Kyo DOes Austria (aka Kyo's First Visit to Europe) [FINALLY FINISHED]

[Kyo]

Snapshots Across Austria


Prologue...

In the past year (it barely seems like just yesterday) since I signed up for an account at SQTalk, I never could have imagined meeting so many SQTalkers all around the world who have gone out of their way to be generous, hospitable and friendly.

This TR holds great significance to me because although I had been traveling to a moderate degree (certainly in comparison with most of my friends and family), all my travel had been exercised regionally. It's also my first SQ longhaul.

Europe.

A place I'd long been enchanted with, full of its mysteries and many, many famous cities I'd grown up watching documentaries on the Discovery channel on, had frequently been a location that eluded my choice for a holiday, mainly in part due to the associated cost. It was always a case of "I wish I could go, someday...", and never a real possibility.

I'd probably still have not 'taken the plunge' til this day if it had not been for the call to the VIE DO.

Reason be damned, - I decided to head off to Vienna!


The planning process took over a month, being rather inexperienced to this whole MR thing (it's a whole lot harder than my usual SIN-BKK!) to accumulate the necessary miles that would allow me to get to VIE in the cheapest, yet most complicated way I could think of - the purpose would be not just to travel for the sake of flying but to see as much of Europe as I could within a short span of time.

Here's what the route looks like:

SIN-AMS-VIE // VIE-IST-DXB-MAA-BKK-SIN

(Disclaimer: due to the majority of this trip being in Austria and since I don't know when I'll be done with the post-Austrian segments, those will have to come in a later instalment)

====

SQ324 - SIN-AMS: Departure from Singapore to Amsterdam...

It was a rather late departure at 23:45. After a long day at work, I was pretty tired and since there were no dramas with take-off, and since we all know what the interior of a 777-200/300 looks like, I'll jump straight to the important bit: The food.


Starter - Smoked duck breast salad with cherries compote and pineapple-rosemary vinaigretette

The choices on the menu this evening were:

*Prawns with saffron sauce, asparagus, mushroom and new potato

Wok fried beef with szechuan pepper, vegetables and fried rice

Seared chicken in herb jus, roasted vegetables in olive oil and polenta


None of the above sounded that appetising, so I had fortunately Booked-The-Cook:


One of the many (consumed by SQTalkers) - Slipper lobster Thermidor, buttered asparagus, and slow-roasted vine-ripened tomato, and saffron rice


Finale - Gourmet cheese with garnishes

Feeling rather bloated, I sort of dozed off (first time in a Spacebed). Unfortunately I quickly found out I don't find Spacebeds particularly comfortable as I sleep on my side. Nevertheless, I 'slept' for approximately 2-3 hours before waking up again and watched the IFE for awhile.

Breakfast service was soon served and it started with some fruit:


Prelude - A choice of apple, tomato or freshly squeezed orange juice

I skipped the cereal starter as I was still rather full but seeing as I had a very long day ahead, I glanced at the mains - choices were:

Braised beef brisket udon soup
White wheat noodles in rich beef broth served with braised beef brisket and vegetables

Golden waffles with caramelized banana and mascarpone cream
strawberry mint salad and honey

and lastly, Kyo's choice:


Pardon the mess (croissant) - Cheese omelette with chicken sausage, sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes, hash brown potatoes

Since I was off to Europe, I decided to skip the Oriental selection and go for a warm omelette. It was beautifully presented, simple and exactly what I needed to heighten my anticipation to get to Amsterdam.

The plane began its descent into Amsterdam.


ETA - 19 minutes til I arrive to my first European city


Above Amsterdam - Our position


My first glimpse of Europe begins in Amsterdam - Somewhere near Schiphol

I bade the SQ stewardess who had looked after me goodbye and entered the Netherlands (a little nervous and anxious).

Amsterdam's Schiphol - Everything looked rather cold

I needed a restroom and found two amusing advertisements (one in particular seemed to suit the situation - as I was only in transit for 2 hours!):


I saw some beautiful Dutch windmills - above the men's urinals in AMS!

[Kyo]

(post #1000)

Three (Actual) Minutes In Amsterdam...


The Royal Bank of Scotland welcomes me to Amsterdam - Ironic

I emerged landside and rushed out into the early morning to fill my lungs with some European air.


Schiphol - Huge Wording

It was freezing so after three minutes of furious photo-taking, I retreated inside once again. Since I had no idea where I was supposed to go, I searched for an Information Counter.


Information Counter - Brightly coloured, it's easy to find

Information Counter conversation:
Kyo: "So I'm looking for the SkyEurope counter?"
Officer: "That's upstairs!" (She was quite 'to the point'. In her defence, it was very early and I was not expecting Changi's 'service with a smile')



Departures - Quickly popped outside for a quick shot as the sky was becoming brighter


====

NE3613 - SIN-AMS: Departure from Amsterdam to Vienna...

The counters at SkyEurope looked pretty grim. The staff didn't look particularly friendly. The queue was around 8 pax-long at both counters. Fortunately I got lucky as one of SkyEurope's personnel seemed to return from a break to a third counter. The flight number was NE3613 and I was allocated a seat somewhere in the back.

Oh well, this was the most convenient (and the cheapest) method of getting to Vienna. This ain't SQ J, for sure.

After clearing customs and immigration, I was once again airside.

It was a bit of a walk to H5 (the gate). Along the way there were many lovely shots of various locations around the Netherlands. Here are some for your viewing pleasure:


More Dutch windmills - The modern sort


Exactly what we need - Between Singapore and Malaysia


Wonder who lives in this place - A getting home for sure! In the middle of a marsh.

Anyway, we're in the queue and with 10 mins to go, there's still no sign of the aircraft!

However with 5 mins to go, the aircraft appears out of nowhere! It's a mad scramble as everyone rushes onboard.


SkyEurope.com on the winglets - Behind that, the SQ bird that brought me here


Boarding by Staircase - Wonderful


Legroom shot - Obligatory (c) by SQfg, of course

I should point out this was the last leg that this pair of trousers stood by me. In cramped conditions, somehow, it tore. In the most embarassing of places.

Getting ready to take off, we passed by some flagships of the Netherlands - AMS, is the home to KLM, of course!


Blue and white crowns - Must try KLM one day (I understand they go to some hard-to-reach destinations, esp in Germany)

So it's Goodbye Amsterdam...

[Kyo]

... and Hello Vienna! (and Graz!)

So we take off into the very overcast morning, with the cloud cover extending to cover most (all?) of Germany enroute as well. A short while later, the pilot announces our descent into Austria.

The first thing I see is:


Industry - Some processing plant of sorts?

It wasn't long before we landed at Vienna's Schwechat. By now I'm starting to wonder if lots of words (or just airports) start with 'Sch' in Europe!

I've survived the long trek in one piece to Austria! Lots of Flying Arrows everywhere!

Flying Arrows - Austrian Airlines


You can tell you're flying SkyEurope - As you have to get on a bus to get into the terminal (even though plenty of gates are available)

I promptly disembark and retrieve my luggage. Thankfully Schiphol and Schwechat did a good job both ends checking/retrieving my luggage.

SQTalk and co-host of the VIE DO, petz, as well as my travelling companion/guide to Austria for the next few days, was there to greet me upon arrival.

I'd like to take the opportunity to say a big thank you to petz for taking the time to come all the way out to the airport to greet me. It is rather confusing for a non-German speaker to figure out the ticket validation system and I'd probably have gotten rather lost otherwise! Thank you!

It's here that that I ought to point out I had actually flown in early on the Tuesday morning, about four days before the actual VIE DO started (on the Friday night) with the intention to do an Austrian 'road trip' until Friday night.


That's me - Two planes, one train and three countries later (taken by petz)

The other co-host Flo had arranged for us to all have lunch together. First, we had to make our way to Pilgram Gasse.


That would be here - Pilgram Gasse


In front of Pilgrim Gasse - My first breath of fresh Vienna air

Flo met us somewhere nearby (he was working) and we were off to lunch.


Wieden Brau - My first European restaurant


Viennese hand signals demonstrated by our hosts - Only the talented may mimic


Brau means brewery - Wieden, the name!


The house specialty - Definitely yummy


The first of many deep-fried meals - Onion rings, chicken tenders and chips (that's Petz's)


Cordon Bleu - MINE! All mine! *cue maniacal laughter*

[Kyo]

The time was now 14:00PM.


Stuffed full of food after just three hours in Vienna, petz and myself said wished goodbye to Flo, who had to work/prepare for the DO (he might have come along for the roadtrip instead) and headed back to pick up our wheels at the airport. It would have been smarter (in hindsight) to have just picked up the car from the city somewhere.

Our choice of car rental: Hertz, and we were upgraded one level up (not a double upgrade) to a B-class Mercedes upon presentation of BD's gold upgrade voucher, our set of wheels for the rest of the week.


B-Class - Our ride upgraded with a BD GUV! No SLKs here...

We were soon on the highway (I was driving, so unable to take photos) heading South to Graz. Spectacular scenery (more pics of scenery to come in the next few posts, don't worry). We got there just as the sun was about to set.


Graz - Traffic lights

We drove past a chair.


Humongous red chair - The biggest chair in the world?

We checked in to Hotel Daniel (unfortunately no photos of the outside). However a few photos from the room:


Hotel Daniel logo - They're a part of Design Hotels


Graz Railway Square - Hotel Daniel overlooks the conveniently located near the railway station on the left


Graz - Busy intersection along Bahnhofgurtel to the front

We were now both ravenous, and decided to forage for food. Fortunately we didn't have to go very far. In fact, we crossed the intersection in the photo above to reach a Wursthaus. There's a sign with a green stylised letter 'B' on the left of the intersection - that's where we went.

Time for the meal. In order of priority:


Puntigamer - Very drinkable local beer of some sort


Leberknödelsuppe - Meatballs made out of liver = Liverballs? In soup! Rather huge but yummy!


National dish of Austria - Schnitzel! Mine came with lingonberry jam. Which I thought was odd, a bit like blueberry.


Custard pudding - Drenched in custard


National dessert of Austria - Strudel. Preferably Apfelstrudel (Apple strudel)

The gluttony over, we adjourned for the (very long) day. I recall the temperature being something like 4 degrees Celcius. Wonderful.

[Kyo]

Early the next morning!

We had a long day ahead but first, we decided to head to the highest point in Graz, the Clock Tower/Schlossbergplatz (Castle area)


Early morning in Graz - Beautiful weather


Cobblestone Arch - The entrance to hike up the hill (we opted to go healthy and not use the funicular, on the other side)


Looks like a small hill... but - make no mistake, that's one steep hill!


Glimpse of the Clock Tower - Finally!


Funky tree - Very unique, looks like marijuana?!

Looking over the railing on the other side of the hill...


Graz - From the top of the Schlossberg!

Let's zoom in on a few places.

We spotted an odd-looking deep blue building with spouts coming out everywhere.


Kunsthaus - Oddly-shaped building, this is the Museum of Modern Art in Graz


The 'Island' on the Mur - Spanning over the Mur river which runs through Graz, this is actually an amphitheatre (and a cafe inside), very popular during the Summer months


Fire! - Olden war cannons, like this one, once protected this city

All done, we walked back down passing by the flower gardens below the clock tower


Red, White, Green and Yellow - Gardens of the Schlossberg


Tall Column depicts Graz's Christian roots? - In front of the provincial government building, near where we parked

The longest drive of the trip lay ahead. So, we grabbed a few slices of pizza nearby and set off to the next destination.

[Kyo]

Of mountains, waterfalls and lakes

After the quiet splendor of the Schlossberg, it was off to our next stop: The second highest (but most accessible) waterfall in Austria

A quick bit of background here. I had purchased a book with recommended routes for roadtrips around Austria (funnily enough, this was available/bought in KLCC's Kinokuniya) - this was one of the top routes that they recommended for driving. This drive was going to take approximately 5 hours. It would have taken far longer despite having in-car satnav if it had not been for petz. Navigating the many highways and byways of Austria with all their German signboards is no mean feat!

It was an overcast day for the entire drive (worse luck!), but very typical of the pre-Winter climate that we expected. Along the way, we passed by many mountains that looked like this:


Blue Mountains - Austrian Style

Midway through the journey after driving for three hours, we stopped for a break at a guesthouse called the 'Gasthof Bierhaus'.

From the inside of the 'Gasthof Bierhaus':


Beer House! - Interior of the 'Gasthof Bierhaus'


Stag heads - Hungry yet?


Flowers on the windowsill - Growing despite the cool climate


Through the window - Signboard of the 'Gasthof' and surrounding countryside

Food was soon served:


One of the many desserts - a lovely Peach strudel


Peach Strudel - This was just too good!

We called for the bill and walked outside, lovely mountain air awaited. It was still freezing, though. One more shot of the countryside.


Outside the 'Gasthof Bierhaus' - I took this because of those trees in the centre.

One thing I notice about Europe is how all the trees seem to have very straight, narrow trunks, all in a linear fashion.


As we drove off - One more mountain shot


Very nicely decorated building! - Had to snap this while driving (rest assured, I was driving slowly and it was an empty highway at this stage, no lives were endangered and no deer were harmed in the process)

Two hours later, we arrived within the vicinity of Krimmel. A very mountainous region, here's what the view looks like:


Lots of gravel/snow - Very steep mountain to the left of the waterfalls

Next stop - the highlight of the day: The Krimmel Waterfalls or 'Krimmler Wasserfäll' (in German)

[Kyo]

The Walk to the 'Krimmler Wasserfäll'

Before we begin, here are some facts for those who want some educational material (according to this site)

There are three stages of this waterfall.

The first one (as can be seen below) is called the 'Lower Achenfall' (140 m). The second is called the 'Middle Falls' (a little of which can be seen to the top of the photo below) (240 m) and the last is known as the 'Upper Fall' (380 m). At the top of the waterfalls you'll find a 'Krimmler Tauernhaus'. There is also a 4-star hotel at the top, if you choose to stay overnight. However, we had other plans (that will be revealed later) for accommodation that evening.


'Lower Achenfall - First glimpse of Krimmel

Here you park your car on the left side of the bridge, and then walk for around 5-10 mins to the start of the 'trek' into the mountains to the top of the falls (555m high).


The 'Krimmel' trek - It's quite a big signboard

How big?


Demonstration Time - Quite big! (as modeled by our dear petz!)

First we walked past some interesting traditional homes...


Traditional Austrian home - Cheerful design

...a garden...


Traditional Austrian garden - Reminds you of Travelocity!
(no Travelocity gnome, though - I checked!)

...a list of hotels...


List of hotels - Duly re-published here, in case any of you want to stay here in the future

...a water feature...


Hdyro-powered - 'water churner' and 'carpenter'

The water feature was quite interesting and in a few minutes we were feeling a bit dehydrated (and of course, hungry, again) so we decided to get our priorities right and popped into a nearby snackshop (of which there are a few, just before the waterfalls).


Krimmel restaurant - One of the overpriced (of course) restaurants

We didn't eat there, incidentally, but ate opposite. Here's what we ordered:


What's under that lid?! - Food?


SAUSAGES! - AUSTRIAN SAUSAGES!

And what's better than Austrian sausages??


Austrian sausages + ALMDUDLER! = Win

I know what you're thinking... what kind of a name is Almdudler?!

Well, it's a drink. And this drink rocks, seriously. I love it! It went so well with the sausages and tasted a bit like apple cider. Now fully recharged (although still rather exhausted after the drive), we headed into the unknown.

To get to the 'Lower Falls', you have to walk through some narrow paths past these trees...


So straight! - These trees would look so out of place in Singapore

But I digress, enough about trees! The time has come for the Main Event.

[Kyo]

The Main Event: The 'Krimmler Wasserfäll'

This is one of the highlights of my trip to Austria - the Krimmel Waterfalls!

Although I never fancied myself as much of a nature person, I'm starting to find that I find myself appreciating a nice view more and more. With the natural beauty of the Krimmel (and previously, the Maldives), I have noticed myself planning future itineraries/escapades that revolve around nature and not just man-made formations more.


The falls - Bursting into view (do note at the top-left hand corner, the first of the hotels)

With a thunderous roar, the Krimmel reveals itself in its full splendour:


An impressive sight - Full frontal


Kyo presents - Himself. Getting really wet!


Set in stone - Plaque at the Lower Falls


The plaque - Sorry, I can't translate this


The stream - Flows back past the carpark area


Directions - All around the national park.


Mountainscape - Our last glance at the waterfall before we left

We had no intention of hiking up the mountain as:

1) we had no time
2) we were quite exhausted after 5 hours driving almost non-stop
3) we had to backtrack an hour to our next destination - Zell Am See

[Kyo]

Zell am See - Austrian Lake Holiday Destination

The weather leaving the waterfalls was not on our side and it was barely 10 minutes into the drive before the heavens opened. For some reason, it seemed as though all the semi-trailers in the country had decided it was the right time to make an appearance.

In front of us.

Causing us to slow right down to around 40km/h.

Somehow we managed to wriggle our way past them and naturally, as soon as that happened, the bad weather had abated. Shortly thereafter, we entered a tunnel in the side of a mountain and emerged almost immediately on the other side with a very lovely mountain lake.

I'm going to have to cheat a little bit because I couldn't take any photos while driving, but this is as much as I saw of the 'scenic' bit of the lake before the sun set.


Zell am See Lake - From the hotel balcony

(Unfortunately, photos of the lake from the next morning were covered by fog and we were only here one night)


Hotel Tirolerhof - Our accommodation here was based on its Tripadvisor #1 ranking (they definitely got this one right!)


The Lobby - Now *this* is a lobby.

This is the kind of hotel I'd imagined to see/stay in whilst in Europe and I was not disappointed here. It was full of charm and hospitality. Highly recommended as *the* place to stay if you're ever in Zell am See. Try not to go end-Autumn like me. Summer, I'm told, is wonderful (but definitely make reservations early on as this place is VERY popular)


Beautiful white (alabaster?) fireplace - We saw this crackling away a little bit later (and in an odd turn of events later after dinner, somehow the fire had 'overburnt', filling up the entire Lobby with smoke - the fire brigade also had to be called in!)


Totally chilling out - after a very long drive/day into a very comfortable chair

So, we adjourned for a quick refresher upstairs.


The room for the night - Nice and toasty!

Notice how they had set the bedspread...


I'd booked separate rooms for the both of us, actually - Enough said!


From the windows - Looking inwards into the room


Etro toiletries - 'New Tradition'


View from the balcony - Across the lake, beautiful little houses

Extremely ravenous now, it was off to dinner at the restaurant upstairs!


The entrance to the restaurant - Lovely wooden interior, rich plush carpets, staircases and banisters, full of charm and character

[Kyo]

Fine Dining in Zell am See

Food always being a highlight of the day, here's my first ever 'fine dining' (well, this isn't the most haute couture restaurant, obviously - but it was good enough) dinner in Austria/Europe.


The wine selection on the left - The courses on the right


Table settings - So many utensils!

We ordered a wine.


Zweigelt '06 - Red Austrian


Salad - To start, a selection of salads (this one is free-flow, so not exactly fine dining)

Appetisers


Breast of quail - on rosemary skewer with apple-celery salad and sauce cumberland


Vegetable-leek quiche - with chives-sour cream

Soup


Consomme of beef - with sliced pancakes

or

Cream of potato (didn't go for this one)

Mains


Baked escalope of pork "Salzburg style" - with cranberry and parsley potatoes

or


Roasted tuna steak with fennel vegetables - and egg noodles

or

"Pinzgauer" Cheese 'spatzle' - with roasted onions and chives (didn't go for this one)

Dessert


Orange-Grand Marnier parfait - with fruit sauce

or


Chocolate souffle - with cinnamon sabayon

or

Cheese plate (didn't go for this one)

Exhausted, we hit the hay after that and prepared for some snow at the Schmittenhohe the next morning!

[Kyo]

To the top of the Schmittenhöhe

I popped outside to fill up the car with more petrol. I noticed it was quite a few miles we had racked up.


It was foggy and chilly - 7.5 degrees C!


In front of the petrol station - Nice mountain and countryside with cows grazing despite the bitter weather

Rushed back to the Hotel Tirolerhof for breakfast to fuel myself up for the rest of the day:


Sausages aplenty! - Like every good Austrian breakfast should have!

I had intended to see a bit of snow in the famous Tirolian mountains of the Austrian Alps, and it was here that I planned my assault on the Schmittenhöhe.

(I know, I know... this is hardly an assault on Mt Everest here, given that this mountain comes with a cable car and all)

Nevertheless, we made haste.

So we drove up to the base of the mountain and purchased our tickets to go up on the cable car.


Map - Details the important points of interest and surrounding locale


Our ride - It's big, it's red!


Up we go - At a sharp ascent!


Lifts to ski resorts - Running in parallel to our cable car

On the way to the top, the weather changed from mild to cold as we plunged into one foggy cloud after another. It wasn't long before the first flecks of ice gave way to soft, tiny flakes of snow. Naturally, living in balmy Singapore, this South-East Asian-born snow enthusiast was thrilled.

After a 10-minute ride, we reached the station at the top and popped out of the receiving area which housed a small cafe. However, my priority was the snow and hence I immediately headed for the door that led outside.

I looked around in amazement at a scene I had only experienced 20 years previous, back in 1987 when I lived in California.

Snow. Snow everywhere!

I felt like a kid again, just feeling happy at the sight.


Looking below - The mountain trail disappears downwards

They had just finished

Chair lifts - For the Winter ski season

Of course, there are many of us here on SQTalk for whom snow is a common thing, even a nuisance, so this may not seem like anything wonderful, but there was an inexplicable feeling of joy.

This feeling lasted for a few minutes before I started to get really chilly.

It's here that I should make mention of what I'm wearing in the below picture. As the sold pair of pants I had planned on using for this holiday had tore on the SkyEurope flight flying into Austria, I was fortunately saved by the pair of SQ F pyjamas I had been given by a certain SQTalker back in SIN. Yes, I had brought it along to use on the SIN-AMS sector and now I was very, VERY glad I did!


Top of the Schmittenhöhe - To go where no SQ F pyjamas has gone before!


Some strudel to recover from the chill - And a few postcards...

... and it was time to head off to our final destination on the roadtrip...

SALZBURG!

[Kyo]

The Final Destination!

Our strudel-powered descent was hastened by the sight of the oncoming poor weather. What was gentle snowflakes started pelting down with more force.


Visiblity - Was quickly reduced.

Our time in Zell am See had come to an end.

Reluctant as I was to leave, this was our final moment in the scenic holiday resort town of Zell am See before we sped off to Salzburg with the intention to arrive in time for lunch. With the ever trusty Hertz satnav system, the shortest drive of the trip (barely 2-hours) was soon over and we arrived at our final destination before heading back to meet the rest of the SQTalkers...

Mozart's Birthplace: Salzburg

Salzburg is a city famous for many things. To enter the main city centre, you have to drive through a small tunnel carved through the side of a mountain. It's a magical gateway to what lies beyond...


From the Getriedegasse (main street through the city) - The mountain through which you have to go through

Those observant ones amongst you (SPG-ers, no doubt) will notice the signboard of the hotel we are staying in.


Hotel Goldener Hirsch - My first SPG property I've personally booked/stayed in ever. This view is taken from the 'front'. Or maybe the 'back. It's hard to say. But this doesn't face the Getriedegasse.

We checked into our accommodation for the night - Hotel Goldener Hirsch, which held the #1 rating on Tripadvisor at the time of booking for Salzburg hotels. This hotel has a tremendous history that I won't go into - suffice to say it allowed me the opportunity to get a taste of Austrian life a century back. Now, it's under the Luxury Collection brand of Starwood, but many unique bits and bobs makes this a one-of-a-kind location to stay in.

We decided to take a look around this famous little place - however we were starving by then and it was time for more traditional Salzburg-er cuisine!


We decided to forage for food in the nearby Getriedegasse with its cobblestone path. Almost immediately, we found ourselves in front of a massive brewery (with attached beer garden). Unable to wait any longer from not eating anything since the early morning, we decided to load up!


Osso Bucco - A la Salzburg


A huge stew - In case the first picture looked deceiving


Augustinerbrau - The name of our restaurant (also serving beer brewed by monks... seem to be alot of these monks in Europe! What a time they must have!)


EVERYTHING cleaned right off the bone! - Petz's plate in the background, with umm... more signs of carnage

Our carnivorous meal now coming to an end, we decided to go outside and walk around to digest.


Hotel Sacher - The hotel whose namesake is derived from the 'Sacher Torte', probably the most famous chocolate cake on the planet

We turned back into the old part of the town and ended up at...


Mozart's Birthplace - Now, the Mozart Museum

We promptly explored the 'museum', which has many artifacts and documents from Mozart's birth. They have very much made an exhibit out of it, with each room acting as a 'progressive journey' from the formative years of Mozart's introduction into music all the way to a call for music lovers around the world to inspire the future, per se. It was interesting, but the strict guidelines on not allowing photography was very disappointing, as I had wanted to take photos.

I did the next best thing and bought a Mozart CD and a few postcards, however.

Tour concluded, we circled around and decided to head back to the hotel for a break. On the way, however, we saw a Salzburger pretzel van.


Salzburger Brezen Reisinger - Fresh pretzels!

I'm not much of a pretzel fanatic, so all I took was that photo (I was also still feeling rather full, so I didn't order anything).

This grand old building opposite the pretzel store is actually the Salzburg Opera House:


Salzburg Opera House - This building has presence in bucketloads

The Salzburg Opera Festival would be starting in the following weeks and would run until the end of November, a real pity I didn't get to try any Opera whilst in Austria!

[Kyo]

Brettljause Session!

We went back to the hotel and exhausted, we took the opportunity to grab a short break whilst watching some Austrian TV. The evening soon came and we headed to the front desk to ask for some recommendations about where the locals would go to eat. The concierge was very helpful and recommended a pub on the other side of the river.

The Opera House was lit up in all its glory as we emerged into the night.


Salzburg Opera House - At night

A brisk 15 minute walk in the chilly night air and some very narrow back alleys later, we were standing in front of a nondescript door. I don't quite remember the name of this pub, perhaps petz can remember...

In we went, where we were met by a waitress who showed us to our table.


Traditional Salzburg pub - Very earthy atmosphere prevailed

A sweet-tasting traditional Styrian drink to start!


Sturm - Fermented grape juice

A description of Sturm: "When the autumn storms break over Styria, wine growers have a special treat in store, a sparkling, sweet tasting, not fully fermented wine"

The food we ordered was amazing! They all had traditional Austrian names, but unfortunately, these elude me.


Cheesy Soup - Lump of baked cheese in soup plate


Two patties of prime minced beef - Pairs with chopped potato salad and a side of garden salad (Delicious!)

The star dish of the evening, however, was still to arrive (it took its time coming)!

May I present a specialty of the Styrian province of Austria: Petz's choice!


The Brettljause - A traditional farmer's plate consisting of coldcuts, garnishes, breads, a hard-boiled egg, pickles (even a pickled chilli) and tomatoes

Who needs caviar when you have a 'manly' meal like that?


Dessert - Buttermilk mini-pancakes with frothed whip cream accompanying

By now, you're probably shaking your head at the many gluttonous sessions we've had.

Well, after glancing at our waistlines - you'd be mostly justified.

We decided to head back for some night-sightseeing. We first came across a lit-up fountain column paying tribute to... with the person who bore the St Florian cross


Fountain column of St. Florian von Lorch - Famous for feathery helmet, he's actually the patron saint of Poland also


Hermes - Just opposite


Buchhandlung Hollrigl - Name of the arch?

Underneath this arch, we found the very famous Salzburg chocolate maker - Furst. It's worth noting that all around the city, shops sell Mozart chocolate in red/green wrapping called Salzburger Mozartkugel. This shop is reputed to be the creator of the Salzburger Mozartkugel (since 1890) and sells them in silver and blue. It is one of the specialities of Salzburg and no trip here is complete without buying some for friends and family. (They are not cheap.)


Conditorei Furst Confiserie - Pressed against the wall on the other side of the arch, the limitations of a non-wideangle camera are apparent

[Kyo]

It's midnight in Salzburg... it's midnight in Salzburg...






Through the shop window - Plenty of fine (and expensive!) chocolates

Soon, heading back in the direction of the hotel (incidentally, this area next to the Hotel Goldener Hirsch is known as Residenplatz)... we detoured to the top of our street and stopped to admire the lit cliff-face in the light drizzle that had just begun during our meal and continued to slowly fall.


Salzburg's famous cliff-face - The tunnel into Salzburg's old town is carved trhough the rock (to the left)

The Horse Fountain - aka Pferdeschwemmen (impossible to pronounce) Horse Wells


From the left - Profile shot of The Flying Horse centrepiece


The Flying Horse - Centrepiece

One last photo -


Residenplatz - Hotel Goldener Hirsch in the centre

Two shots from the inside of the Hotel Goldener Hirsch, might interest one or two of you...


Shower - Not the fanciest


Amenities - Very decent!

What a long day it was... absolutely zonkered, it was time for some shut-eye...

[Kyo]

The Road Trip Comes To An End...

After a brief and overpriced breakfast that was absolutely boring, we wandered around town one last time before check-out. We had a few things left to do in Salzburg, so we set off for a brief wander around the town...


Through this shop window - This shop sells Gold Wasser (Golden Water)

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't long before we decided to eat at "Cafe Mozart", a charming cafe with an entrance set into the stone wall framed with red roses decorating the entrance to the cafe upstairs... I wonder what lovely fares they have in store for us?


Cafe Mozart - For lots of unhealthy sweets and treats

Yes, it's that time again where we show more unhealthy food porn...


Mozart Cake! - Calories +10000. I don't know what makes this cake particularly 'Mozart', but when in Cafe Mozart, eat Mozart Cake!

If you think that's unhealthy...

We can show you something really unhealthy.


Salzburg Nockerl - The stuff of legends

A specialty of Salzurg, ordering this monstrosity called a 'Salzburg Nockerl' will take a 20-minute wait, three eggs and copious amounts of sugar to make. Not so bad, you reckon? Oh yes - it's sandwiching luscious blueberry jam in the middle. I could feel the waist expanding just by staring at this. The size of it, in case you can't tell, is easily as big as a child's head. This is a main meal that's just disguised as a dessert!

The scary thing is more the fact we finished it, let alone order it!!


On that note, we decided that it would be a strategic move to get out of town...

One stop of call before we leave Salzburg - the 'Schloss Hellbrunn' or Hellbrunn Palace (pronounced HELL-BROON)

We got lost a few times but eventually found the place...


Schloss Hellbrunn - It's a lovely yellow palace, really something to behold


Yours truly - Yes, that's a very long gravel path... possibly the longest in the palace. Not so fun. Oh look, it's my avatar.


Palace ponds - In the gardens, which are free to enter (and well worth a visit)


Palace gardens - Stylised / trimmed hedges


Fountain- I believe, this one features Venus


The Greenhouse - Off to the right, it's been converted into a little cafe-restaurant

We didn't go inside as we were running very short on time. We didn't even have time to visit the Trick Fountains (it turns out they can only be visited with a guide, which of course, you have to pay for). Rather disappointed, because the tour had already started and the next one was some 45 minutes later. As it turns out, we would be almost running out of time on the way back to Vienna, so this was a blessing in disguise!


Top of the Schloss Hellbrunn - A sundial

After touring the outside of the palace, with the clock ticking down, we decided to leave it at that and high-tail it for Vienna.


The road ahead - As we headed back to Vienna.

As earlier mentioned, the road back to Vienna was mostly forgettable, with plenty of traffic jams, overcast weather, and rarely an opportunity to make use of the Austrian Autobahn to the fullest extent, we ended up returning the car two hours late to the first Hertz office when we entered Vienna. Luckily, Petz used his mad skillz to speak in Austrian and got us an extension with no late-fee penalty.

Unfortunately, it meant we were too late and thus unable to pick up KeithMEL from Vienna's Schwechat Airport.

And that's the end of the roadtrip.

But the party in Vienna was only just about to kick off... there was still a very long weekend ahead with many SQTalk TPPs flying in that evening!

Coming Up Next: The VIE DO!