Austria: the land of Mozart and Sisi

After a night of packing and preparation, we set off on an early December morning for a 4-day trip to Salz-burg and Vienna. Walking through the snow towards the station in Basel was a struggle in the dead of December, especially with the luggage and the fact that I was recovering from a viral fever. However, once we took the DB train from Badisher Bahnhof (the German train station in Basel), it glided through the snow covered landscape, and the pristine scenery uplifted my mood :)

Hell Freezes Over!

We were a group of three people, my husband (Tushar) and I, and his office bachelor colleague, Thiagu. There was a scheduled change of trains at Ulm (Germany) and then in Munich, and we breathlessly caught the trains in the last minute considering the few minutes between the connecting trains. (We had to change so many trains since we were travelling with a weekend pass of €39 for 2-5 people travelling in a group: Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket, however while coming back we took an expensive direct train from Vienna at €105 pp)

After an 8 hour journey we finally reached the Salzburg JUFA at 3 p.m. and we headed out to explore the town after freshening up. There was a chill in the air and it promised to become chillier as the evening progressed. But the sights of the old town lifted our spirits and expectations; and we headed down the winding paths to the HohenSalzburg castle. 

Ulm - A Pretty Eventful town on the way

The old town of Salzburg is designed in such a way, that from most of the streets, one could see the elevated Hohensalzburg Castle. We walked in the general direction towards the Castle and landed at the heart of the old town and found ourselves near the Christmas Market. This was one of the most beautiful ones, even though it was the day after, 26^th Dec. night and we did some souvenir shopping, while sipping on hot glühwein (mulled wine). Next we briefly visited the magnificent Cathedral right next to the Christmas market. Salzburg was white with snow and the evening was chilling cold, which gave us an enormous appetite for the famous Austrian style sausage (prepared in boiling water with no frying) and bread at the Christmas Market food stalls. It was served with spicy mustard sauce, which was very delicious to our Indian taste buds. Thiagu had a vegetarian version of the sausages, and thoroughly enjoyed the hot dish in the biting cold weather (at -9C the feet really freeze out in the cold).

Schloss HohenSalzburg

The bonfires were a life saver while we enjoyed our dinner! So much that Thiagu discovered the next morning that he had burnt his tongue while having his rather hot dinner! And it was hilarious when we reached back to our freezing abode at JUFA – the rooms were cozy but we were next to being sausage-frozen… The next morning we set off to explore the Mirabell platz and Hohensalzburg Castle guided tour from within. Mirabell Platz was a white garden, and must be prettier during the summers. However, being snow covered as it was – it was a sight to visualize – with the trees snow – bearing and everything looking pristine and pure.

Christmas Market - Salzburg Old Town

On the way to the Castle, we had a peek at Mozart’s birth place and finally took the funicular to the Castle.

Once up on the Castle, we took the audio guide and it narrated the history of the Castle - the most interesting aspects of which were the torture chamber, complete with all the torture instruments, the hall with the cannons, and the spectacular view of Salzburg from the Castle. After the castle tour we had a quick snack of sandwiches and coffee in the town center with a huge ball monument, while Thiagu left for Basel – he had to be back at work the day after on Christmas’ eve!

Tushar and I loitered around the pretty small town and the still open Christmas market shops and headed to the station to catch our train to Vienna. This part was really lovely. The shops were small, but had the most lovely trinkets and Christmas decorations. We literally had to be dragged away from the market to catch the train. 

Pretty Salzburg

And again, there was a minor goof up as we caught the bust No. 20 instead of route #25. Thankfully, Tushar owned up in time for us to make the Salzburg station before time – just in time, only to find the train was half hour too late. 

Mirabell Gardens - Salzburg

On Top Of Schloss HohenSalzburg

Pretty Christmas time at Schloss

This was a 4 hour journey by OBB, and the rural sceneries where breath taking. Everything was clad in a sheet of snow. There were picture perfect Christmas towns on the way. Innsbruck, Linz and what not – all towns looked straight from the fairy tale stories. One of the very interesting train journeys we took in Europe – and definitely one of the more picturesque ones. From the Vienna station we took the tram to our hotel. While on the tram we were scanning maps and trying to figure out which stop to get off at, when a sweet old lady offered to help and gave us directions. God bless! Otherwise we would have been lost in this big city at night! Finally we reached Bellevue Hotel, and discovered it was at a convenient location, with ample commercial and retail establishments near-by (Billa and McDonalds were the most useful of the lot!). 

Vienna by Christmas

Pretty Pretty Night Lights

We immediately changed and headed to experience the night lights of the city and visited the St. Stephens´s Cathedral (St. Stephensdom). Well immediately because Tushar pestered me no end while I wanted to rest a li’l bit ;) The streets of the city center had come alive with the Christmas and New Year’s decorations, and each had a character of its own. 

St. Stepehnsdom

Buying Tickets For the Opera!

There were men dressed like Napoleon, in front of the St. Stephens´s Cathedral, selling opera tickets, and one of them encountered us as well. He was a sweet guy and told us about the 3 essentials of Vienna: Chocolate cake, Opera and the Austrian sausage, but best of all he offered us two for one opera tickets at €60! Vienna goes to sleep at 6 p.m. – he told us - but he left us dreaming about a possible opera show at Schönbrunn Palace or the Imperial Palace (Hofburg). 
Vienna is a city of palaces – Sisi’s Hofburg, Schönbrunn Palace and finally the Belvedere palace – all crowning achievements showcasing the Austria-Hungary Empire in all its glory! We took the Sisi card the next day and visited the Hofburg and Sisi’s chambers all of the next day.

The silver service at the Hofburg was worth the trip; and the palace was indescribably majestic – with all of the mythical Sisi and her omnipresence.

A Picture (of Imperial Hofburg) is worth a thousand words!

At The Imperial Hofburg

It was a terrific story, Sisi and her struggle to define herself post her marriage to Austrian emperor Jozef. It was tragic because she was trying to get away from all of it – in a world where girls aspire to be footballers’ wives; she was the original queen who didn’t want any of it… in fact, she was the first one to be mindful of her diet and her hair (she had the longest hair – and would wash them with cologne and eggs and what not). Sisi – the tragic empress who built palaces as far away as Corfu in Greece!

Silver Service at the Imperial Dining Room  

Anyways, as Tushar had made the travel plans this time – we got to do most of the city sights this time, despite the freezing cold. I lost count of the number of time we had to duck in for a hot coffee or tea, starting from early breakfast tea at McD’s. It was cold, even the day time temperature was an unearthly -5C on the 27^th – 29^th Dec. when we undertook our Vienna adventure. One thing is for sure – Vienna is grand; almost royal with its decked up grand Rathaus and its State Opera. The Rathaus was decked up like a bride during the Christmas-New Years’s eve. It is a must see – despite everything. But one thing you can definitely give a miss even in these surroundings is the “Anker” clock. This was basically a non event, which should have been no more than a foot note in this travelogue; but for the freezing weather we braved standing in anticipation in front of the ‘cuckoo’ clock performance. When it happened, nobody noticed and we were literally the laughing stock of the passers-by. Or maybe we did miss something – it was definitely recommended in one of our research sites; we must have missed something…

World's Oldest Giant Ferris Wheel

At The Riesenrad

Anyways back to the Openring and the Burg Theatre and you have a really majestic view of Vienna along with the grand Parliament building. The 72-hour Vienna card allowed unlimited access and we almost made the most of it – except for the ring train that somehow we couldn’t catch.

At Schmetterlinghaus

It promised a city tour with commentary, and we wanted to get into that for fun of it; or was it for the commentary – but couldn’t. So went into the Butterfly house (Schmetterlinghaus) instead. The warmth was welcome; and for a small fee we enjoyed the butterfly haven (in tropical temperatures instead of freezing weather outside) and also gave a miss to the Albertina – almost a sacrilege given its pride of place amongst Vienna museums!

Plenty Of Horse Carriages 

At Schonbrunn Castle

Yeah, and we also gave the Giant Ferris Wheel Prater a miss. It cost €8.50 per ride; and although avoiding the expense of €17 combined seemed to make sense – well, being a tourist trap, somehow Devrupa was convinced to give it a skip. It is still giving Tushar a guilt ridden headache! But yes, the Riesenrad is a definite good trip. Lots of fun with the crazy rides... And then - the Hundertwasserhaus. A magnificent collection of houses by a famous architect, Hundertwasser something I would guess… and his creations rival those of Caso Batlo in Barcelona – but then those were by Antonio Gaudi. Now Hundertwasser has some ingenious designs for the exteriors at least, and definitely a must see once in Vienna. Exactly what use he must have put the houses into – remains a mystery – to one and all!

But like all things, the best part is reserved for the last. And for Vienna, there were 2 special memories for us – Opera night at Belvedere palace (or rather in an abandoned wing of the long defunct palace gardens) and the Viennese cake at Café Sacher. Wonderful memories of 2 truly special Viennese highlights… And while the opera was in a rather hallowed ambience (the only sound was of Tushar operating the camera and opening the candy and generally going clickety-clack- clickety-clack) – the Torte at Café Sacher was in as commonplace a place as a having street side pizza in Rome… only the cream and cake made for a unique satisfying experience.

Grand Rathaus

We then rushed off to the station for a 8-hour long ride back home on the OBB Railjet. Hotel Bellevue - thanks a good stay; and Billa – Thanks for the chicken roast and the bread that made for many of the days while we were on the roads of Vienna.

Hundertwasserhaus

Yes, we would come back again for the Belvedere palace that we didn’t visit this time; and for the Anker clock mystery – that we didn’t uncover!

Mystery of Anker Clock

Insider Tip – Visit Vienna during Christmas season and you will have loads of freebies along with the majestic views – we had a buy one get one opera ticket free offer!

Night At the Opera

Night At The Opera

Viennese Cake  

At The Butterfly House (Schmetterlinghaus)

Benelux over Easter Holidays

Chateau de Chillon at Montreux

Amsterdam is a must place to visit for 3 reasons – Sex Museum, Erotic Museum and the Red Light District – and the Mini – Europe at Madurodam. When we managed to return from Amsterdam without doing any of the above, it must be a heresy. Well, apart from Red Light district, we managed to avoid all of the above. And that is because, there is so much more to do in the cycling capital city of Europe that it was hard to fit in everything the 2 days were there before we whisked away to Brussels in the Eurostar on the 22^nd April. 2 days - 20^th and the 21^st and we covered the city, Zaanse Schaans and of course, Keukenhof at its peak. A most romantic way to spend the holidays - and a definite yes for the whole family – and I mean without the sex district tour of Amsterdam…

20^th April (Amsterdam):

6:40 a.m. flight meant we were on our way to the Basel Euro airport by 4 a.m. We were a group of 4 – 2 colleagues along with us and we reached the airport well before hand to while away our time at the Duty Free – not the best thing to do while Devrupa is around. By 9 a.m. we were at Amsterdam Schipol airport, and then with the Leylaan train, we managed to reach Hotel HEM Amsterdam by 11 a.m. Since the check in was not allowed before 2 p.m. all that we had to do was dump our baggages, fill our water bottles and set off to explore the city of canals. Amsterdam is a city by the river Amstel – but you would not know that by the multitude of canals everywhere. There was a canal or a canal subway for every corner and every market! Well almost J Here is a view for the ages – a canal, a bridge and we admiring them like newly-weds on the first romantic trip to the city.

At The Flower Market

Then off we rushed to the Van Gogh and RijksMuseum – both unique experiences; but memorable more so because of a drunk Surinamese who gave us a running history lecture of the Dutch while misleading us to stop of tram # 2. Well, our Amsterdam adventure had begun in a memorable way and it will remain so throughout.

At The Flower Market

Flower Market

Anyways, we were off to the Flower market – and it was an open market well worth the visit. The tulips and the variety of flowers were remarkable – including Grow - It – Yourself Tulips and Cannabis! Yes, it is all legal in Amsterdam, and the Dutch have a most practical way of making the most of it! Flower market trip included the inevitable souvenir buying and it was a relief when we finished that and headed for the highlight of the tour – Heineken Experience.It wasn’t for the free Heineken that we remember this trip. No it wasn’t for all the beer making and the dress overalls that we remember it either. If it was for anything, we remember this for the way the guide taught us to drink beer the right way – in large gulps, served extra chilled - and slowly! Take a big swig, let it remain in your mouth for a long time – and then slowly let it down through the gullet for a real taste of the beer. And when you fill a beer glass, do let a layer of froth stand on top of it – it retains the frothiness and prevents it from going flat. And we sent some snaps of ourselves from there!

From The Heineken Shop 

Carting The Beers in Horse Buggy

Posing Against The Manhattan Backdrop

How To Enjoy a Beer

Out from there – and we rushed off for the free Canal cruise along the canals of Amsterdam. 

It was great while it lasted and it came along with a free historic guide in English. See the snaps! 

View Of The Amsterdam Canals

Once this was done, we decided to back off to our hotel, check in and then return for the dinner at one of the suggested eating places, that Tushar had painstakingly researched from NYT. More of that later – and a more exciting version at Brusells - ‘t Kelderke by the Grand Place. After dinner, were tired but decided a trip to Red Light District was a must. And it was worth it. They were the dolls that believed in advertising themselves in a really unique way – you wouldn’t know them from life size Barbie dolls if they didn’t move. And they were pretty in a good way. And a good way to finish the day.

City Sightseeing

Canal Cruise

21^st April (Keukenhof - Amsterdam):

3 things we had planned for the next day – 

 Keukenhof Tulip gardens, Windmills at Zaanse Schans and Fishing villages of Volendam and Edam. And it was going to be a busy day because all were trips outside the city.

At the Keukenhof

Keukenhof gardens were a mix of bus transfers, but we managed to reach there by 9:30 a.m. – only by ditching our 2 friends because they weren’t ready by 7 a.m.! It was a 2 hour transfer - but no trip to Amsterdam is complete without a trip to the flower gardens and fields. See the snaps to believe the breathtaking views. Words can’t even attempt to describe the spectacle that unfolded before us. 

At The Keukenhof Gardens

Bus 51 & 197 somehow delivered us to the gardens; but if the journey was tiring the spectacle that unfolded in front of us relieved us no end. Acres upon acres of flowers in truly spectacular varieties and colours thoroughly refreshed and rejuvenated us. There were all sorts of tulips and roses and dahlias and a lot more … most of those names would be familiar to Devrupa, but sadly are a bit lost on Tushar.  No worries – just a view is worth a thousand words – now I know what is meant by that!

Van Gogh at the Keukenhof

Then back to Amsterdam Centraal and the next bus to Zaanse Schans. Again we had a bus trip (Bus #130) and again a spectacle to behold at the end of the journey. The windmill village is one caught in a time warp. 17^th century has come and gone - the British have won and lost the crown jewels, but Zaanse Schans doesn’t give a whit. The windmills were still working and the boot factory was still producing klegs as if they were still the rage they once were. And yea, the cheese shop had the most amazing cheese in the whole of Europe. Never has Tushar been more willing to buy some cheese sandwich. But one thing he didn’t do – buy those 1 kgs 6-pack cheese varieities! Not that Devrupa wasn’t insistent enough…

Windmills at The Keukenhof

Anyways, we managed to return back to Centraal by 6 p.m. (thanks to the fact that the entire village closes by 5:30 p.m.) Our friends managed to see a few and miss out on a few of the sights. And then we were ready for our last sights of the city. We hurried through the rest of the sights, took in as much of the cycling city views as possible and decided to retire early. For the next day we had plans for Brussels – the capital of EU. That also included a hurried day of the city and a day out to the most pretty small towns in all of Europe – Brugge and Ghent. So a quiet dinner and a coffee later we retired to the bad mistake we had chosen for a hotel – HEM Amsterdam! And we had a broken mattress and mosquitoe-bitten swollen lips to remind us of our folly.

Queen Of The Gardens!

Trying To Own It All!

22nd April (Brussels): 

8:45 a.m was the train to Brussels Centraal from Amsterdam Centraal. And by 8 a.m. we should have checked out. Again our friends were late and we rushed to the station without them. Somehow € 81.50 poorer and 3.5 hours later we reached Brussels at around 12 noon. The amazing thing was that all 4 of us were together and we could find Hotel Van Belle from Brussels Midi station. The hotel was thankfully good and we got both rooms opposite each other – which was great because we had planned a few Belgian beers together. Now there are over 420 varieties of Belgian beers – so there was no chance that even with all the adjacent rooms, we could have sampled a fraction of them. But we tried gamely!

Trying to fit in the Giant Clogs!

At the Clog Factory in Zaanse Schaans

Anyways we rushed off to have lunch at the Grand Place. 

Windmills At Zaanse Schaans

And boy, was it grand. The most majestic square – and even better than Place Stanislas at Nancy. Good view and we decided for a quick lunch at a highly recommended place (by NYT) - ‘t Kelderke for some authentic Flemish cuisine including chicken waterzooi. Well, it turned out to be a 3 hour affair and that is not due to traditional Belgian fine cuisine alone… though it was also hugely responsible. Well, it so turned out that a gentleman in the table next to us in the open air bistro had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital by para-medics. That was a ghastly affair; and not because it killed our appetite… well, it was bad for the gentleman of course; but well, coming as did during one of our fancy lunches – he couldn’t have chosen a worse time… well, so it was but the grand affair at lunch took us lot longer than we had budgeted for and thus, made us rush through the rest of the day through Brussles.

Brussels - Tintin Adventures

Well, a grand view of the peeing boy and a taste of the most amazing waffle ever, we were wandering off at the grand Palais de Justice, when we realized that we really would nt be able to cover the rest of the city of Bruxelles on our own ‘walking tour’. So we took a half price hop-on hop-off bus tour, which was basically a rip off as it only included 1 trip and not a 24 hour trip. But it was still worth as we did view the Atomium, the Basilica, Royal palace and the EU Parliament on top of a bus. Well almost, because the rain spoiled a little bit of fun – of whatever was left of it! Anyways in between we captured Tintin caricatures and some Belgian chocolate sampling next to the Mannekin Pis. 

Grand Place

It was a hectic day, it was a tiring day; but it was a grand day. We learnt a history lesson or two but we had a life lesson in Belgian way of living – and it was great. We bought some Belgian beer on the way back and had a great get-together with our long lost friends! Oh, and we got some amazing lunch from a Pakistani shop nearby the hotel – and that included the most satisfying egg-etarian biryani prepared on the spot. Great day and we had chilled beer to finish the day off. Bruxelles is a typical European city – chaotic, yet with tradition; grand yet not overwhelming; hard working yet enough to keep the soul satisfied – even yearn for more. Tomorrow is Brugge, let's sleep early tonight!

Mannekin Pin Caricature With Waffle

At The Palais de Justice

23^rd April (Brugge & Ghent):Weekend ticket to Brugge and Ghent from Bruxelles cost a grand €63.50 for 4 and we were in Brugge by 10 a.m. Hereafter it was a voyage of discovery. Brugge is most medieval than Zaanse Schaans and probably the prettiest small town in the whole world. 

Irish Band By The Market Square

Typical Brugge

From horse drawn carriages to Lake of Love to the Market Square with the Belfry – this town has it all and more. Throw in the Bishop's Palace on Burg Square and the Begijnhof – and you have a day trip worth its weight in gold! Just have a look. And don’t miss the Belgian fries – we had them at the Market Square and THE ONLY THING we repented is that we didn’t have more of it earlier. They are the next best fries – after ‘Lord Of The Fries’ from Melbourne.

By The Beguinhof

Then we were off to Ghent by 2:30 p.m. and the Cathedral views there and the stunning Belfort along with the watch tower – with the dragon mascot was great. All the more so because St. Nicholas Church had spectacular sights. And the tiring day ended with another dinner at the Pakistani restaurant with a mix of some vegetarian biryani and rotis. A truly satisfying and we could easily repeat this leg of the tour another time, another year. Maybe the Christmas time with the romantic Christmas markets would be time for another small getaway to the Belgian great sightseeing.

Next day was our early morning flight to Geneva. So we packed in early in order to take the 6:15 a.m. train to the Bruxelles airport.

In Brugge!

24^th April (Montreux & Fribourg):

Geneva was just the starting point for our day trip through Swiss countryside – via Lake Geneva, a li’l bit of French Evian (that part was unplanned) and then Fribourg on the way to Basel. Europcar Golf packed the 4 of us in and we started through the bustling city of Geneve’ – that was our first trip to Geneve’. Somehow we reached outside the city and the slow traffic continued, instead of getting over. And finally when we hit the high road, we were in France for a bit! Good weather and wonderful scenery – we saw Swiss nature at its best. Lake Geneva was really huge, and it was filled with sailing boats all over. Great weather had brought all shapes and sizes of sails together.

Brugge

Then we proceeded to drive to the most famous Swiss castle, the Château de Chillon - exploring it in all its grandeur for half a day. Then we proceeded to Evian – by accident actually, rather than design. A small break later, we reached a wonderful town, Fribourg. It had a small river flowing through the edge and we had a small impromptu picnic by the riverbed. Steep slopes and a great incline provided the perfect scenery views and Fribourg was a perfect ending to a great trip. There was St. Nicholas's Cathedral with its lofty 15th-century Gothic bell tower, Hôtel de Ville (French for Town Hall) and the funicular to reach the upper town of Fribourg. Now we eventually didn’t take the funicular – but met an interesting French guide in the process. Somehow, he managed to tell us the route and cost in French while we also managed to understand him without really understanding French. Overall it was conversation of the highest quality between us!

Ghent Station

Ghent

So we winded down the Swiss countryside, reaching Basel at around 9 p.m. in broad daylight – putting a successful end to a highly eventful trip replete with experiences that satisfied the soul and the eyes. The spirit of adventure that carried Tintin and Captain Haddock through their many adventures had taken good care of our wandering ways all through the Bernese Alps, as also the Amstel river and the canals. A great trip, wonderful memories and a lasting appreciation of the Belgian way of life - that is what we brought back from our Easter Holidays - whetting our appetite for more.

Picnic By The River at Fribourg

Unique Fribourg Bell Tower

Famous Mannekin Pis

View Of Chateau de Chillon

Swiss Countryside and Bernese Alps in the background

Majestic View from Chateau de Chillon