The weekend after Madrid, I was so excited to see my Mom in Austria for Thanksgiving! We met each other bright and early in the Vienna airport, after my mom had an 8 hour overnight flight from New York! After exchanging hugs, we were off to the city center on the CAT train. Our hotel was at a great location on the Kartner Ring, just down the street from the Opera House. After dropping off our bags, we set off for the Hofburg Palace to catch a glimpse of the famous horses prance to baroque music at the Spanish Riding School. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty boring because we caught the tail end of the practice (plus I’m not the biggest fan of horses). By that time we were starving (I had skipped the Austrian meat breakfast sandwich on the plane). We found a café called Demel, well known in Vienna for luscious pastries and coffees. In fact, relaxing at coffee houses is one of the biggest cultural activities in the country. While trying to find our way to the tour bus, we found ourselves walking through the famous Christmas markets. There was everything from sausages to Christmas ornaments and candles.
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| Hofburg Palace |
We then hopped onto the Hop on Hop off tour bus, which included a one hour sightseeing tour of the city. It was definitely the best way to see the city! We got off at the Belvedere Palace, which was an extensive palace broken up into the upper and lower palaces, with beautiful gardens in between. We could only imagine what it looks like in the summer! For dinner my mom tried the wiener schnitzel and loved it! We split an apple strudel and headed to the Kursalon, a majestic palace that had an orchestra playing the works of Mozart. It was quite a site, complete with singers and dancers. We can definitely see why Vienna is called the “City of Music!” It had started to snow while we were at the performance, so we got to walk back to our hotel taking in all of snowy Vienna!
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| Belvedere Palace |
Saturday morning we had an early start at St. Stephen's Church, where we climbed the 343 steps to see the city of Vienna. The view was absolutely breathtaking of the snow topped roofs. We then found Hotel Sacher, which is a hotel known for their pastries. It was right on the Kartnerstrausse, so it was easy to find. We enjoyed a quick breakfast (we definitely earned it after climbing the church!) and then grabbed our bags and headed to the train station! Off to Salzburg!
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| St. Stephens |
The train was really easy to figure out and we hopped onboard for the almost 3 hour ride through the snowy countryside. I was able to catch up on my celebrity gossip from the magazines my mom brought me (AHHH Taylor and Jake!! I'll be stalking them in Nashville this spring!) Our hotel was a taxi ride away on the Salzach River. We fell in love with the city from the moment we got there! It was so charming, but also very VERY cold. We bundled up (one of my best purchases abroad has been earmuffs in Copenhagen) and went to the heart of the old city center where we explored the Christmas markets. After a couple of purchases, we decided to take the vertical tram up to the Fortress Hohensalzburg. The tram took only 30 seconds and the view from the top was absolutely amazing, as the sun was going down over the Alps. We headed back down on the tram and walked to Mozart Place, where there was a big skating rink and outside bar. By that time it was time to de-thaw before dinner, so we headed back across the Mozart Bridge and back to the hotel. Our concierge had tried 10 places to make a dinner reservation for us and he landed a winner! We hopped in a cab to The Schloss Aigen in the Algen section of Salzburg, driving by the original VonTrapp house. The restaurant was very authentic Austrian, including a cute Austrian family celebrating a birthday and another couple who brought their dog!
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| Treats at the Christmas Market |
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| View from the top of the tram |
Sunday was our "Sound of Music" tour! We boarded the bus bright and early, grabbing seats in the very front of the bus. Our tour guide Trudie was dressed the part and sang and danced throughout the tour. We learned a lot about the making of the movie and Von Trapp family on our bus ride around Salzburg and other towns where the movie was filmed. We especially loved the town of Mondsee, where the wedding scene was filmed. The tour concluded at the Mirabell Gardens, where the “Do-Re-Mi” scene was filmed. We say the steps and fountain that the children dance on, took a couple of pictures, and then headed to the markets before I had to head to the airport!
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| Gazebo from the "16 going on 17" scene |
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| Chruch where they got married |
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| Do-Re-Mi steps |
I got to the Salzburg Airport in the height of a huge blizzard…just perfect. Well, it seems that JFK airport needs to get some pointers from the Salzburg Airport with all those delays and de-icing that my family always encounters there. My flight took off right on time into the snow and I said “So Long, Farewell” to the beautiful Austrian winter wonderland!
xx
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