STARTING OUT
I met up with Erica, my travel buddy for this trip, in good ol Gyor. It was definitely going to be interesting, as I didn’t really know her all that well, and we were about to spend 12 days straight together. On previous trips, I had discussed that you don’t really know someone until you travel with them, and a friend actually decided the only way he would propose to a girl is to hand her an empty box, and tell her that she would get the ring at the end of a trip—a true test of compatibility.
VIENNA
Anyways, we got our tickets to Vienna, did a quick trip around Gyor towing our luggage the whole time. I had my trusty backpack so it was tiring but not bad, but Erica had a big suitcase on wheels. Anyways, we got on our train to Vienna and had no problems, found our hostel, had a slight hiccup with the double-booking under the same name—I didn’t know if she was joining me in Vienna when I booked my bed—but otherwise checked in and got directions to the Christmas Markets for dinner. We had—you guessed it—sausage! And glühwein, of course. We walked around, found dessert, enjoyed all the sights and sounds and smells, and went back to the hotel and went to bed. The next morning, we got up and headed to Schönbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Austrian Emperors. We saw like 22 of the 1000 rooms, including one where a 6-year-old Wolfgang performed his first concert for the emperor/empress. Cool stuff. (I think I made my musician friends proud—there was lots of musical stuff on this trip.)Then we wandered around the Christmas Market out front, got some breakfast/lunch (I had a baked potato covered in garlic cream sauce, cheese, and ham) and then we went around back to explore the gardens, which weren’t very exciting in December. We headed back to downtown Vienna, saw the big church and walked around the Ring, passing museums, the opera house, etc. We went inside the Hofbrunn Palace, seeing the silver collection (aka TONS and TONS of dishes... it got old) as well as the Royal Apartments and the Empress Sissi Museum. We went back to the Rathaus Christmas market (the one in front of city hall) and had another round of sausage and gluhwein before picking up our bags and getting on a very expensive train to Salzburg. Yes, we were crossing the country, but its a small country!
SALZBURG
We got to Salzburg and checked in to our hostel, and pretty much showered and went to bed. The next morning, we went into Salzburg, exploring the old town, the fortress on the hill, the Basilica, and of course, the Christmas market! We ran into Angie and Danielle in old town (when we were heading back to the hostel to find them, as they should have been in town already but her phone wasn’t working) and made plans to meet up for dinner. We went to an authentic Austrian restaurant up the street, recommended by the girl working the front desk. We got snacks n stuff at the gas station, and learned how to play Euchre (with Kevin’s souvenir—I’m sure it makes it cool that his Austria playing cards were played with IN Austria, right?) The next morning, we went on a tour of the Salt Mines that made Salzburg rich and famous. It was a lot of fun—our tour guide and the Australian couple who joined us were lots of fun, the outfits were ridiculous, and the slides in the salt mine were great! We even climbed the stairs to go down one again, like all the kids on the tour did. Who says you can’t have fun in your mid-twenties/early-thirties, right? The tour itself had these silly movies telling the story of the mine. There was a ridiculous segment of the tour with a boat ride across an underground lake, complete with eerily happy music and rainbow lights... It was so strange. Then, a pair of angels appeared and sang a Christmas song... no joke. Anyways, these angels gave us pieces of salt... and then we got little salt shakers at the end of the tour. We were supposed to continue to drive through the alps, but the fog was insane and couldn’t see much, so our guide took us to a little German village where we got out and explored and got munchies (you guessed it, sausage) and there were men actually wearing Liederhosen! There were also shops all over selling traditonal Bavarian clothing too, and I was so tempted to get one but they cost over 300 Euro. :( Soon we were heading back to Salzburg.
We had about an hour to explore the Mirabell Palace Gardens before getting on the big bus for the cheesy Sound of Music tour. I’m not a big fan of the movie, but I definitely downloaded the soundtrack before leaving on the trip. It was kind of fun—we got more of the story and basically all of the ways the movie wasn’t like the true story, as well as seeing lots of settings from the movie. Plus, Angie and Danielle are huge fans, so it was fun. We had a slight problem in Monsee, where the wedding was shot, as we all sorta split up, and somehow Angie, Danielle and I got back to the bus, but I got a phone call from Erica who was somewhere... and I had no idea how to get her back. I asked the tour guide how to get her back, and after several phone calls, she still wasn’t back... the entire bus was waiting, and our tour guide decided it was Christmas and so he went out to find her. (He got a big Christmas tip.) We got back to our hostel after dark and tried to find a place to eat dinner, but the only place our hostel girl knew of was the Sheraton, which was filled with AARP members in sequins and shoulder pads and passed hors d’ouvres, and we were grungy in jeans and sweatshirts... so we wandered farther and tried to find somewhere else. What do they always eat on Christmas Eve in the movies? CHINESE! And, sure enough, we found a Chinese Restaurant, walked up the four flights of stairs, and found a place full of Asian revelry. It was hilarious—and they took us in and sat us in a corner. We later found out that they were closed except for private parties, but someone goofed and let us in—so we were very grateful and enjoyed our dinner. It was lots of fun. The next morning we slept in a bit and opened presents before heading to the train station, onwards to Munich!
(See the Facebook Album for photos--I've tried posting them hee but my internet hates me)
Anyways, we got our tickets to Vienna, did a quick trip around Gyor towing our luggage the whole time. I had my trusty backpack so it was tiring but not bad, but Erica had a big suitcase on wheels. Anyways, we got on our train to Vienna and had no problems, found our hostel, had a slight hiccup with the double-booking under the same name—I didn’t know if she was joining me in Vienna when I booked my bed—but otherwise checked in and got directions to the Christmas Markets for dinner. We had—you guessed it—sausage! And glühwein, of course. We walked around, found dessert, enjoyed all the sights and sounds and smells, and went back to the hotel and went to bed. The next morning, we got up and headed to Schönbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Austrian Emperors. We saw like 22 of the 1000 rooms, including one where a 6-year-old Wolfgang performed his first concert for the emperor/empress. Cool stuff. (I think I made my musician friends proud—there was lots of musical stuff on this trip.)Then we wandered around the Christmas Market out front, got some breakfast/lunch (I had a baked potato covered in garlic cream sauce, cheese, and ham) and then we went around back to explore the gardens, which weren’t very exciting in December. We headed back to downtown Vienna, saw the big church and walked around the Ring, passing museums, the opera house, etc. We went inside the Hofbrunn Palace, seeing the silver collection (aka TONS and TONS of dishes... it got old) as well as the Royal Apartments and the Empress Sissi Museum. We went back to the Rathaus Christmas market (the one in front of city hall) and had another round of sausage and gluhwein before picking up our bags and getting on a very expensive train to Salzburg. Yes, we were crossing the country, but its a small country!
SALZBURG
We got to Salzburg and checked in to our hostel, and pretty much showered and went to bed. The next morning, we went into Salzburg, exploring the old town, the fortress on the hill, the Basilica, and of course, the Christmas market! We ran into Angie and Danielle in old town (when we were heading back to the hostel to find them, as they should have been in town already but her phone wasn’t working) and made plans to meet up for dinner. We went to an authentic Austrian restaurant up the street, recommended by the girl working the front desk. We got snacks n stuff at the gas station, and learned how to play Euchre (with Kevin’s souvenir—I’m sure it makes it cool that his Austria playing cards were played with IN Austria, right?) The next morning, we went on a tour of the Salt Mines that made Salzburg rich and famous. It was a lot of fun—our tour guide and the Australian couple who joined us were lots of fun, the outfits were ridiculous, and the slides in the salt mine were great! We even climbed the stairs to go down one again, like all the kids on the tour did. Who says you can’t have fun in your mid-twenties/early-thirties, right? The tour itself had these silly movies telling the story of the mine. There was a ridiculous segment of the tour with a boat ride across an underground lake, complete with eerily happy music and rainbow lights... It was so strange. Then, a pair of angels appeared and sang a Christmas song... no joke. Anyways, these angels gave us pieces of salt... and then we got little salt shakers at the end of the tour. We were supposed to continue to drive through the alps, but the fog was insane and couldn’t see much, so our guide took us to a little German village where we got out and explored and got munchies (you guessed it, sausage) and there were men actually wearing Liederhosen! There were also shops all over selling traditonal Bavarian clothing too, and I was so tempted to get one but they cost over 300 Euro. :( Soon we were heading back to Salzburg.
We had about an hour to explore the Mirabell Palace Gardens before getting on the big bus for the cheesy Sound of Music tour. I’m not a big fan of the movie, but I definitely downloaded the soundtrack before leaving on the trip. It was kind of fun—we got more of the story and basically all of the ways the movie wasn’t like the true story, as well as seeing lots of settings from the movie. Plus, Angie and Danielle are huge fans, so it was fun. We had a slight problem in Monsee, where the wedding was shot, as we all sorta split up, and somehow Angie, Danielle and I got back to the bus, but I got a phone call from Erica who was somewhere... and I had no idea how to get her back. I asked the tour guide how to get her back, and after several phone calls, she still wasn’t back... the entire bus was waiting, and our tour guide decided it was Christmas and so he went out to find her. (He got a big Christmas tip.) We got back to our hostel after dark and tried to find a place to eat dinner, but the only place our hostel girl knew of was the Sheraton, which was filled with AARP members in sequins and shoulder pads and passed hors d’ouvres, and we were grungy in jeans and sweatshirts... so we wandered farther and tried to find somewhere else. What do they always eat on Christmas Eve in the movies? CHINESE! And, sure enough, we found a Chinese Restaurant, walked up the four flights of stairs, and found a place full of Asian revelry. It was hilarious—and they took us in and sat us in a corner. We later found out that they were closed except for private parties, but someone goofed and let us in—so we were very grateful and enjoyed our dinner. It was lots of fun. The next morning we slept in a bit and opened presents before heading to the train station, onwards to Munich!
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