28th Dec - Arrival in Sweet Paris, Again

It was quite a way by train to Paris via Zurich. We had time enough at Zurich train station to grab a quick bite to eat in a smoke-filled cafe before connecting on to Paris.
Arriving in Paris late at night, there was no other acceptable option than grabbing a taxi to our hotel. I wasn’t expecting the high quality of Austria, even though it was still as expensive. And I’m glad my expectations weren’t set too high. The hotel was ok – clean & fairly roomy in a quite central location. We unpacked for the 4 nights we would stay there, then crashed. My second time in Paris this trip – people might think I’m becoming Bohemian!

The Hills Are Alive! Sound of Music Tour

What visit to Salzburg would be complete without a Sound of Music tour? In my mind, none. The tour, lasting about 4 hours, was filled with tunes from the movie filling up the bus trip between sites. Bec & I sang to our hearts delight. We visited various sites featured in the movie ending at the famous fountain the kids danced around – Bec felt compelled to danced about a bit, so had a dance down the stairs. A fun time was had by all!

Salzburg Castle

I’d been looking at the castle up on top of the hill rising above Salzburg for the last few days. The motivation to climb up there had eluded me, but was now suddenly starting to kick in. Yes, we could get a cable car up to the top, but decided not to (too expensive). And the walk up the graduated path wasn’t too bad, especially when taking pics & having a bit of fun along the way.
Bec & I decided to ‘compete’ to see who could take the most arty photos, so we spent quite a bit of time getting the best angles on all the fabulous architecture surrounding us. Inside, there were rooms outlining the history of Salzburg. I most liked the story of the priests having secret passageways to the township so they could pursued their secret sexual liaisons – go boys! There was even a fully preserved medieval loo!!
The view from the tops looking out over the alps was spectacular, especially with the sun dropping down behind the mountains. We stopped & had some tea & soup in one of the cafes that offered a panoramic view – nice.

Runaway Horses

After heading out from an old-style cafe we’d spent a few hours writing in late one afternoon, Bec & I came upon a woman attempting to control her two huge horses & cart in a smallish square. The horses really want to bolt & the woman was on the ground pulling at the reigns with all her might. But her attempt meant that she was being dragged under the cart & Bec & I instinctively ran towards the horses. But then I realised the horses were bolting towards us, & I screamed at Bec to run away from them, which we both did. The horses were slowed by some items getting caught under the cart wheel, & they eventually came to a stop with no one getting hurt. My heart was racing from the burst of adrenaline pumped by fear & I was a bit shaky too. After that exciting interlude, we headed back to the hotel.

Cafes & More Cafes in Salzburg

The old town (Altstadt) was resplendent with gorgeous traditional cafes mixing side-by-side with funky new ones. Bec & I did our best to sample as many as we could in our 4 days in Salzburg. I couldn’t believe that smoking was still allowed in Austria, a seemingly advanced country that was still obviously addicted to their nicotine habit. So whichever cafe or restaurant you ventured into, even if requesting a seat in the non-smoking section (usually small & tucked out of the way), you came out with cigarette stink festering through your clothes & sticking to your skin & hair – a completely filthy state for a non-smoker. Nevertheless, the coffees were quite good & the desserts were great. And relaxing for a few hours in a cafe reading, writing & chatting were opportunities both Bec & I found quite blissful.

25th Dec - Christmas Day in Salzburg

Salzburg was deathly quiet on Christmas Day morning. We knew that nearly all shops in the old town were closed, apart from those run perhaps by non-Christians, so we just stayed in the room, chilled out, called our loved ones, & opened presents. We managed to drag ourselves outside in the afternoon & plonk ourselves into a lovely Italian cafe which served to-die-for hot chocolates (thick dripping chocolate - very sensual indeed).
In the evening we went out for a sumptuous dinner, including the Salzburg specialty dessert, Salzburger Nockerl. The restaurant was packed that evening & the food was absolutely divine. We both ordered the Christmas turkey which was absolutely melt-in-the-mouth. And when the Salzburger Nockerl came out, Bec instantly predicted that we’d be unable to eat it all. She was right – it was enormous! But with the soft airiness of the soufflé, & the rich sweetness of the raspberry filling, I did my very best to consume it all, but was unfortunately unsuccessful.
Filled to the brim, we headed back through the empty Aldstadt streets to the hotel & opened the last remaining presents. What a fun day! Ho! Ho! Ho!

24th Dec - Arrival in Salzburg on Christmas Eve

We arrived by train to Salzburg after a fairly easy trip. Instead of walking to the old town (an unacceptable solution for Bec), we grabbed a taxi & were shuttled to the end of the little alleyway where our boutique hotel was situated. To our delight, we had discovered our accommodation to be smack bang in the middle of all the action – directly adjacent to the Christkindl market which was more than bustling on this Christmas eve afternoon.
After checking in & getting some stuff unpacked, we headed to the markets, which were vast & crowed with merry revellers drinking mulled wine. We had soon joined them in the merriment of the occasion, indulging in the warm alcoholic beverage & enjoying the festive atmosphere. The markets had lots of wares, including of course, Christmas decorations of every variety (they take Christmas very seriously here in Europe). And there were also lots of sweet food delicacies (brezen, chocolates, etc) which we needed to try as part of our immersion into the Austrian culture. We made sure we mixed it with the locals, & even got a wee bit tipsy in the process.

Out & About In Vienna (incl Impressionismus Exhibition)

We were only in Vienna for a couple of days & hadn’t planned out anything to do. On the second day, we wandered about Vienna having a look about. Found a delicious Vietnamese restaurant in the afternoon & had a great feed. We also visited a great art exhibition called ‘Impressionismus’ featuring the best Impressionist artists in history. At least a good 3 hours was spent in the gallery before we found one of the oldest (& most expensive) cafes in Vienna located just across the road. A decadent hot chocolate, some gluwein, & cake & we were ready to head back to the hotel. Really loved Vienna & I’d love to come back here.

22nd Dec - Christmas Markets in Vienna

We were told the Christkindl markets in the museum area of the city. So we headed there by subway & found it with relative ease. It was at the markets that we stumbled upon Gluwein – hot spiced wine. YUM!!! After a drink, on an empty stomach, I was really quite tipsy. So was Bec. And we wandered around the markets like a couple of kids, giggling & having fun.

22nd Dec - Getting to Vienna - Finally

Again the next day we got up really early – about 4am - & headed to the airport. The Aer Lingus flight to Vienna was so packed that we had to wait over 3 hours just to check in. Lucky for us the flight wasn’t cancelled (all Easyjet flights were). But the wait was extreme & delayed the flight by a few hours. People at the airport were getting really antsy too - arguing & yelling at the one person delegated the task of crowd control (poor guy!). But we finally boarded & in a couple of hours landed in Vienna.
We grabbed a local train which took us almost right to our hotel. When we got there, we relaxed (slept) for a couple of hours in order to renew our energy before venturing out.