European Adventure 1 - Day 5 - Salzburg

Today is a yucky day – raining! I don’t have any places to visit except take my tour at 1 pm to Hallstatt. So went and had breakfast and came back and slept till 11:30. The Panorama tour pickup is not too far from my hotel, just one block. So left around 12:20 pm. The bus came and we left promptly at 1 pm.

The scenery is just too beautiful. Snow capped mountains everywhere, water (lakes and rivers), small villages along the road. Just beautiful!! 

We stopped at one of the many lakes to take photos. Oh boy, its cold today! 

We reached Hallstatt around 2:30 pm. The tour guide gave us a couple of choices: see skulls in church or go up the tram to see Hallstatt from above. No thinking – took the second choice. A lot of people did! Our guide also went with us. There was a mother with her two daughters, one daughter gave me her shawl. Another lady also gave me a shawl. I feel like a homeless person! I will have to invest in a jacket. But it was cold – 10oC.

The ride up the tram to the scenic point was just beautiful. It would have been even better if it was sunny. But we cannot control the weather…yet. Really beautiful from the top also. Spent about 30 mins up there and came down, then everyone went their way, as did I. 

I walked on the one lane town. It was beautiful. There was a waterfall too in the mountains. And on the other side is the lake surrounded also by mountains. Just heaven! So I did end up buying a jacket …60 Euros I will never get back! A total waste of money…if only the weather had held up!

Walked back and had a cup of coffee around 4:30 pm and then walked to the bus which is to leave at 5pm. There was a wonderful photo spot near the parking lot.

The drive back was equally beautiful, the driver took a different route. We went through forests, waterfalls and rivers, far away snow covered mountains. People do a lot of skiing here. The scenery is very much like Switzerland.

After coming back to Salzburg, I decided to walk over to Dom Quarter, but even at 7 pm everything is closed! And its not even a Sunday! What a sleepy little town. Got myself a spinach – feta cheese croissant and went to spend some time in the Mirabell gardens. 

Thank god for the jacket. It really is cold! Came back to the hotel by 8 pm, nothing much else to do. It is still daylight outside….misleading!

European Adventure 1 - Day 4 -Salzburg

No real rush to get up, as usual. But still got up around 6 am. Really got up at 7:30 am and was at breakfast around 8ish. It was a nice spread. Left around 9 am to conquer the fort. And boy was it hard to find. I kept going round and round. Finally a nice American lady showed me exactly where to go. I am sure she is not a Trump voter. It was about 9:30 am when I got up the fort. The Salzburg card was useful here in almost all the places, at least all the ones I wanted to see. 

The view from the top is amazing. Walked around and then the museum, very interesting history of the fort – it was made by monks who eventually ruled Salzburg. Monks turned into rulers! And they were power hungry monks. All their trade was about salt – there are plenty salt mines in Austria.

Kept seeing and walking around – reached the top tower, the torture tower. The views of the Alps are simply amazing. And on the other side you see the city.  I was in no hurry to leave and it really was not that much time spent anyway. Decided to have coffee and apple strudel in the outdoor café.  So lovely…just sitting, enjoying coffee and the view. 

Came down after seeing everything I could at around 1 pm. All the shops in the Dom’s quarter were open. Bought myself a ring. Went inside the Dom’s Quarter. This is a huge church which is connected to museums made of the church building and quarters where the bishops lived. This is a huge church and the whole Quarter can take a long time to see. I had no idea there was so much history here! I went over the whole building in about 2 hrs – not including the coffee break.

There was a lot of treasure in the museum. I will never understand why the men of the Christian God like to adorn themselves in jewels? There was an audio tour of the museum. I like these audio tours! Came out of the Quarter at about 3:15 pm. I know I want to take the boat cruise on the river, so again tried to get out of the bhul bhulaiyan of these galiyan. Made it out and was in the line for cruise by 3:45 pm. There were restrooms near the cruise – good – 50 cents, but good and clean.

The river cruise was a nice break from all the walking. I got the window seat and just enjoyed the view. Really great houses along the river. At the end the captain made the boat do a little Waltz on the river (it went round and round!) Fun!

Now its about 5pm. Decided to go to the museum of modern art, as someone told me the view was great up there. The handy dandy Salzburg card was very good – it got me up the lift and into the museum.  the view was superb from up there, but the museum? why did I go to the modern art museum – I don’t even get modern art! Came down after about 25 mins of trying to appreciate modern art.

There was not much to do on this side of the river. I had seen all the shops already, and I have no room to buy anything, so decided to see what was on the other side (near my hotel). Was debating whether to go back to the hotel and come out at 7:30 pm to have dinner or just have dinner and call it a day. My foot is refusing to heal. I have been on painkillers all day. Started walking in some of the back roads near my hotel. Its quite nice there, with water fountains in the middle and shops and restaurants all around. Except for the fountains, it was all similar to the shopping on the other side of the river.

And then it started sprinkling! I got inside an Italian restaurant and decided to have dinner and then turn in. I hate to eat out alone, but I don’t have much choice. There is no food at home, and pizza looks really good. had a huge Margarita pizza. I was so hungry, I ate half of it there and took the rest home. That is it for today! came home and gave my feet a nice cold and hot water bath. It is raining outside now. Tomorrow is easy. I have the Hallstatt tour at 12:30 pm – so all morning is free.

So far it has been a nice tour session. No rush anywhere, I am taking my time to see everything. I am walking everywhere despite my achy feet and the cool weather. But being able to go at my own pace has been really nice. Most times I have not felt lonely, except when I want someone to take my photo! Some of the single lady travelers I have met have been eager to talk. I, on the other hand, like my peace and quiet. In my room also I just kick back and write. I am so used to my own company.

Interesting observations so far: 

• It takes usually 50 cents to use the restrooms.
• Speaking of restrooms, Dom Quarter had the best restrooms. They had interesting technology – after each use, a lever lifts up the seat and disinfects it. Cool!
• In Vienna there are some water towers, for free water, to promote drinking water! I did not see that in Salzburg.
• The waiters in the restaurants give the change themselves. They carry this little gadget that prints the receipt, they take the money/card, handle it right there and off you go! Not like US where you have to wait for the card to come back.
• Food is not that expensive. I have been able to get a nice sandwich with coffee for Euro 6.
• People eat a lot of ice cream. It was cold out, but people had more ice cream than coffee in their hands.
• People obey street laws (no Jay walking).
• Places are all clean, despite all the tourists and population.
• There are way too many Asian tourists, from Korea, China and India…

European Adventure 1 - Day 3 - Vienna/Salzburg

Did not sleep too well…don’t know why. The temperature etc was all fine.  And I just don’t like the shower in this hotel! Its way too small.  Breakfast was the same. It was okay. 

Today I was going to be on the other side of the canal, the International Center. Took the U1 there. The modern Vienna was also good. I got off at the International Center and walked around. There were many neat modern art sculptures around, some really interesting looking buildings with modern architecture. Aldi supermarket was there too. There were some apartment buildings and gardens. Spent about an hour walking around.  Stopped at the next metro station, it was built over a river. Beautiful scenery there. 

Came back to the hotel and rested a bit before checking out and leaving for the station. Good thing I had gotten my ticket stamped because the cops were there checking tickets as we got off the escalator.

I feel like I saw what I could in Vienna in the two days I was there. I guess more time could have spent in visiting the museums and attending concerts/operas, but I was not into that.

My thoughts about Vienna?

• It is doable in 2 days…maybe one more in one wants to see the museums.
• Definitely attend a concert.
• Go inside churches. You just don’t know what it will be from inside.
• Maybe come in July when there are more flowers. There may be no tulips but there will be plenty other flowers.
• There is plenty to eat and drink and affordable.  I saw so many people eating ice cream all the time! I was thinking it will be more coffee cafes but it was more ice cream cones!

3^rd May-Salzburg

The two hour train journey to Salzburg was uneventful.  In both these train journeys no one has asked for my passport!

Went to the tourist information at the Salzburg station, and got myself a one day pass for Salzburg, which gives me free rides on metro and buses and free entry to a number of places. It was only E-24 and totally worth it. I also booked a tour to Hallstat for 5^th May. Also had to find out about the bus to take to go to the hotel – the hotel had sent me directions but still wanted to make sure.

Got to Platform C for #1 bus. I was the typical “tourist” all the way, asking about the ticket and where to get off…and the people were so nice, they helped me all the way – which was really less than a 10 min ride. The ticket was E-2.60, which I thought was a little high for such a short ride. Got off at Marketplatz. It was next to garden area and there was this wonderful church on one side of it. Little did I know that I had to go through the door next to the church. I used my wonderful map app and tried to find the hotel. It was a huge door, the handle was higher than my height! I thought it would be locked, but then someone came out and I went in. It was unlocked! I was such a chicken.

I checked into the hotel. Its actually a church hotel, so its very simple. the room was bare, no carpet, just one bed, one table with chairs, no TV. I could not figure out the heating and cooling and luckily I did not need it. The bathroom and toilet were separate, but clean with enough room (not like Vienna!). Again, I am dealing with the two prong round pins and only one outlet. I will not be able to charge my computer. Hopefully it will last me my trip.

After a few minutes of rest, I decided to go to Mirabell gardens. Its not too far from my hotel (actually I found out later that nothing was far from my hotel – great location). My entrance to the garden was from the side of the music hall, so not the main entrance. I make all these mistakes that are turning out good. As soon as I enter the garden there is small fountain in the front and on the right are beautiful lavender color flowers (same I saw in Vienna). And there are tulips – everywhere. For the first time I genuinely feel happy in a garden. Most times, I am off into photography, but here I just want to sit down and enjoy the garden. It was very soothing, not overwhelming. The weather was just beautiful.

I walked around, met an Australian lady traveling by herself. She has been in Europe for about 2 months living on only one bag! Wow! I am not the only single woman traveling in Europe, but Indian woman – yes! We talked for a while, I found it interesting how she is travelling – but she is more talkative than I am listening. So I take my leave. 

Went around the garden, took pictures and sat for a while. There is still plenty of time left in the day, so I walked to cross the canal. The bridge was beautiful – all covered with locks, locks of love! Walked to the right after crossing the bridge and then turned left. And then the market started. It went on and on and on. There are way too many tourists here! On the bridge were a whole bus load of Chinese/Korean? Tourists and now on this street I am seeing the Indians.

The temperature is getting cooler as the sun is going down. I really need coffee. There was some construction going on in the middle of the road, but still managed to find a nice little coffee place, no one was there. Had a cappuccino and chocolate cake. Coffee was not too hot and the cake was just so so. After a little more walk found a McDonald! Hehe…went in and had a potato crisps – not fires not wedge….who knows what. It was okay. Sat next to an Indian couple. There are too many people speaking Hindi around here. They told there were a lot of tours from India. Great! People have a lot of money.

Kept walking on the market street. It seem to go on forever. It was pretty but the shops were quite repetitive. It was like a maze to me, I would take a turn somewhere and get lost. Had to ask for direction to get out of these streets. It is getting too cold. Weather has been most uncooperative. My foot has also been hurting a lot. I have been taking Tylenol and Advil day and night.

Finally found my way out of the maze and got near the river. Stopped by in a bakery to pick up a croissant. The puris are going well for me but the achaar is not working out. It was not too far to get to my hotel. My feet are killing me. I gave them a nice cold water bath using the garbage can in the room. I did not have any salt, but even that felt good. I think I may also need reading glasses, some of my photos have not photos are not focused because I could not see…luckily I take many photos. 

Great day!!

European Adventure 1 - Introduction

I had always wanted to go to Europe and while planning my India trip, this fell into my lap. As I was making my booking I was asked by my travel agent if I wanted to stop over in Europe (Munich or Frankfurt) - it would cost less than a direct flight to Delhi from Newark. Oh Great!! I started searching and found that most people made a trip of Munich, Vienna and Salzburg all together. Well then....My trip was made. I would fly out of Delhi stop over in Munich for 9 days and fly back to Newark.

It would be 3 days in Munich, 3 days in Salzburg and 2 days in Vienna. The rest of the 1 day here and there would be for traveling. I still had not decided whether I would do Munich first or last. Well, I have time to plan that.

The next few blogs are kind of my diary of all my travels. I hope you enjoy reading them. I really had a great time, saw so many things and met great people.