Soaking up the Scenery in Tirol (Austria)

Simon (and TomTom) did a marvellous job of driving us to beautiful Tirol. We arrived at our very quaint farm in the late afternoon, and went for a walk around the fields and down to the lake. Since our German consists of the words for 'thank you', 'exit', 'one-way street', 'station' and 'schnitzel', we had a little trouble communicating with our landlady, but sign-language and lots of nodding and smiling got us through in the end!

We drove down to the village for dinner, along a country lane which seemed to be even narrower than our very narrow European car, and found a great pub where we both had venison stew and lots of vegies - the best meal we've had so far.

Saturday we went for a long walk around the lake near our farmhouse, and then drove to the Swarovski Crystal Works, which was quite interesting. Next time you see Karina wearing a very very sparkly bracelet, you'll know that it's not diamonds!! In the afternoon we drove into Innsbruck, and came upon an Easter Market right in the centre of the Old Town, which is as cute as the Old Town in Salzburg.

Sunday morning, we say goodbye to Austria, and head for the mountains of Slovenia.

Freezing Cold In Salzburg (Austria)

We got off the train in Salzburg to discover that it was a million times colder and gloomier than we'd expected. After Vienna, we were starting to think that the polarfleeces filling our suitcases were just taking up space, but they definitely got a work out in Salzburg!

After checking in to our Youth Hostel, we walked through the old town (which is SO cute) and took the cable car to the Salzburg Fortress. The fortress sits upon a huge mountain next to the city, and so was even colder (but toasty warm inside the keep). For dinner Karina finally got the schnitzel she'd been wanting, and Simon had a bratwürst in a small little resturant, presided over by a very fat and jolly man.

Thursday morning was much warmer and clearer, which unfortunately didn't improve the icky breakfast at the youth hostel at all. We spent some time walking through the fantastic markets near Mirabell Gardens before taking the bus to pick up our hire car. We decided the €8 per day for a GPS navigation system would be like divorce insurance, and it made the white-knuckle drive back to the youth hostel (on the wrong side of the road!) only a pink-knuckled drive.

In the afternoon we wandered through Mozart's birthplace (complete with a blue-haloed plastic baby Mozart), and then across the river back to the beautiful Mirabell Gardens (featured in The Sound of Music). We managed to get the last two tickets for the last Salzach river cruise of the day, and saw many hills that were alive with sounds of music. The boat even did a waltz before it docked.

Our last morning in Salzburg was even warmer and clearer, so we decided to go into some catacombs at (another) St Peters. After we emerged, we drove to Hellbrunn to see the Trick Fountains which spray water at you (Karina got more wet than Simon) and the Hellbrunn Palace.

Then it was in the car again for Simon to practise his new-found skill of driving on the wrong side of the road (and of the car) and we headed for the mountains of Tirol!

For anyone wondering, by the time we left Salzburg, we'd found the hair straightener, the fuse, and didn't need the physio.

Culture & Music in Vienna (Austria)

We arrived in Vienna very late on Sunday night after being awake for 24 hours. We went straight to bed for a good night's sleep (after Simon lugged the suitcases up about 1000 stairs - good practice for the rest of the holiday).

Monday morning we went straight to the Tourist Office and it only took us until lunch time to figure out a plan for our time in Vienna. The afternoon was spent at the Schonbrunn palace and gardens. After lunch in the village market, we went on a tour of the palace which was beautiful. Then we wandered through the gardens, walked up a giant hill to the Gloriette viewing platform, and went through the maze and labyrinth.

The best bit was the apple strudel show in the old bakery (with free samples!) - Simon has optimistically taken it upon himself to make an apple strudel when we get home. That evening we ate at a real (non-touristy) Austrian pub, and then went to a Baroque concert. It was fantastic, but we're ashamed to say we were both so exhausted that we kept nodding off.

Tuesday was spent walking through the historic parts of inner-Vienna (slowly, because Karina has stuffed her knee already!) The Museum of Fine Arts gave Simon an opportunity to teach Karina all about history and art (probably the first of many lessons to come!) The late afternoon was spent on a guided tour of the Vienna State Opera (the Staatsoper). We tried to buy tickets to Swan Lake showing there tonight, but it's literally standing room only (and Karina's poor knee just isn't up to it).

Tomorrow it's off to Salzburg for Mozart, the Sound of Music, and a mission to find a physio, a fuse and a hair straightener.