FUN-travel: Vienna, Austria – Full Day 1
September 30, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Vienna, Austria – Full Day 1
Day 11 – Thursday, September 26 – Vienna, Austria – Full Day 1 – cloudy, sporadic light rain & wind – low 60’s
What I LIKE
- 8:00 – my love brings me a really hot starbucks venti
- nice chill out day – no hurry
- 11:30 – shower & get ready
- 12:00 – explore & eat
- today is Indian – found on TA (trip advisor)
- boycotting Hop On Hop Off bus
- Vienna easy to walk
- 12:45 – lunch @ Indien Village – great service! – tarkal dal & chicken vindaloo w/rice & garlic nan – 2 pints = $61.00 US
- *2:00 – ready to explore some more
- rain actually very light @ this point
- 2:30 – end up @ Opera house – by chance tour starts @ 3:00
Opera House FUN-facts:
- season is 10 months
- only closed 4 days during then
- 22 carat gold leaf décor adorns building along with marble allegorical statuary, breathtaking tapestries, stunning ceiling paintings and astounding wall ornamentation
- crystal chandelier in auditorium overwhelming – weighs 12 tons, is 7 meters in diameter, has 1200 bulbs & crystals weigh 3000 kilos (over 3 tons)
- has 1,709 seats plus 567 spaces for standing room
- standing room seats sold day of for 3 to 5 Euros ea
- boxes for Viennese ball are $18,000 Euros ea
- bombed during WWII – only 3 rooms still original
- has 180,000 costumes
- 4:00 – back to hotel (really close) for room R & R & Happy Hour
- open bottle of “Unplugged” got @ Spar grocery store
- dinner – eat leftovers from lunch
- **8:40 – Chris heads back to Spar for snack for me
- gets take away salami pizza instead from tram vendor @ corner– VG only $2.80!
ILI (I’m Loving It) – The Ring is truly ***** hotel, turndown service w/wonderful dark chocolate (& they say Belgium is the best) king size bed, Nespresso coffee machine, water, wine glasses, robes all included @ no extra charge!
What I DON’T LIKE
- 5:45 – wake up
- *it’s raining & didn’t bring my raincoat
- **Spar closes @ 8
FUN-fact – The Vienna State Opera opened in 1869 with a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
FUN-travel: Salzburg to Hallstatt to Vienna, Austria
September 29, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Salzburg to Hallstatt to Vienna, Austria
Day 10 – Wednesday, September 25 – Salzburg to Hallstatt to Vienna, Austria – sunny & 60’s
What I LIKE
- 7:45 wake up
- another good night sleep
- hot coffee on patio
- ready to go early (I’m feeling some more points coming on)
- *check out
- 9:25 – take off for Hallstatt
- muscles still sore – clearly ones not used that much!
- **have gps & map
- beautiful drive thru forested mountains & alpine meadows
- the hills are alive w/the sound of music!
- leaves starting to change color
- ***11:00 – arrive Hallstatt – story book village on lake filled w/swans
- stop @ grocery store (free parking) for snacks
- +11:50 – attempt to program Garmin for Vienna hotel – put in city center & head out using shortest route from map
- river flowing next to road
- 12:30 – another big lakeside drive
- able to program car drop off address
- 3:00 – enter Vienna proper
- 3:30 – arrive city center
- WATCH (what are the chances) – our hotel is 3 blocks from car drop! Ritz Carlton right next door
- would never spend that much on a room
- drop luggage @ The Ring Hotel first then car
- location, location, location!
- 4:00 – get settled in our big, beautiful, quiet room w/10 ft ceilings & king size bed
- 4:05 – head to happy hour for 2 pints @ Café Schwartzenberg
- GI – (great idea) – should download travel books into iPad instead of carrying – will look into that @ home
- no high rise bldgs in old town
- 5:00 – hungry & Friday’s is across the street – fajitas! jalapenos! salsa! YUMMY!
- 7:00 – Spar grocery store stop for the usual stuff
- they have Unplugged wine for only $15 Euro
What I DON’T LIKE
- *feeling ripped off – breakfast was $11 Euro pp extra and we opted out – told the charge for our 4 coffees per day totaled $22.40 Euros
- **miss correct onramp @ roundabout – takes us 20 mins to recover – morning traffic thru little towns – gps is not perfect
- ***no place to park
- +won’t take address we have & wants to take us on longer route
FUN-fact – Salzburg is one of the best-preserved city centers north of the Alps and become a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Not so FF – At check in, when we said all we wanted was coffee, we were told, “That’s not a problem.” There was never any indication of a charge, or if there was, how much it would be. Had we known, we would have gladly paid $44 Euros. They missed getting another $22 Euro and we walked away saying… NA = Never Again! And feeling “shame on us for not asking.” Between that & the hop on bus experience Salzburg didn’t make the list for a most pleasant stay and should have.
FUN-travel: Salzburg, Austria – Full Day 1
September 28, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Salzburg, Austria – Full Day 1
Day 9 – Tuesday, September 24 – Salzburg, Austria – Full Day 1 – overcast clouds clear to full sun – warm & 70
What I LIKE
- 8:30 – wake up – best night sleep so far
- memory foam mattress
- feels more like a B &B than a hotel
- hot coffee on the patio
- 10:00 – walk to Hop on Hop off bus near hotel
- only takes 15 min walk
- 10:25 pick up – runs every 30 mins
- OMG – sore muscles from walk yesterday (from coming down the steep hill)
- 1st stop – Mozart’s birthplace home – in heart of Salzburg – lots of tours – pass on going in
- 2nd stop – Starbuck’s – big cappuccino & hot breakfast sandwich on corner
- 3rd stop – Leopoldskron Palace – on small lake w/nice gardens outside of town
- 4th stop – Hellbrunn Palace – one of oldest Baroque gardens in Europe – some Sound of Music scenes filmed here – gazebo used for “16 going on 17” song relocated here too
- *12:58 – bus is a no show
- 1:50 – lunch @ trattoria donomi – has trip advisor sign
- what else but pizza w/ham, salami, mushrooms & hot peppers – 2 pints of beer – $17 Euro
- walk up to Nonnberg Abbey where Maria was nun
- **walk over to hop on bus stop
- 24 hr pass gets us free city bus too
- Mirabell Palace Gardens – huge w/straight shot to fortress on top of hill
- 3:45 – Mozart’s 2nd home – a museum but don’t get to see it as a home w/personal items
- 4:30 – city bus back to hotel
- R & R in room
- 8:00 – dinner @ Steinlechner local restaurant just around corner – Caesar salad (dressing not!) & mixed grill plate w/turkey, pork, beef, sausage & homemade potato chips – Umathum 2010 Baideboden (cab) – $89 US
- 1st time ever! wine has glass cork – my souvenir
What I DON’T LIKE
- *have to wait 30 mins for next on
- **another no show
- wish I would have taken Rick Steve’s recommendation on the SOM (Sound of Music tour) I totally spaced his book in the car!
FUN-fact – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756 and spent the first 16 years here in a small apartment where he wrote most of his boy-genius works. When he was 17 they moved to a much larger apartment just across the bridge where the museum is. He composed over 600 works with Don Giovanni and the Marriage of Figaro still operatic mainstays today.
FUN-travel: Füssen, Germany to Salzburg, Austria
September 27, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Füssen, Germany to Salzburg, Austria
Day 8 – Monday, September 23 – Füssen, Germany to Salzburg, Austria – sunny w/clouds – high 60’s
- 7:30 – machine cappuccino not bad
- 8:30 – breakfast – really nice spread
- 9:00 – drive to castles (I’m so on time I got another 10 travel bonus pts!)
- 9:10 – park & walk up to ticket booth
- 9:15 – pick up tickets for 9:25 reservation tour for 10:25 (you lose your position if late)
- 9:30 – get in line for bus ride to top – 1.80 Euro pp
- *really long line
- 9:55 – bus finally comes
- 10:05 – arrive for walk to Mary’s Bridge for photo op (over 100 yrs old & engineering fete)
- offers spectacular views of Neuschwanstein Castle
- 15 walk down to castle entrance
- 10:24 – arrive for 10:25 tour – just made it!
- 1st floor – servants quarters & kitchen
- 2nd floor – never finished – supposed to be guest wing
- 3rd floor – features Throne Room – 2000 lb chandelier – gold plated brass can be lowered to floor – floor consists of 2 million mosaic tiles – all walls & ceilings are painted
- living quarters contains kings bed & took wood carvers 4.5 yrs to carve
- contains multiple huge wall tapestries
- features man made cave & winter garden area – w/colored electric lighting & real waterfall
- 4th floor – study & office
- concert hall he never experienced – completed 1 week before he died – once a year concerts held here
- over 300 stairs in tour
- kitchen has multiple ovens & stoves – state of the art for 1869
- 10:55 – tour over
- go to 2nd floor for 3D movie showing the original final castle plan
Neuschwanstein Castle FUN-facts:
- runner up for one of the New 7 Wonders of the World
- inspiration for Sleeping Beauty & Disneyland castles
- built from 1869 to 1886 by King Ludwing II
- he died mysteriously and building ceased
- he was spending way too much money & was declared insane
- next day he & his psychiatrist were found drowned in a Munich lake
- only 1/3 complete
- only lived there for 172 days
- designed by a stage painter – not an architect
- gravity fed fresh water & sewer systems
- built over the ruins of 2 medieval castles
- incorporates state of the art technology for 1869
- Europe’s most spectacular castle
- Chris wants to walk back up to Mary’s Bridge for back up photo op
- 11:45 – need to get back down for 12:25 tour of 2nd castle
- take 30 minute walk trail & book it down in 15
- then walk up to Hohenschwangau castle for 2nd tour
- childhood summer & hunting home of King Ludwig II
- 12:25 – starts on 1st floor – Queen’s living area
- includes “king size” billiard table, study & library, bedroom & living room
- 2nd floor – kings quarters
- 1:30 – cappuccino break
- **2:00 – back to car
- 2:20 – found it and drive out (always need to remember visuals for finding them)
- 1.5 hr beautiful drive thru countryside before autobahn
- ***4:30 – get iPod to work!
- 5:30 – arrive Salzburg proper
- 6:00 – arrive Hotel Rosenvilla – more like B&B w/15 rooms in residential area 15 min walk to town
- 70 and sunny!
- 6:15 – happy hour – Trummer Pils beer break
- 6:45 – walk to city center for mini Oktoberfest
- 7:30 – dinner @ Hagenauerstuben – caramelized sheep cheese on mixed leaf salad, fried sausages w/cabbage, mustard & fresh horseradish (finely shredded looks like cheese & really hot) Hannes Reeh “Unplugged” merlot – Yummy! $85
What I DON’T LIKE
- 6:00 wake up – no coffee until 7:30
- *have to “hurry up & wait” for 30 mins
- **can’t find car – Chris thinks it’s in a different place than I do – feel minor panic – there are multiple parking lots w/lot more cars than when we arrived
- ***car radio totally complicated for manual operation
FUN-fact – During WWII, Neuschwanstein took on a sinister role. The Nazi’s used it as one of their primary secret storehouses for stolen art. After the war, Allied authorities spent a year sorting through and redistributing the art, which filled 49 rail cars. It was the only time the unfinished rooms were put to use.