excitement, the other days went by without problems. I went around the city a bit on my own and even got a week ticket for the public transport (20 Euro, eh, might be an okay-ish price for a vacation). What’s kinda annoying, if you get a “paper ticket” at the vending machines, you pay 5 € more than what you would pay if you get an “app ticket” (or PDF). Which is kinda understandable, I guess, since the electronic ticket is personalized. That is, I could’ve resold the ticket to someone else for the remaining days I wasn’t in Vienna anymore (Monday-Wednesday). I originally planned to do that, but forgot about it in the end.

I saw some of the horse-drawn carriages as well (didn’t go in one for the whole time, there was no time, but I guess I wouldn’t have wanted to spend the money anyway). I took some photos of some fursuiters (on Thursday and all of the following days), watched the opening, tried to go to the cuddle panel, but it was too full, watched the karaoke, then the day was already over for me. I got to bed between 10 o’clock and midnight all days. Sleep is important. :)

A horse-drawn carriage. The horses are white. The carriage is light brown.

Friday, July 26

Sightseeing time. A local fur offered a small group of us furries a sightseeing tour. Castle Schönbrunn, Karl’s church (from the outside), Hofburg, Spanish horse riding academy, amusement park Prater, if I remember all of it. Did the “wildwater ride” (?) in the Prater, which is actually the only attraction I’m comfortable with in amusement parks at all. I don’t go for roller coasters.

I got a nice leopard lanyard by Emily Creative (it was just too cute!!!! I couldn’t resist!!!) and a magnet in the dealer’s den. Went to the snack exchange and the “fursuit striptease”, which was a funny event as well [1]. I was a bit sad that I missed the WHSPRS concert, but I can’t split myself in two. I think I even checked out the dance on that day.

[1] What the hell is a fursuit striptease you might ask? Uh, it was a charity event where some fursuiters initially had some clothes on, suggestively danced to some music and removed their clothing, and went to people who donated money and… I dunno… imitated a lapdance? I wouldn’t know about stuff like that, I never went to an actual strip club <.<.

A badge lanyard being worn, showing a happy leopard

Saturday, July 27

The day I realized I could use the hotel’s wellness area. I took a nice break in the infrared chamber. The broadcasting panel (as in, TV broadcasting) was very interesting. For me, it’s always fascinating to see in which fields other furries work. Unfortunately, the panel had to be cut short due to time constraints with the following event. I had some nice cuddles as well, joined the disability meet-up, went to the dance for a bit again and… that’s it, I guess?

Sunday, July 28

Charity auction, Powerpoint karaoke, closing (which involved some serious queuing), spend the evening outside where there was some music being played… uh… did I do anything else? I think I went to the infrared chamber again in the afternoon.

Monday, July 29

Time to say goodbye, after breakfast. Originally I planned to depart early and visit the Manner factory shop, but I had a nice talk with other furs during breakfast, time went by, I still had to pack (just throw stuff in the suitcase), so in the end, I didn’t have time to do that. Also, the factory shop was inconveniently located, in regards to public transport. Much sad. Travel home went by without significant delays (again, 30 minutes).

Food

Hotel breakfast was wonderful. I missed that when I got back home and had to do my breakfast myself again. Otherwise, I didn’t have exactly a healthy diet during the convention. Ate lots of cookies, got bananas in the store nearby and had some cake in a café next to the hotel (they also made a cute “Welcome Furrys” [sic] sign on the last day of the con). My dinner consisted of Backwerk (a bun with camembert), Burger King (chicken nuggets), Subways (turkey sandwich, if I remember correctly) and the hotel bar (french fries). The only actual lunch that deserves being called that was the one I took on the sightseeing tour, original Vienna Schnitzel with french fries.

Overall

In retrospect, trying to recollect what I did, I am a bit shocked to realize that there are some “black holes” in the timeline. No, I didn’t drink any alcohol. Probably more happened, by my brain is not used to this amount of stuff happening, I guess?

Vienna is hecking clean. I not once saw dog poop or trash lying around. And, as I said, public transport there is nice. Would I want to actually live there? probably not. Too much hubhub, the metro was kinda uncomfortably full at times, and it’s probably hecking expensive.

The convention staff and helpers did an amazing job at the first edition of Awoostria. From the opening and closing I gathered they didn’t expect 700-ish furries from turning up. Also, I was blown away by seeing the diversity of attendees (when it comes to age, gender, nationality), something I didn’t experience before.

I had enough sleep, had enough food and drink, which is positive. However, I think I spent a significant amount of time “milling around”? There’s kind of a nagging feeling that it should be easier to form connections, sit down somewhere by a group of people and simply join in a talk? And a slight nagging feeling of FOMO might as well have been present. That’s a me problem, nonetheless, nothing to do with the convention itself. And I also go to conventions to try to cure that.