Edelweiss

Well I'm not coming up with a witty opening line so let's just get to it!

Day 1

As flights go, there was nothing out of the ordinary about this flight, other than it was long.  But finally I was in Vienna!  After dropping my bags off at my hotel, I set off to walk around to shake off the jet lag (and stay awake until a reasonable hour).  My hotel was super close to St. Stephen's Cathedral so I walked down.  The cathedral itself wasn't open but guess what was?  The stairs to the top!  343 steps later I was at the top.  The top was enclosed though, which was a bit of a disappointment.  But the view was still pretty amazing.  I continued wandering around and found a gelato shop!  Yum!  I stayed awake as long as I could and then I gave up the fight and went to sleep.

Day 2

I started off the day at the Albertina Museum.  Last time I was here, the Albertina had crazy long lines.  This time it was amazingly empty.  Probably because I entered not too long after it opened.  They had a special exhibit from entitled from Monet to Picasso.  While I'm a huge fan of Monet, Picasso is not my favorite, but I was impressed with a couple of the Picasso's in this exhibit.  From there I hopped on an open top bus tour of the city.  And then it was out to Schonbrunn Palace, which was absolutely beautiful, especially with the flowers in bloom.  Back to Vienna and dinner at an Italian restaurant with dessert at my fave, Cafe Sacher!  Jana & I loved this cafe when we were in Vienna.  As a side note, I saw several women throughout the day with race bibs and medals.  If I had but known of this race!!  I so would have joined.  If running and Disney isn't expensive enough, can you image running and Europe?  But how much fun would that be? 

Day 3

I started off the day by switching hotels since the business portion of my trip was starting.  I finally got to see the inside of St. Stephen's and then toured the Imperial Apartments.  I walked through the parks and then met up with my co-workers for a brief walking tour of Vienna and dinner. 

Day 4 & 5
The next few days are going to be brief since they really won't be too interesting.  The taxi driver taking us from Vienna to Bratislava thought it would be too boring to go via the highway so he took us via the back roads.  Okay, random.  But we did see some cool Roman artifacts in the distance.  Dinner Tuesday night was at a restaurant near the castle and Wednesday night at a museum after a boat ride.

Day 6
We finished up at the conference and decided to swing by Munich for the afternoon before heading to Salzburg.  It was the beginning of the rainy part of our trip.  In fact our train from Munich to Salzburg was delayed because of lightening!  Another side note - today was the day we ended up in three countries - Slovakia, Germany and finally Austria.

Day 7
Well this morning did not get off to the best start and I was late.  I am never late.  Okay so you aren't supposed to say never or always.  I am rarely late.  But I finally got on track and met up with my bosses and we were off to a salt mine.  We dressed up in white miner suits and rode a train deep into the mine.  You'd better believe I was humming Hi-Ho!  And then we slid down a chute!  I was a little nervous but survived.  After the mine we went back into town and had lunch.  After lunch we walked around old town Salzburg and avoided the rain.  Later it was a beer garden and then dinner.

Day 8
So you know what Salzburg is famous for?  Well, besides salt and Mozart?  And I probably should clarify - famous for Americans.  Why the Sound of Music of course!!  It was the home of the Von Trapps and where parts of the movie were filmed!  We went on a Sound of Music tour (and sang on the bus!) and saw the gazebo, both houses that were used to film the front and the back of the Von Trapp villa, and the church the Captain and Maria were married in for the movie.  It was super fun!!  I really want to watch the movie again since now I can say "I've been there!"  After the tour we walked through the Mirabell gardens where Do-Re-Mi was filmed.  For dinner I had Wiener Schnitzel (when in Austria) and we finished up the day with dessert at Cafe Sacher.  And then it was time to say goodbye to my bosses who were going heading home the next day.

Day 9
My day to explore Salzburg!  I started off the day at Mozart's house, which was not the best museum I've ever been to but still interesting.  Then it was the Salzburg Museum and Rick's old town stroll.  Next up was the castle.  But do I take the funicular up to the top?  Or walk up?  I love funiculars.  It is probably my favorite word.  So funicular it was!  The castle was pretty interesting - they even had a random marionette exhibit.  Because I took the funicular up, I decided to walk down and did so the long way, walking above the town for awhile before making my way back down.  Dinner and then gelato and then I headed back to my hotel.

Day 10
I decided to sleep in today and it turned out to be the wrong decision because as I stepped out of the shower the power went out.  Ugh.  Let's just say I did not have the best hair day.  Finally I was ready to go.  I went to the Salzburg Cathedral and then it was time for my tour to Eagle's Nest.  I had debated trying to go to Berchtesgaden and the Eagle's Nest by myself but in the end decided to take a tour.  Not too long into my tour I realized I am really not a tour person.  The only thing we ended up doing was the Eagle's Nest, which was cool.  The Eagle's Nest was a chalet built up high in the mountains which was a 50th birthday present for Hitler.  He didn't use it all that much as he was afraid of heights.   To reach the top, we had to take special buses with really good breaks and an elevator.  The view was incredible!!  And don't worry - I stayed far, far away from the edge and did not go on any unmarked trails! :)  After the tour we were dropped off back in Salzburg.  I was looking for a Rick recommended restaurant but I walked by a pizzeria and the smell filled my nose and I wasn't going to be happy unless I had pizza!  So pizza it was.  Yum!

And that was all - the next morning I woke up super early and flew home!

At Schonbrunn Palace

Downtown Bratislava 

Marienplatz (Munich)

In the Salt Mine

Still Life - at the Biergarten

Back of the "Von Trapp Villa"

Doe a deer, a female deer

Salzburg - Mozart platz

Salzburg Castle

Afternoon gelato break

Eagle's Nest

Yum!  Pizza!