Originally Posted by magexpect
I am sorry
Terenz , I do not want to be impolite, but I have not read such nonsense for a long time.
Austria is well known for its welcome towards tourists. The most demanding customers are probably the Swiss, (not very friendly themselves, by the way) and they choose Austria as their favourite winter vacation place because of Austrian hospitality.
As far as language is concerned, Austria has excellent schools and they learn English at a quite early age. Many will not speak English fluently but will direct you to the right person if they cannot cope. At least they will try.
Go to Austria, you will be met everywhere politely and as you asked, Salzburg and Vienna receive thousands of English speaking tourists every year and I have never heard of a single tourist in difficulty because of lack of language.
Remember that Austria is not a third world country with no schools and education. As a matter of fact, they could teach many a thing or two.
By the way, you also will not have to worry being attacked or shot at as in the US.
Sorry if I touched a sensitive bone but I stand by what I said.
Most of the older persons in my GF's family (people 40+ - her and paren'ts generation) have very limited, if any, English. This is rural Austria we're talking about - not the major tourist/commercial/financial centres. You certainly don't distinguish between rural and urban. I don't doubt Austria has a good education system but you can teach a foreign language all you want but if there is no reason to practise, it becomes rusty all very quickly (much like how much French is spoken in english-speaking Canada).
As for attacks, I have come across potentially very dangerous situations due to my appearance in Denmark and the U.K. that I can recall right now. It can happen anywhere and Europe is no stranger to attacks on visible minorities.
BTW, I was in Wien only last month.