Salzburg in Austria

For a larger selection of photos go to: https://goo.gl/photos/7sLVqK4vFrr8otQy7

Josh says:

Salzburg was nice cold as always. The first day we went to explore Salzburg and have a walk around  the city which was ok with a lot of  shops. 

The next day we court a train into town to get to castle before ten and get some free entry into the state rooms. It was a very big castle on top of a mountain and was OK if only they didn't stuff up fixing the painting (There was a chemical reaction with the old paint and new paint). Then we went back down the mountain to see the catacombs which was a basically a path in a mountain there was nothing in there just a path, they closed it off. 

After that we went to a toy museum which was good but was small and it really only had dolls and trains. There was also a playing area. After the toy museum we went to the art museum for a wile which was of waste of time. Then we went to go on the river cruise is was really really good. It told you about the city, the river, good places to go and a heap more. At the end it did 2 dances which was cool. After the boat cruise we went to a Monastery on top of a hill. It was a long walk but the view and church was good especially the view. Then we went to Mozart's home which was nice it would be amazing if you were into that type of stuff.

Alicia says:
We stayed in Salzburg for 2 nights. The big things that we sore/went in where the Hohensalzburg Fortress which was a big fortress, built by Archbishops, we had a boat ride up and back the river before the ride ended the driver of the boat put on some music and the boat danced to it. How you ask? By singing around first one way then the other way. The thing which I liked is the toy museum. It was bigger than it Looked.

Dad says:
We got to the train station early again and again we found out something new (a little late mid you). With our tickets we could stay in the first class lounge up to an hour before departure. The Innsbruck lounge was nice with coffee, soft drinks, snacks and cereals.

There was no dramas to get to the apartment and we went to have a look around Salzburg. Salzburg is home to the birthplace of Mozart, setting for "The Sound of Music" and a very big and well reserved Hohensalzburg castle. We just explored the city centre on the first night, then ate in. The kids really liked the sausages, salad and rice. I was rather annoyed though, the internet was extremely flaky, which was a pity as the rest of the place was pretty good.

Historic buildings are now all blending into each other and it really needs to be special to stand out. In Salzburg city itself, there were two such differences. First the sheer cliff face and the buildings built against it and secondly the shop display signs.

Signs and more signs

Chess anyone?

Old town in Salzburg

Hohensalzburg castle looking down upon the city

Walls of the monastery

On the walk back home

Hohensalzburg castle was quite interesting, the state rooms were really nicely retained. As Josh mentioned they have restored it a few times, sometimes in error. The leather wall paper also disappeared at one stage. The rest of the castle was OK, nothing too flash, though a nice view once again.

The state rooms

 

Ready, aim, FIRE

The courtyard of the castle

The view from the castle

We got the Salzburg card for the one day, therefore we had free entry into many museums, exhibits and other tourist areas. So we made the most of it, visiting many places, most of which we not have paid for. After the Hohensalzburg castle we went into the catacombs, another church (free), a toy factory, the modern art museum, a boat ride, a monastery (free), palace gardens (free), the home of Mozart and finally the nunnery where the Sound of Music was filmed (free). It was a pretty full on day.

Cemetery

Catacombs

Pretending to be young again in the toy museum

Above the modern art gallery

Unlike in other places here they encourage people to put a "love lock" on the Salzburg bridge. Many of the tourist souvenir shops were selling locks. A newly married couple that was on the boat before us, were on the bridge with their love lock as we went under.

Its all fun and games until someone tries to land a kiss

Mozart was a short man

Much better on the way down. My thighs were sore from all the steps.

Hidden figures

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Crowie: 1

They had almost forgotten about their little hidden items.

Innsbruck in Austria

For a larger selection of photos go to: https://goo.gl/photos/7sLVqK4vFrr8otQy7

Josh says:

Austria was cold and wet a little. We got there by train from Switzerland. When we got there we had to wait to catch a bus to the place we were staying at. It was a 20-30min bus ride. The place we were staying at was a nice place being a nice size. The host also let us see the 40 rabbits, 6 guinea pigs and 2 nice like things with tails. We were allowed to hold the guinea pig babies :). After we went to explore the town we were staying at and then it took forever to find tea as all the restaurants were shut but one. 

The next day we got up early to see the Alpine Zoo and up the top of a snowy mountain. When we got down into town we walked to the funicular (a train that goes up the mountain). When we got up as far as we could then we caught a cable car up to the 2nd stop and then caught another one to the top. It was freezing up and much colder than the other mountain. We didn't stay that long as it was very cold and foggy. Then we went down to the alpine zoo then it started to rain. The Alpine Zoo is a zoo with all the animals living in the Alps. It was good with a lot of animals like deers, bears, fish, many birds and wolfs. We didn't get to see it all as it was raining and we were in a hurry. 

After the zoo we went back into town and got something to eat and explored a bit. Then we went to a crystal shop which was a rip off.  After that we went to see the Golden Roof. 

Then we went to the Audio museum (Which is a museum about hearing) it also had a thing about optical illusion. The  optical illusion part was quite good. The hearing part was amazing as it showed what damages your hearing the most and if you touched a bell it vibrated like how the inside of your ear would. There were many games like one that you had head phones on and you had to go were the sound was coming from. After all that we went home.

Alicia says:
Well... we stayed in Innsbruck for 2 nights. In Innsbruck the big things that we saw and went in were the Nordkette mountain range which still had snow, after that we went to the Alpenzoo, we also went to the Golden Roof Museum.

Dad says:
Austria really had a hard act to follow. Innsbruck is a town in west Austria, near the German border. It is dominated by the mountains and ski fields. Our accommodation was slightly out of town, but an easy bus ride and was in a little ski village. Our accommodation was very nice and maybe somewhat typical our hosts were on the top floor, her parents on the next and the parent in-laws on the lower. Something quite unimaginable ;)

That night after exploring the village we had a meal at a local pub and tried some Austrian meals. Alicia tried the pork schnitzel, Josh had an Austrian pasta dish, Simone a turkey pasta and I had a steak with mushroom sauce. The waiter said "medium" and I replied "medium-rare" and then I received a bemused look. Both Josh and I thought he was a bit taken back by that, so we wondered if it was not the thing to do in Austria? It ended up being more rare than medium-rare, but very nice nether less. All meals were very large and too much to finish. Within the pub there was also a traditional bowling alley that had a couple of teams playing, so we watched that for a while. It consisted of 9 pins in a diamond shape and much smaller bowling balls. They rolled (very roughly) the ball down the alley and the pins were reset after each bowl (no spares).

During our full day in Innsbruck we explored the main town and went up the local mountain (Nordkette) however unlike Lucerne, the fog settled in and we could not see much at all. The only good thing was that it was snowing - abliet with a bit hail at times. It was very cold.

The Funicular - the first leg up the mountain

The cable car up to the top

The rain had also settled in that day, so the Alpine zoo was a bit of a rush and also some of the other attractions in town were pointless as they were tailored for scenic views. In between going to see a pretty boring golden roof, a closed bell factory, walking the wrong direction (my fault), a Swarovski shop (there is a local mine where they get the Swarovski crystals) and the rain, we got to see a really interesting and interactive Sound and Visual museum.

The Golden Roof

Animals from the Alpine Zoo

Swarovski crystals

The first display was a scream box, where we all screamed to see how many db we could reach. Alicia however was too embarrassed to scream too loud. Another display we wore virtual reality goggles whilst riding an imaginative roller coaster. Simone did not handle it too well as it made her feel dizzy and uncomfortable. There were a few other displays that were a bit of fun, something we all enjoyed and was good way to end the day.

All in all Innsbruck was a nice location, the weather was just not ideal.

Hidden figures

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