After 10 days of planes, trains and automobiles I am back at the Park Lodge. We had a wonderful trip and I wish I could have blogged each day! Paris was fantastic as I already said and after navigating subways, airports and streets in French we decided to give German a try. We headed to Vienna via plane on Saturday morning and found our way to our hostel really easily! We were so excited that the trees were changing colors and the sun was shining once again. We had a great 3 days in Vienna-we walked around, mastered the subway and saw a lot of cool sites. In Austria, everything closes down on Sundays which can make for a tricky planning! All the restaurants, shops, grocery stores etc. But, we decided to tour the Schönbrunn Palace which was still open. It was the home of the Imperial families during Austria's imperial rule. We were able to tour 40 rooms, walk through some amazing gardens, a hedge maze and played at a pretty cool park! One of the rooms we saw was were little 6 year old Mozart played his first piano concert for the Imperial family.
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| Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna |
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| Nascht Market in Vienna!
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Schokocroissant on the train!
On Tuesday morning we left for Salzburg to visit our friends studying there. Our train came at the perfect time and just as we were taking the escalator down into the station when we saw Emily starting to take it upwards! It was really exciting to see someone we knew! Her aunt and uncle, a pilot, were also there visiting for a few days with some of their "pilot friends." That night, they took us out for dinner at the Stiftskeller St Peter, which claims to be the oldest restaurant in Europe (803 AD). We had a delicious dinner and were very thankful that her family decided to take us with them! The rest of the week we spent time running around Salzburg. The mountains were just covered with snow, but it was sunny and nearly 70 the entire week! We saw many, many Sound of Music sites, climbed the Gaisberg mountain and spent a lot of time just hanging out with the everybody. While the gazebo, fountains and paths featured in the Sound of Music were a lot of fun, the Gaisberg was most definitely the highlight of my trip. A popular mountain to climb or mountain bike up, Emily and Alex decided it was a must if we were Salzburg for so long. On Thursday, as soon as Emily was done with class we left in pursuit of the top. We had to ascend quickly in order to beat the setting sun. It was so warm and each time I stopped to look around, the view go better and better. After two hours of climbing straight upwards, we were at the summit. In the distance, the Salzach river through the city was only recognizable as a thin, metallic thread weaving its way below. While we were hot and tired the oranges, chocolate and water in our packs made us forget about all our achy legs and sweat drenched shirts. The rest of the night we met up with other friends in Salzburg who were either studying or visiting there. We introduced Emily to her first Guinness as we thought it was an acceptable time to try one with all her Irish friends along! Our time in Salzburg was absolutely wonderful and it was a great end to busy travels! Here are only a few pictures from a great mid term break!
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| Doe, a deer! |
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Salzburg
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| Me, Mac and Emily at the summit of Gaisberg |
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| View from the top |
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| Does this gazebo look familiar |
Oh, and a few more Paris pics!
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| Notre Dame |
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We had a wonderful time traveling and I can't wait to travel with Kate Trescony come December!
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It's great to see your having a great time. Looks like you saw Paris the same way I did. I saw the Louve in 3 hours, rediculous! So glad to hear you want to go back. May be we can do that together some day. My next trip to Europe will be to tango everywhere I can, especially Paris and Vienna. Never been to Vienna..missed it not enough time. Salzburg however, was sooo cute and fun.
ReplyDeleteCiao and Cheerio..Auntie A
Austria was great, though I most definitely would pick Salzburg over Vienna! But great nonetheless!
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