Austria Trip
Austria Trip July 2006
Mark and I are back from our "Salzberg Sojourn" with VBT (Vermont Bicyle Tours). Austria was everything we had hoped for and much more.
Link to Our Salzburg Photos
http://cynsk8.smugmug.com/gallery/1722383
Link to Our Bike Trip Photos
http://cynsk8.smugmug.com/gallery/1722395
Link to Our Vienna Photos
http://cynsk8.smugmug.com/gallery/1722378
Here are just the highlights:
3 Days in Salzberg
3 Days in Vienna
and 6 Days of Bicycling outside in Salzburgerland
I have quite the extensive travel diary from this trip so I'll just mention a few of the things we loved most.
Salzburg Excursion: Thursday-Saturday
Hohensalzburg Fortress- The 11th century castle and fortress used by the city's ruling Archbishops.
The Dom-St Peter's Cathedral, Cemetary and Catacombs- Very beautiful 17th century Baroque Cathedral.
The Residenz- This was probably my favorite part of the city b/c interior Baroque rooms were quite beautiful and the ceiling frescoes full of Greek history, mostly of Alexander the Great. We found this very strange.
Mirabella Gardens-Not overly large gardens, but definitely worth an hour or so. Our hotel was just minutes from the garden by foot so we were there quite a bit.
The Sound of Music tour- Sounds cheesey but you got to tour around outside of the city on a nice air conditioned bus and see some of the beautiful country side.
The Castle of Leopold Scrim- served as the back house scene in the movie (currently owned by Harvard)
Castle Hellbrun- which we only say the gazebo from the movie
Wolfgang See (Lake)- Which was a beautiful little town(St. Gilgens) nestled in a valley on the lake.
Mondsee (Moon Lake)-Beautiful lake town houses the Church from the marriage scene in the movie.
Overall Salzburg is a wonderful city although I like Vienna much much more. 3 Days was more than enough to really see everything in the city. Much more time is needed if you want to see the outskirts of the city which are in fact well worth the time. We didn't get much time at Shloss Hellbrun but wish we had b/c that is where there was a Zoo and more gardens.
Bicycle Trip: Sunday-Friday
On Sunday morning our tour guides picked us up at the Hotel StadtKrug in Salzburg. Yan and Paul were our guides and they were quite impressive. We got to spend a lot of time with them over the next week. I actually got to know Paul more than Yan. Paul is 28 (Austrian from Zell Am See) and already has a masters but is studying for a degree in physical therapy. He's even studied in the US for 6 months in NJ and has been to NY City a bunch of times. Yan is the cute one (from Munich) and he is trying to open his own tour business in the area. We were quite lucky to have 2 great guides, they did so much for us and even made Mark's birthday special with cake and champagne at the home hosted lunch on the 18th.
Krimmlerfalle: Sunday, Monday Nights-The first 2 nights of the bike tour we stayed way up in the Alps over 5,000 feet at the incredible Kimmel Falls. We had a perfect shot of the falls from our Inn. The inn itself was worth the trip. It was in the sleepy little town of Kimmel and it was a very modern but old world style Alpine Inn.
Monday- Was my favorite biking day of the whole trip. We were bused up the mountain to the national park on KrimmlerFalle and hiked on foot up the mountain about 90 minutes. Then we biked up the mountain most of the morning--there were rolling hills it was not straight up hill. We ate lunch at an exquisite mountain lodge own by our same Inn keepers and ate an Austrian country lunch right next to the cows. It was the most beautiful of all the days as we were so high up in the mountain. After Lunch we biked down hill for a while then stopped at the mouth of the falls and hiked straight down for several hours right alongside the falls. It was spectacular.
Tuesday- Biked to Zell Am See on Marks Birthday was a normal riding day and we biked 42 miles down the valley. We bike through a ton of small farming towns and had some incredible views of the Alps towns. The highlight was the home hosted lunch at Tersia's 500+ year old house. She made us a typical Austian dish of Spetzil and the most incredible birthday cake for Mark. We also had champagne with homemade Elderberry juice and homemade Strawberry Shnapps.
Zell Am See: Tuesday and Wednesday Nights- We stayed at our guide, Paul's, hometown. Even waved to his dad as we biked into the town after a 42 mile bike ride. The sport Alpine resort was just ok and must be really nice during ski season as it is Ski In/Out and literally attached to one of the lifts.
Wednesday-Was one of the best days of the whole trip. We biked in the morning for about 10 miles to Maria Alm but then after lunch we were picked up for our Para Gliding Excursion. Mark and I jumped off a 6000 foot mountain (Schmitten) in Tandem(with an expert) with a large Parachute. Al and LuAnn did this with us (70 and 69) and we all had the most incredible experience of our lives. It was truly like flying. On my flight, we caught many thermals and circled up close to the mountain until we were well past the highest peak over 8000 feet. We could see both valleys in the Alps so clearly (the Saalach and Salzach) and we could see both the German and the Italian Alps. My flyer Haans said we were very luck and got great height. The landing was really fun, Haans spun the parachute in a tight spiral several times and it was just like a roller coaster. Landing was a breese, we landed on our feet at a light run. I'm ready to fly again very soon, but unfortunately I need a mountain. Wednesday night for dinner was unique and we caught a Zell Am See street festival and actually got to eat on our own away from the group for the first time.
Thursday was our last cycling day as we were planning to skip Friday and do another excursion. We biked about 30 miles and actually the last part of the trip was along the Salzach river that feeds into Salzburg. It was very beautiful. Mark did the full 55 mile tour and ride right to our next hotel the Grunaure Hof Gastof Hotel. It was without a doubt the nicest hotel and we hightly recommend it for anyone that wants to stay just outside of Salzburg.
Wals- Thursday and Friday Nights
Friday we were picked up at the hotel by a private guide. Al had arranged the whole thing and the 6 of us went off to the Eagles Nest. This was a conference center ( tea house) at the very pinnacle of a mountain where one of Hitler's homes was located. It was in the village of Berchtesgarten Germany and in German it is known as Kehlstein Haus it is 1800 meters up (more than 6000 feet). The Kehlstein haus is not very expansive, just a few day rooms used for special meetings. Apparently it was only used a couple of times by Hitler himself who didn't like the claustrophobic elevator needed to get to the house. It was rumored to have an important meeting between Hitler and Mussolini and there is a fireplace that was given by Mussolini to Hitler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kehlsteinhaus
Saturday morning we had to say goodbye to Yan and Paul and that was actually sad. They had been fantastic guides. This was the official end of the bike tour and we were off to the Vienna for our excursion. All of the couples had trips planned. Steve and Kathleen were heading to Copenhagen, Joel and Joanna, Ron and Susan to Prague, Neil and Helen to another tour down the Danube. Gary and Karen and All and LuAnn were all heading to Vienna with us as were Ken and Evelyn and Brad, Millie and Janet.
Vienna Excursion Saturday-Tuesday
http://www.vienna.cc/english/
Ah Vienna. I absolutely loved this part of the trip. The city was breathtaking. The Hapsburgs ensured that jaws would drop when you saw their sublime capitol. Where do I begin to tell you about this amazing city. All I can say is that the buildings and parks located in the ring made this a truly magical place. As cities go it is very clean and extremely easy to navigate. Outside of the ring it's pretty much like all other big cities, New York, Rome, London. However inside the inner city, standing in front of the Hofburg one can see the most amazing points of this great place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HofburgI am including links to other photos and websites for this section b/c you just won't believe the beauty of this place.
St Stephans-At the heart of the city lies one of the most exciting Gothic cathedrals. It rivals the one in Barcelona both on the outside and certainly from within.
http://images.google.com/images?q=stephansdom&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images
KarlsKirche-Mark and I both loved the look of this Roman/Bysantium/Baroque chruch. http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=KarlsKirche&btnG=Search
Belevedere Castle-Here we got to see Klimt's famous painting "The Kiss" as well as a Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh. http://www.aboutvienna.org/sights/schloss_belvedere.htm
Schonbrunn Palace-The Hapsburg's Summer palace was well worth the tour. The imperial rooms were so ornate with gilded gold everywhere. The place is impressive in size but the yellow color is strange. Apparently that was a sign of wealth b/c the color was difficult to come by. Photos in google really make the color seem attractive:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=Schonbrunn&sa=N&tab=wi
The Kunsthistorisches Museum-Fine Art History Museum is just breathtaking both outside and from within. From in front of the Hofburg, one can see the twin buildings-as they are impossible not to notice. Driving along the Ring the complex where the twin buildings face each other is very imposing and a statue of Maria-Theresa Hapsburg stands right in the middle. Inside the museum it is clear that no expense was spared. The marble work is the finest any of has ever seen.
The Hofburg Comlex-So much can be said about this amazing complex. We had the chance to explore the NeuBerg and the Albertina indoors but it is the outside that is truly amazing. We had the chance to explore this entire complex both on Saturday night and then again on Monday.
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=hofburg
The Rathaus- Strange name for Town Hall, but this is the most eye catching site from the Hofburg (main house Neu Berg) http://www.phototravels.net/vienna/vienna-town-hall-photos.html We spent quite a lot of time at this bulding-every day throughout the summer there is a film festival with a giant screen in front of the Rathaus. In the gardens, there are chairs and tables for you to sit while you enjoy food from vendors of all nations. The scene was quite the happening place on Saturday night.
The Burg Theatre- One of the first buildings you notice walkting through the Volksgarten. We didn't go inside but from the pictures the inside is just as amazing as the outside. http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=burgtheater
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