May 2, 2013 - Vienna, Austria

Our day in Wien (Vienna) started early since we had so many activities planned for one day. The buses took us around the inner ring road "Ringstrasse" of central Vienna with our guides pointing out the most famous palaces, grand residences and monuments. Once the buses let us out, we broke into several groups with guides taking us on a walking tour of downtown Vienna after which we had just enough time to have hot chocolate, coffee and apple strudle in one of Vienna's famous coffee shops. After a quick lunch on the ship, we got back on a...

May 1, 2013 - Melk, Austria and Durnstein, Austria

In the city of Melk is "Stift Melk" or Abbey Melk. The abbey is an over 900 year old Benedictine monastery that was originally one of Leopold's castles. It was much larger than I expected and very amazing. Abbey Melk currently has 30 to 40 monks working there. They run a prestigous private secondary school with over 800 students. They also maintain a large library of medieval hand copied manuscripts as well as more current sacred literature. The church has spectacular baroque wall and ceiling frescoes. After the morning of touring the...

May 1, 2013 - Adding Durnstein to the map

In order to see Durnstein on the little Austrian map on this site, I have to make a separate entry so some of the photos will a duplicate of the previous entry. Durnstein has only approx. 900 inhabitants - it is very lovely and quaint. During the early morning hours the ship headed toward Vienna. Our cabin is located on the lower level so we hear the engine noises a bit louder than on upper decks. When I wake up in the middle of the night I try to imagine that the sounds are to lull me back to sleep. Some nights it works better than others.

Apr 30, 2013 - Linz and Salzburg, Austria

On Tuesday we awoke in Linz, Austria and after an early breakfast the buses set off on an all day excursion to the beautiful city of Salzburg. We rode on the bus for most of two hours observing the very scenic Austrian countryside. Our guide was a non-stop talker with only a partial command of English - Neil and I both fell asleep after 20 minutes or so. The walking tour in Salzburg was better and then we enjoyed two and a half hours on our own exploring and having lunch. The days have been mostly overcast and a little cool, but the sun...

Jan 10, 2013 - Vienna, Austria

My friend, Basilio, got up well before the sun to take me to LAX. I suppose I could have taken a shuttle, but I have this weird feeling that when you are traveling to the other side of the planet, someone should care enough to see you off. One of the many reasons why I am grateful for Basilio. I know that some think I travel all the time, but the truth is I barely put in enough miles every year to maintain my Gold status with American Airlines. However, American doesn't fly to Armenia. American doesn't even have a partner that flies to...

Dec 28, 2012 - Seefeld in Tirol

We left Vienna with snow falling and boarded a train for our 4 hour journey to Innsbruck followed by a further 37min train ride from Innsbruck to Seefeld. The scenery on the way to Seefeld was beautiful as there was plenty of snow lying around so the cottages, fields and trees looked spectacular – just like the Christmas cards you see with winter scenes! Seefeld is a pretty little village with everything you need within walking distance, including boutique stores (with very expensive clothes) to smaller stores, lots of cafes, and of course...

Dec 26, 2012 - Salzburg

Wednesday, 26 December Our path today takes us back to Austria, with snow in the fields and frozen lakes. We stopped at the picturesque town of Mondsee, where the church scene in the Sound of Music was filmed. We arrived in Salzburg, the birth place of Mozart and the place where Silent Night was first performed. We had a fantastic guide with a very entertaining sense of humour take us around the city. The Christmas Markets were still open (our eleventh). At night we dined at Stiftskellar St Peter, claimed to be the oldest inn in Central...

Dec 23, 2012 - Melk

On the way to Cesky Krumlov, we stopped at Melk to tour Melk Abbey on the Danube River, one of the world's most famous monastic sites. Not only did it have interesting museum rooms, but the most amazing library of 300 year old books and one of the most magnificent chapels we have seen.

Dec 23, 2012 - Vienna

We arrived safe and sound in Vienna from Nice, and it was lovely to see some familiar faces - Kerri and Daniel were waiting for us at the airport after flying in from London. It was a shock when we stepped outside the terminal building and embraced the cool air. The temperature was around 3 deg and you could certainly feel the difference from the temperatures we had experienced in Spain and France. We have been busy taking in the sights of Vienna - the Opera House, The Hofburg (Imperial Palace), the Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens which were...

Dec 21, 2012 - Vienna

Friday, 21 December and Saturday, 22 December We visited the renown Schonbrunn Palace, at present the inner courtyard is full of Christmas Markets (our seventh), and after a guided tour of the Palace, we explored these different vibrant markets. In the old city of Vienna itself, we visited St Stephen's Cathedral, watched the Lippizan horses practising in the Spanish Riding School, toured the State Opera House, and revisited the Sacher Restaurant, famous for its Sacher Torte. There were more (our eighth) Christmas Markets near our hotel....

Dec 20, 2012 - Salzburg Christmas Markets

After a painful bus tour experience to Vienna we decided to drive to Salzburg to experience the christmas markets there. Salzburg is about 280km from ljubljana by highway. We climbed to an elevation of around 1400m and passed a number of tunnels. We had driven part of this highway previously when we went to Obersalzberg to see the Eagles Nest back in September however this time the countryside around us was dusted with snow. We arrived in Salzburg about midday with relatively nice weather about 6 deg and sunny, almost spring weather. After...

Dec 20, 2012 - Lots of walking

Not a great start to our short holiday - we slept in and nearly missed breakfast! However, it was a lovely cold day and we wrapped up well before we went out to see around the Museum District. The first port of call was the Natural History Museum but once we had spied the cafe/restaurant the thought of a warming cup of coffee or tea was very attractive. We came out into the cold again and decided that an afternoon siesta could do wonders for our still-tired limbs! Even in the late afternoon the day was still suitable for a brisk walk and...