We finally finalised our bookings for Christmas. The Ba-baas beat New Zealand (hurrah!!). The Heinekin Cup started again, so it wasn't all bad. Because it is so grim, Kathy went slightly mad and bought lots of candles and lights to brighten up the house.
Another thing which didn't make us happy was the lack of Xmas parties. The only ones we went to were one for Matt's work (bit grim) and one at Dave and Karen's – which was much better.
The crowd at Dai and Karen's
What a spread! Check out that fish (and it was tasty!)
Kathy and Matt, with photobomb from Harvey (thanks Harv!)
Then it snowed. Then it melted a bit and froze – so went icy and slippery, then more snow.
Pot outside the front door, with Matt's keys resting on the ice
It was so treacherous. But it was beautiful to look at. Caused no end of trouble on the roads and for schools. One Saturday Kathy nearly couldn't make it home – she couldn't make it up on to a footbridge because it was so slippery! Matt just laughed. The rotter.
We finished work a bit early, because we were heading off to Vienna mid-week. It was the most cheerful part of the month. There were carollers in the pub, and BA's strike was declared illegal. Very important to us, as we were flying with BA.
Ah Vienna
On the 23rd we headed off to London to catch a plane. With the first hitch – Matt couldn't find his phone. Did he leave it in the taxi, or at home? (he left it at home – fortunately!). We were on the 8.25am train. There was a family of the most annoying people we've ever come across. We couldn't decide who we wanted to hit more – the parents, or the whiney crying children. Who were being fed sugar and junk food all the way from Cardiff to Paddington.
The view from the Cardiff to Paddington train
Still, we eventually got to Heathrow only to find out that despite checking in on line we couldn't drop our bags off until 2 hours before departure because of 'a baggage backlog'. Yeah. Right. Heathrow seemed to be full of screaming children. Hasn't anyone ever told them that Santa doesn't come to naughty children? Then the plane was 50 minutes late departing because 2 idjit passengers didn't bother to turn up, so we had to wait for them to be de-planed – or to be non-technical, while some poor sod had to dig around in the hold to get their luggage out.. Sigh. Still, we got there, and had a good connection from the airport in to the city, and then to the hotel. The hotel was fairly reasonable, except there was no restaurant (they do breakfast, of course). So we headed out for the closest of the Christmas Markets, many of which had been pointed out by our very helpful taxi driver). It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So bright and cheerful, with the Rathaus all lit up,
so many people out and about drinking beautiful Jagermeister punch or glughwein and eating the most delicious sausages, chestnuts, gingerbread or toffee apples. There were beautiful glass or wood decorations for sale (Matt was very pleased Kathy decided that she couldn't get them home intact!).
Look at these amazing decorations, Matt!
One of the many stands - look at how big it is!
Such beautiful baubles....
Everyone was wandering around eating, drinking and taking photos of the lights – like us! One downside was that there was no snow. So, this is what the Bath markets were trying to do – and failing spectacularly. After wandering around for a bit we decided that given we'd been on the go for quite a while that we'd have an early (ish) night.
24th December
Up and about – and off to find an ATM and a chemist – or rather an apothecary, because Matt had a (nother) cold. That done, we walked along some of the Ringstrasse until we got to the museum quarter, stopping in the sun to take photos.
One of the buildings near our hotel
The day was beautiful, with lovely blue sky. We went to the Christmas markets at Mariya-Theresen Platz, gawping at the museums on either side.
Don't remember what these buildings are, but they're so beautiful - especially in the beautiful sunlight
Kathy in the sunlight
Matt in the sunlight - not as warm as you might think
Mariya-Theresen Platz, complete with market
Kathy in the market - not as spectacular during the day as they are at night
We walked through the Hofburg (omg),
bought tickets to a Christmas Eve concert, then on to St Stephen's Cathedral (omfg). It was sooooo beautiful! We got to the cathedral just as midday mass started, so we could only stand in a railed off end of the nave and listed to service – and to the sound of the organ swelling to fill the space of the nave.
Interior of St Stephen's Cathedral
Wow. The state of repair of the cathedral, both inside
and out,
puts most UK cathedrals to shame (Canterbury and Shrewsbury – we're looking at you). It was simply outstanding.
We decided a bit of lunch was in order. We followed the directions we'd been given by the hotel to the restaurant district, but all of the 'Biesel' type restaurants were closed for the day (Christmas Eve is the big family time for the Austrians at this time of year). To regroup, we had a coffee and torte – Sachertorte and Ezterhausen (mmmm, but our hearts stopped!), then found a place called the Lindenkeller – apparently it's been a keller for centuries. We had some local specialities – venison schitznel with a yummy sauce and cinnamon rice for Kathy and Matt had turkey stuffed with goats cheese and prunes. Sooooooooo yummy, but so rich – we couldn't eat all of it. A delicious break, and such a great experience.
Christmas decorations in central Vienna - so beautiful
Look - even buildings were all wrapped up for Christmas!
After lunch, and partly to help our massive pile of food to digest, we wandered around to find a couple of options for lunch on Christmas Day. Couple of options noted down, we headed back to the hotel for a bit of a snooze and to drop stuff off. Off out again, and back to the Christmas markets before they closed for the day
Us, outside the Town Hall, with Vienna in the background
and off to our early concert at the Auersperg Palace.
We felt a bit ripped off. The instruments being played by the ensemble were in very poor condition, and the lead violinist was supercilious and too loud. But the setting was brilliant
and the dancers did well in a very small area. As we left the attendees for the later show were waiting to go in – complete with champagne! Ripped! We couldn't find anything open on our way back to the hotel apart from a hotdog stand, so had a hotdog and a drink before we went back to the hotel for the night.
Christmas Day
We had an early start to the day, with phone calls to and from NZ and Australia, and skype calls from Korea and Canberra. It was so great to hear from everyone!
After breakfast we went for a walk
Matt, in the closed Rathausplatz Christmas Markets
The Rathaus, by day
along to Museum Strasse,
This is actually the front of the town hall, where we were the evening before
A most amazing large blue vase, beside the canal
The rear of a church - looks pretty amazing
past the technical museum
Part of the Museum quarter
and along the Wien Canal,
Statues along the canal
more statues
And one of Beehoven
Mural on a building
then back towards St Stephens and to where the restaurant we'd chosen for lunch was. The restaurant was called Danieli, and is on Hinnelpfort Str. We found out later that it was one of the top restaurants in Vienna. We had a lovely, dry spumante to start with, then a simply HUGE antipasto platter – 3 tiers! There was beautiful proscuitto, dried olives, seafood, and pickled and fresh vegetables. Kathy had duckling with sauerkraut and Matt had steak. We had a beautiful chianti, and finished with coffee (mmmm, they make fantastic coffee in Vienna) and liqueur. Little wander in the rain, and found the Australia Bar for beers – partly because it was raining, but we didn't want to go back to the hotel, and partly because it was open. It was a great afternoon, but we headed back to the hotel in a taxi rather than walk in the rain. Kathy went to bed, and Matt went out to find a bar – he had a great time, and enjoyed a late snack. It was a great Christmas Day.
26th December
Boxing Day dawned bright and clear – and still no snow. After breakfast, not being sure what would be open, we headed off for a walk. It turned out later that we walked two-thirds of the way around central Vienna! We walked to the Hofburg and around the gardens, past the Opera, along to the Naschmarkt, which was closed. We went back to the Hofburg gardens and picked up a sausage each – spicy for Matt and cheese Kathy – Mmm, best thing ever – ohhh, can't finish! More wandering and coffee (and Kathy bought a charm for her bracelet) before meeting up with Christian (a colleague of Matt's who works for the Austrian stats agency) for a very welcome drink – we were quite tired after all that walking. Christian's partner, Bettina, joined us a little later then we all went to dinner at one of their favourite Biesel's. We had the hugest schnitzels! It was a great evening, but we were glad to get back to our hotel for sleep.
27th December
Today we went to the Schloss Schonbrunn – the summer palace of the royal family.
View past a frozen pond towards the Palace
Kathy, with the 'rear' of the palace behind her
We walked around the gardens on another fine but frosty cold day for the best views of Vienna. The gardens are very formally laid out, so were most amazingly structural in the winter.
Frozen water feature-come-folly
It must be amazing in summer. There were black and red squirrels with long furry ears, and some parts of fountains and marble statues were covered up.
Poor ducks sitting on ice in others, but all was very beautiful. So of course Matt had to skip stones across the ice. The gardens were full of amazing monumental fountains and statues. We walked up to the top of a hill where there was a little summer house, which is now a cafe – which was where we saw the amazing views.
After a very strong and yummy hot chocolate and torte in the cafe to fortify us (to defrost, you understand – the temperature dropped very suddenly. Could snow be on its way?) we went on a tour inside the palace. It's decorated in a very over the top baroque style, but impressive. We decided that Schonbrunn Yellow could also be known as 'baby poo brown'. The Empress Elizabeth (known as Sisi), while beautiful, was a bit of a selfish thing – especially when she refused to eat dinner with her family, and when she spent most of her time travelling away from them.
After the tour of the house, we had another quick wander around the gardens, but the weather was getting colder, and the clouds were coming over. So we decided enough was enough, and caught the train back in to the city. Dinner that night was at Cafe Einstein – where Matt had gone for his nightcap on Christmas Day. It was close to the hotel, and apparently is a haunt of students. Great food – huge serves again, but so tasty. We finished the day totally stuffed, exhausted but very happy.
28th December
Wouldn't you know it – as Matt started to get better Kathy started to get sick. Ah well.
Today we were off to Salzburg. Early breakfast and check out, then off to the railway station. Because we weren't sure how long it would take us on the U-Bahn, we ended up with plenty of time to spare. The Austrian trains are brilliant – clean, quiet and punctual. We had a lovely trip to Salzburg with some lovely scenery.
Our hotel room was much smaller than the one in Vienna, and without the promised internet connection on their website. And with the heaviest hotel key ever. So, we found a place for a late lunch and to decide on a plan of attack.
So what is Salzburg like? Lots of winding streets,
Street scene - yes, it is that narrow.
The decorations in Salzburg
with long shadows because of the mountains and hills, so it gets cold quite quickly in the afternoons. Lots of cafes and restaurants, especially around where we were staying. The beers, of course, are sharp and crisp.
Matt sampling the local beer
We wandered around for a while.
First views of the fortress
We went in to the University Church,
which has a big heavy wooden door which squeaked. It was dark and cool inside, and was lit only by candles. More wandering, and Kathy bought another charm (edelweiss, of course), but then we started getting cold and grumpy – we were trying to find a place for a drink that was open and wasn't an Irish bar, and ended up walking all around the old town. Were we looking for the wrong sort of place? We tried to find the Stiegelkeller, which the Lonely Planet raved about, but it was suspiciously dark and quiet. By this time we were in the dark, walking up little narrow pathways on the side of a hill. But, on the plus side we found a great little place for dinner – didn't look like anything from the outside, but once we went up the stairs we found it – it was busy, full of all sorts of people, and offered good, cheap food.
Oh, and by the way – incredibly beautiful Eastern European tourists. Wearing the most amazing soft fur coats. You just don't see that in the West....
After dinner we walked back in to town, and stood drinking hot punch and grog (hot spiced rum) watching kids on an ice-skating rink and the people walking about. Final nightcap at a bar near the hotel (stinking of cigarette smoke – we'd forgotten what it was like, now that smoking is banned in Australia, New Zealand and the UK).
29th December
Today we went to the Festung Hohen Salzburg.
This building is a brilliant fortress, which was built by archbishops on top of a hill in the middle of Salzburg. It's heavily fortified so as to protect the salt (and associated wealth) for which Salzburg was famous. The fortress gave us fabulous views over the old town towards the mountains and the surrounding countryside as sleet started to fall.
We had a good wander around for a couple of hours,
Sundial
and a look at an interesting-ish display of military stuff, before heading back down in to the town via a lovely looking graveyard. It was really different from any we'd seen before, with lots of gravel and freshly turned earth and plants, and very little grass.
It also contained the catacombs, but they were closed – we decided to come back later.
We went next to the Salzburg Cathedral. The cathedral is full of incredibly ornately carved stonework, and unlike in many UK churches and cathedrals many of the original colours the cathedral was painted in remains. The cathedral is very beautiful, with lots of domes and ornamentation inside. And the temperature started to drop again.
We went over in to the new town on the other side of the river, again trying to find somewhere for a nice quiet beer. We ended up in one place and had some food and drink instead. Perhaps this is the way to go? We won't give up just yet.... By this time we were both starting to get very tired – a combination of not sleeping well, through both of our colds, and doing so much, so we walked back towards the hotel, via the stand where we had hot grog last night, and had an early night. And boy did we crash!
View over the river as we walked back to the hotel
30th December
We had a late-ish (well, 8.30am) start today. After breakfast we walked across the river and up to the old town walls.
View of the Old Town from the opposite side of the river
There were some pretty steep stairs to get up, past many foot access only apartments, but when we got there to the town walls it was worth it for the simply amazing views over the valley.
Because we got up the hill before midday we got amazing views in glorious sunlight – which was hot, because we were rugged up after the chill of the day before. We walked along about half the wall, double back and went past a Capuchin monastery, then down the hill and around to the town by the river. After a further wander around, looking at buildings and a market we found a great little bar/restaurant for lunch – complete with locals being amazed that we were there. What a find! We had such a good meal and such a good time talking to the locals that we stayed until late afternoon.
We went back in to the old part of town and went to try a Greek restaurant near the hotel. As it was full, we tried the place next door. It was not a good experience. Rude staff, and slow service. So, we left no tip – despite the staff trying it on by reminding us to leave a tip. Erm, guys, a tip is discretionary, and you didn't deserve it.
Our reason for being in the centre of town was to go to 'New Years Eve for Salzburgers'. It was a bit of a dress rehearsal for the following evening, despite the 80's hair metal cover band. We stood outside drinking mulled wine until it started to rain and the event came to an end at about 10pm. We went back to the hotel, for bitter disappointment. We still had no internet connection, despite consulting with the hotel staff. There was no soap in the shower dispenser (yes, we had that nasty liquid which is joint body wash and shampoo instead of a cake of soap). There was no duvet cover and pillow covers. Then to top it off the door wouldn't lock. Kathy lost it, and got very, very upset. Matt was a real trooper and dealt with the hotel staff. They eventually moved us to another room, which was even smaller, and we spent the night in separate beds. It was not what we paid for, and we told the night manager exactly what we thought. Pity – bad end to a great day.
31st December
After breakfast we sorted out the room issue – and got our new room – we headed out. Yay!!!! Kathy was feeling a lot more optimistic than she had the evening before.
Today we went to the Residentz. This palace was where the prince-archbishops lived until the 19th century. Very baroque, but very beautiful. At one end of the main gallery is a huge staircase which is also a glockenspiel! What a cool, clever idea. The palace is full of amazing changeliers and beautiful paintings and period clocks. Part of it was closed for the season, of course, but still – wow.
This, believe it or not, is a heater
After the palace we went to the catacombs. It wasn't quite such an amazing experience, but it was interesting and we had some good views across the valley.
After some food we headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before the evening's festivities.
Fog around the fortress
Ah - there it is!
The ice-skating rink outside a cafe in Salzburg
Everything was centred on the Residenzplatz – the square outside the palace we visited in the morning.
The rear of the market place
After a quick drink at the local Irish bar before we met up with Christian and Bettina – who were staying nearby and had been skiing. We had a few drinks with them before they headed off early. Bettina wanted to hit the slopes early the next day before the crowds. It was amazing. We stood around outside drinking bottles of prosecco and mugs of punch, eating hotdogs, and watching people letting off fireworks – in the crowd if you please!
Matt having a good time
Us, with the fortress in the background
Matt, with yet another bottle of prosecco
The mix of people was great – young through to older. There was naturally massive queues for toilets, but hey – you get that. Then the main fireworks went off! Where we were it wasn't as spectacular as they were in Edinburgh last year, but it was still fairly good. Not long after the year clicked over it started to rain, so we headed back to the hotel.
1 January 2010
After a very slow and late start we missed breakfast. How dare they finish breakfast at 10am on New Years Day?!? Kidding. So we headed out to a local bakery cafe for coffee and a bread roll, Salzburger style.
Matt, the morning after the night before. And yes, this is after a cup of coffee.
More wandering, then we went back to the Residenzplatz for the next stage of festivities. It was brilliant. Glasses of prosecco in the sunlight eating smoked or cured salmon on rye, thickly cut.
Kathy, feeling better than Matt did
Yes, that time is correct
Brilliant. We headed off for another little wander and some more coffee, and for Matt to have a massive meat and cheese bun at a market,
Ah, that's better...
and that helps too
then back to the square for the orchestra concert – which was free and in the open air. It was amazing! Lots of Strauss, of course, and people waltzing in the square.
Matt decided that his family originally came from Austria – so many of the local men have a build very similar to Matt and his male relatives, it was kinda spooky. And they dressed so well...
After a long day standing around drinking prosecco and eating incredibly tasty food we decided we needed to get out of the cold and have a proper meal. We went to the Irish bar we'd been to the night before. Kathy had Irish Stew and Matt made a new friend in the chef – who was Irish and just had to come and meet the wonderful man who ordered his steak rare! Apparently the Austrians don't like their meat bloody. He even asked Matt how he'd like his sauce made. Great evening, and our last in Austria.
2nd January
You won't believe this – but it snowed!!!!! Wish we could have stayed, but alas, we had a train and then a plane to catch. We had fun getting out of the taxi at the railway station – the snow was swirling around so much that Matt got covered the instant he stepped out of the taxi!
Unfortunately the train was late, and it was full. We were so glad we had reserved seats. While Matt snoozed, Kathy sat and looked at the snow-covered countryside – and watching the snow being puffed up by the train rushing along. The countryside certainly does change with a coating of snow. Picture perfect. Pity it came at the end of our time in Austria.
The snow had gone by the time we got to Vienna – it hadn't fallen as thickly there as it had higher up in the mountains. That didn't mean it wasn't cold still! We got home with few dramas – until we got to Bristol Parkway because we had to transfer on to buses (and there weren't enough of them) to Cardiff due to track work. We ended up getting home just after 1am.
Home at last, after a great holiday.
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