AUSTRIA
The final country we visited was Austria. While our stay was brief in Austria, it was still memorable. From Luzern, Switzerland we took a train to Zurich and then a 6 hour train to Salzburg. The train wound us through mountain passes in the Alps, past the tiny nation of Lichtenstein into Salzburg, Austria.
Salzburg is a modest sized city, but it is filled with a lot of history. It's the home of Mozart and the famous Von Trapp family from The Sound of Music. Our hotel sat right on the river Salzach which flows through the center of Salzburg, and was a short walk across the bridge from the Old Town.
On our first day in Salzburg we made the journey up to Hohensalzburg Castle, meaning "High Salzburg Fortress," which overlooks the city and is surrounded by the Alps. Salzburg was ruled by archbishops appointed by the Holy Roman Empire, and construction began on the castle in 1077. The castle is one of the few in Europe to not have suffered any major attack during its history.
Later in the day we booked a trip on The Sound of Music Tour...my wife really wanted to go, but to be fair it was actually a pretty good tour. The tour took us around Salzburg to filming locations like the house and the lake in the movie as seen above.
Also, on the tour, we traveled up through the hill country and small towns surrounding Salzburg to the area commonly known as the Salzburg Lake District. Much like Switzerland, the lakes in Austria were gorgeous and the 70 degree weather made the journey even better.
We stopped in the town of Mondsee, where the Von Trapps get marred, to get a pint and some apple strudel with vanilla sauce. Other than maybe Paris, the food in Austria was the best on our trip. We didn't have a bad meal in either place.
We finished the tour walking back to the hotel through the Mirabell Gardens, with everything in full bloom. It was impressive to say the least.
Courtersy of www.inmozartsfootstepsphotography.com
The following day we walked through the Old Town past Mozart's house and then walked to the Augustiner Brau, a beer hall in Salzburg. We stood outside waiting for it to open, and when it did, we were stunned. This building opened up and had no less than 4 gigantic beer hall rooms, with multiple restaurants serving a variety of food nearby.
We grabbed ourselves a mug, rinsed it clean, then got a pint and sat out under the trees and enjoyed the Spring Salzburg weather. The weather, the beer, and the overall atmosphere made for a really nice ending to our honeymoon.
Austria is a lot like Switzerland, which is to say, it's an amazing place to visit. The people were extremely friendly, the weather was very nice, and the food was outstanding. We flew out the following morning from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Airport and back home. I will say this, if you're going to fly to or from Europe, you can't go wrong with Austrian Airlines. Their planes and accommodations aboard were phenomenal. Europe's sights combined with its history are unparalleled, and we both had an extraordinary time. You won't be disappointed if you visit any of the places we saw, but I hope these posts have given y'all an idea of places and things to see and do in each locale.
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