Going Home

Sat 10 Sep 16

We are on our way home, taking a train from Salzburg to Munich airport for a flight to Singapore where we have an overnight stay to give us a break form flying, then home on Monday.

Singapore Airlines doesn't fly out of Vienna, the closest departure point being Munich. As we weren't particularly interested in staying in Munich, we chose Salzburg instead and were very happy with that choice. 

We have crossed a lot of agricultural land but have not seen one person working in them. Interesting.

It has been a  l o n g  trip, longer than we are used to, but enjoyable, except for the bells in Melk, but then that just added to the experience.

We have slept in 10 different beds, travelled on 9 trains, not including airport transfers, a sea cruise and 3 river cruises. The temperatures have ranged from freezing to hot. We have been very lucky with the weather in general, especially in the far north and with regard to the state of the seas. Only a little rain when we were in Vienna, but not enough to be a problem.

The European rail system is amazing. But the trains don't always run on time. How much co-ordination it requires between the various countries with cross border trains running is unimaginable.

I would like to thank the person who came up with the idea of putting wheels on suitcases. How would we be without them?

The most useful app on the iPad for travelling I have found is Citymaps2go by Ulman Pro. Just download the required maps then you don't need an internet connection to use them. They work off the GPS system. I don't remember what it cost, not much but certainly worth it.

Still don't have a selfie stick, in fact unlike in Italy last year where they were on sale by street hawkers everywhere, we haven't seen anyone selling them. 

Anyway, that's about it from me for this trip. Or as Fred Dagg used to say, "I have to go, here comes my bus".

Thanks for reading my blog and a special thanks to those who commented on it.

Tschuüss,

Geof N

Salzburg

Salzburg

Wed 7 Sep 16

The main train line from Vienna to Salzburg goes via St Polten but my rail map of Europe shows the line south from Vienna to Leoben then to Salzburg as being longer and slower but more scenic. The route goes over the Semmering Pass (we visited Semmering four years ago) and this section of the track is World Heritage listed. We weren't disappointed by the scenery. It is postcard Austria, minus the snow. Especially the section from Leoben to Salzburg. The line goes along mountain valleys with the mountains often rising up beside the train line. The most spectacular scenery we have seen in Europe this visit. The skies had turned hazy again but not enough to detract from the views.

We had been told by various people that we would love Salzburg but we arrived here without any idea of what to expect. Our train arrived in the late afternoon so we had time to wander around both before and after dinner. We are both quite taken by the city, especially the old town. Lots of narrow streets and laneways which have a rather different aspect to them that I can't quite put my finger on that makes them different from say Koblenz or Regensburg.  Perhaps it's something to do with the setting being at the base of the cliffs or the signs hanging in front of every shop. 

Thu 8 Sep 16

Up early this morning to wander around before too many people were about. We went into the Dom, a rather spectacular Baroque church and while we were inside a tour group of Chinese came in. They wouldn't have been in there for two minutes - they had a quick look, lots of selfies then out again. 

We went into a small graveyard behind the Dom and saw something we have never seen before - wrought iron grave markers instead of headstones.

An Australian in Austria.

We then took the funicular up to the old fort to have a view over the city. The carriage was crowded and an American women standing next to me said to her husband that there was room in the next section. I said, no, there wasn't, there was a pram in there (taking up the space). She looked at me as if she didn't understand me so I said " a stroller". She then made a "pushing" motion to indicate that she knew what I was saying. I said "my English is not very good, I am Australian" (as a joke). She said "and my German is zilch".

Hazy again especially when looking toward the sun but bright light with the sun behind.

Lots of people around by late morning, many tour groups and quite a few groups of young people on tours also.

Weather station in Salzburg

Fri 9 Sep 16

Caught a suburban bus out to visit Hellbrunn Palace with its trick fountains. Built for an Archbishop's pleasure, who used to get his guests drunk and play tricks on them with hidden water sprays. You can only see the fountains on a guided tour and unfortunately, the one we were put on was conducted in Spanish and English. The problem was, there was a large group of Spaniards on the tour so about ninety percent of the commentary was in Spanish and the little bit of English was spoken with a heavy Spanish accent. Not sure that we missed much anyway and besides, we lucky that we visited on a reduced price day, €4 instead of €12 each. 

It's interesting how inconsiderate people can be. They want to take a photo so they stand in front of everyone and don't think that anyone else might also want a photo.   Or the tall ones stand in front of short people.

The bus ride gave us a chance to see a bit of the suburbs.

Visited a very old wine bar and had in interesting conversation with the owner. She said that Salzburg was now dependant on tourism and that half the apartments in the city are actually empty. She also said that the vines in Austria were diseased years ago (she wasn't sure about when) and had been replaced with roots from America.

It has been hot in Salzburg and we were told we were lucky with the weather as it usually rains here.

We must have walked along nearly every street and passage way in the old town and most of those in the old part of the new town. Even walked past the "Maison d'Plaisir" (with its red light) on what was originally the main street in town centuries ago.

A view overlooking the city.

Vienna

Vienna

Tue 6 Sep

The fine weather returned with temps up in the high 20s for our first two days here but then on Sunday night a front went through with rain and cooled things down. There were showers and storms behind the front. Monday was showery but rainy on Tuesday. Fortunately the weather is forecast to return to fine and warm for our next leg to Salzburg on Wednesday.

We have been wandering around, revisiting some of the places we enjoyed last time we were here and discovering new ones. The advantage of staying in a different part of the city on a second visit is that it causes you to see places you may not have been before. Previously, we stayed in the Paulanergasse area, now Schottenring area.

One thing I did last time was go on a guided tour of sites associated with the movie "The Third Man". 

Fans may recognise the doorway.

Very interesting but having done it once I didn't feel the need to do it again, but  I missed out on the ferris wheel last time as we didn't get to that part of the city. This time we did and I couldn't resist taking a ride on it.

There is a museum dedicated to the movie which is only open on Saturday afternoons which I couldn't visit previously. Even if you aren't particularly interested in the movie but are interested in post WW2 Vienna, it is a must visit. The movie was set in post war Vienna and this museum has a fabulous collection of material relating to Vienna in that period. 

Seeing pictures of how Vienna suffered from bomb damage during the war and seeing how it looks today is amazing. The fact that nearly all of the inner city was reconstructed in the same style that it would have been before the war gives it a special charm I think. 

Vienna has a similar look to it as Paris, whereas say, London and Berlin, who both also suffered a lot of damage, have a very different look to them now.

One place unique to Vienna is the Hundertwasser House.

We seem to have mastered the Vienna underground system but have no idea of how the trams run, despite having what appears to be a current map of the system. The trams going past have a number which doesn't correspond to the map and/or go in the opposite direction to the sign on the tram, so we just get on one and hope it takes us to where we want to go, if not, get off and walk. Vienna is a very "walkable" city, mostly flat and not very far from one side of the main areas to the other and we walked a lot of it.

The distinctive sound of inner Vienna is the sound of horses hooves on the pavement (with the associated smell). They must drive the local car drivers crazy as it not possible to overtake them in the narrow streets.

 Another sound is the squeak of parquetry floors in the old museums.

One thing we have noticed in Europe is the many people smoking. Australians seem to have mostly given up the habit but not people here. Cigars are common also and it makes it difficult for us non smokers to find somewhere to sit in restaurants to avoid the smell of smoke.

Odd things happen to you when on holidays. We had noticed that nearly all the music we heard whenever a radio was playing, was in English. (Probably explains why most of the performances  on Eurovision are in English.)

Anyway, we were sitting in a cafe one afternoon and blaring out from the speakers in the Naschmarkt across the road, was Olivia Newton-John and when we were having dinner that night, Air Supply were on the restaurant's speakers.

There is a much greater mix of people, nationalities and ages, in Vienna than we have seen in the places we visited in Germany. On Sundays, nearly all the shops (apart from souvenir shops) and a lot of the restaurants are closed. The areas away from the main tourist areas are very quiet. There are very few beggars and people sleeping on the streets from what we have seen.

We went into a wine bar, down a flight of stairs off one of the narrow streets for a drink, then when we were finished, came out via a different stairway, right into a magnificent food emporium - Julius Meinl, Graben 19. Recommended.

I was looking forward to revisiting the Rosenberger restaurant which is near the Opera House as I remember it as having a fabulous range of food, cafeteria style, at good prices. However, I was disappointed. The range was limited and more expensive than I remember.

Speaking of food, there must be a factory (or three?) in Austria turning out Weiner Schnitzels by the ton. They are on the menu of just about every restaurant and I can't image that there is someone in the kitchen, cutting, pounding and breading them to order, except maybe in the very upmarket places.

We have been into a few museums and lots of churches of different denominations (where you are allowed to take photos, not like in Melk).

The MAK museum was more interesting than I expected and the Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury) is fascinating. The craftsmanship in the objects on display is amazing.

The Albertina had a wonderful exhibition "Monet bis Picasso".

Here is my version of Impressionism:

 

Yours truly enjoying his birthday cake at the Cafe Central, one of Vienna's Grand Cafes. The wines came later in the day.

The Journey Continues

Danube Part 2

Wed 31 Aug 16

We were in luck with the weather again for our cruise from Passau to Linz. A beautiful fine day with mild temperatures. 

The river valley down river from Passau is very different from that between Regensburg and Passau . Up river, the valley is wide with agricultural land on the banks whereas downriver the valley is very narrow with hills rising up from the river banks most of the way. There are some small towns by the riverside, where the boat stops, and also a few houses which seem to quite isolated.

The river downstream from Passau is even more green as a result of it mixing with the waters of the Inn River which originates in the mountains of Switzerland.

There are fewer people on this ship than on the one from Regensburg, probably because it is a week day.

Most of the people we have taken for tourists are "not young", I guess because the main holiday season is over and people have gone back to school or work. Also, we have seen hardly any Asians on our way across Germany. Possibly because we are slightly off the main tourist track and they stick to the major centres. And we have seen only one or two selfie sticks! (Which are mainly used by younger people and Chinese anyway.)

I think that babies' prams must have very good tyres and/or suspension in these towns paved with cobblestones, otherwise there would be the possibility of "shaken baby syndrome". Pity people in wheelchairs.

European doonas are a problem. They are not designed for hot nights - they are far too warm, and try explaining to the housemaid that you want a light blanket instead - good luck. Besides, they are rather short, how do tall people like the Dutch cope?

I am amazed, if you will pardon the pun, at the amount of maize, or is it corn, that is growing along the fields by the river. What happens to it all? 

It is a bit too far to drag suitcases over cobblestones from the boat wharf at Linz to the train station so we caught a taxi. Train to Melk with one change. Perhaps we are making it harder for ourselves with all these changes of transport but it means we get to see different aspects of the countryside.

I visited Melk in 2012 but Susan hasn't been here before. Melk Abbey is part of UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage. It is built on a cliff overlooking the town.

Thu 1 Sep 16

Melk

Didn't Quasimodo, in the Hunchback of Notre Dame, say "the bells, Master! The bells!"?

Well we had bells on and off all night! They rang at all sort of intervals for various periods with a long period at 6am. Unfortunately one of the churches was very close to where we were staying. The hotel was not air conditioned so it was necessary to have the windows open to let fresh air (and noise) in. Also, what appears to be the only pub in the old town is just below the hotel so noise from that didn't help. Besides all that, the bed was very soft and squeaky.

Melk Abbey is worth a visit. We took a guided tour through the museum which was very  informative. The tour ends with an entrance into the church. When I was here last it was possible to take photos in the church, which is claimed to be one of the most beautiful Baroque churches in the world. The tour guide said that about four kilograms of gold was used in decorating the church. Now, there are signs everywhere saying "NO PHOTOS". Why? Yes, I know it's a church all that that implies, but I can't think of any other major church I have been in where one couldn't take photos, except The Sistine Chapel. The Abbey is dependant on tourists but if the selfie generation (and the Chinese) can't photograph themselves there, will they come?

Spent the rest of the day looking around the old town - very pleasant.

Fri 2 Sep 16

The Danube Part 3

Enough is enough! After two nights of hardly any sleep due to the bells, the noise from the pub and a very soft, squeaky bed, we are out of here to whereever! It meant we had to pay for the three nights we had booked for but it is worth it in the hope of getting a good night's sleep.

So we are changing our travel plans .

We sent an email off very early in the morning to the owner of the flat we have booked for our stay in Vienna to see if we could come in a day earlier. In the meantime we looked at the possibility of staying a night at Krems but that didn't look promising and the thought of finding somewhere suitable (price and location) in Vienna was daunting.

Luckily, the flat in Vienna was available, so we took the river cruise that we had booked for the next day, today, to Krems and then a train to Vienna.

This means we will have one extra day in Vienna and won't have to rush to see everything.

My suggestion for visiting Melk would be to make it a day trip from Vienna, which is what I did last time. Catch an early train, tour the Abbey and spend the afternoon looking around the old town. Maybe even have dinner there. We had two very good evening meals there. In fact, we have been very happy with the food at all the places we have eaten across Germany. The servings are very big though, so unless you are hungry, for two people, order one main and a salad and share - it will be sufficient. 

The river cruise is only about two hours but it passes through the Wachau Valley, one of the major wine producing areas in Austria. 

How is it that European wine makers are able to produce good tasting red wine with an alcohol content of 12% whereas in Australia you are lucky to get one at 13.5% and most of them are above 14% and even 15% or more? 

Another very pleasant river cruise. We might have to consider doing a long one one day. A bit cloudy and rather hazy with signs of the possibility of storms later.

It was about a 30 min slow (dragging suitcases) walk from the wharf to the station. Time for a quick look at some of Krems before taking the train to Vienna.

Some rain along the way with signs of there having been heavy rain earlier. Fortunately, it stopped before we reached Vienna.

Some confusion about the exact location of the entrance to the flat and we were told off in no uncertain terms by the owner about not following her instructions properly. We just didn't understand the European way of writing an address. Anyway, no real problem and we are now looking forward to having an extra day in Vienna, staying in a very lovely and modern apartment (with a washing machine!). 

We were in Vienna four years ago and both really enjoyed the place and wanted to come back, so here we are.