Travel: 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!