FUN-photos: Prague to Trieste – September, 2013

November 11, 2013 by · Comments Off on FUN-photos: Prague to Trieste – September, 2013 

Our trip started on September 16th. We flew to Prague from London on the 17th. Then we trained to Munich for opening day of Oktoberfest. From there we rented a car and drove to Dachau and on to Füssen to see the Neuschwanstein Castle. (#17 on the list vying for the New 7 Wonders of the World) Next we headed to Salzburg and Vienna where we dropped the car. Then we headed to Budapest and on to Trieste by train. We spent the night in Villach, Austria to eliminate the overnight train.

If you click on the first picture it will allow you to create a slide show. And it turns out they are in ascending order (in other words, the first is actually the last) So if you click the back arrow you will see them in order. Enjoy!

FUN-travel: Salzburg to Hallstatt to Vienna, Austria

September 29, 2013 by · 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

    Hallstatt, Austria 2013 6

    View Across Lake in Hallstatt

  • 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
Hallstatt, Austria 2013 4

Hallstatt

  • 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

    Vienna, Austria 2013 21

    Vienna

  • 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.

Vienna, Austria 2013 15

Rathaus, Vienna

FUN-travel: Salzburg, Austria – Full Day 1

September 28, 2013 by · 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

Salzburg, Austria 2013 12

Mozart’s Birthplace

  • 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
Salzburg, Austria 2013 4 (1)

City View With Fortress

  • 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

Salzburg, Austria 2013 2 (1)

  • *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
Salzburg, Austria 2013 16

Leopoldskron Palace

  • 3:45 – Mozart’s 2nd home – a museum but don’t get to see it as a home w/personal items

    Salzburg, Austria 2013 23

    Hellbrunn Palace

  • 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.

Salzburg, Austria 2013 22

SOM Gazebo

FUN-travel: Füssen, Germany to Salzburg, Austria

September 27, 2013 by · 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

What I LIKEFussen, Germany 2013 59

  • 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
Mary's Bridge 2, Fussen

Mary’s Bridge

  •  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 1869Fussen, Germany 2013 24
  • 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
Fussen, Germany 2013 58

Hohenschwangau

  • Chris wants to walk back up to Mary’s Bridge for back up photo opFussen, Germany 2013 31
  • 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
Fussen, Germany 2013 56

Lake at Base of Hohenschwangau

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.