Art and architecture, music and dancing, fine dining and wine, beer and sausages, alps, rivers, castles, shopping. Austria is Disneyland for adults. And we've had such a good time here!
We spent all day yesterday in Salzburg - a 2 hour train ride from Vienna. We revisited the Mozart museum (last time I was sooo hungover I couldn't enjoy it).
We walked along the old town streets and ducked into small open air markets tucked into courtyards. We drank hot chocolate, ate sausages, and drank beer. Lots of beer.
The Salzach River
The Castle - so imposing, it was never attacked.
Sign in the Sacher Cafe window.
Lunch at a pretty old brewery.
The last time we visited, we didn't make it up the hill to the Augustiner Brewery. It was a bucket list item, so in the afternoon (an to help walk off our lunch) we headed up the hill away from the castle to the brewery that's been in production since 1621.
It's kind of fun: You pick your preferred size stein off the shelf, walk it over to the water fountain (I presume it's water straight from the mountains) and dredge the stein in the water until it's chilled, then you go buy your beer - they fill it right from the barrel. Then the hard part - finding a seat in the 1100-seat beer hall. Yep, you read that right, 1,100...plus in the summer, there's an additional 1,400 seats outside! (We've GOT to go in the summer!)
View from the Augustiner Brau parking lot.
Tasty dinner
So much fun!
We found a table where another couple was seated, and we asked if we could share. They were happy to have us join them, and soon, we were good friends! They are Aussies on holiday, and so much fun!
We totally expected to hit the hall about 4, have a couple of beers and then return to town for dinner. Instead, we were jumpin' and runnin' to find a taxi so that we wouldn't miss the last train back to Vienna - at 10:30!
We got back to the hotel about 1am. Worth it!
So today is our last day here. We slept in (duh) and went to lunch at the Cafe Schwarzenberg - an historic coffee/cafe that's been around since 1861 (seriously, check out their history through the link). It was a great way to cap off a great trip. I imagine we'll do something close in tonight, the cold winds are whipping, and I still have packing to do.
We'll be dragging back home late tomorrow night, but in my mind, I'll still be waltzing.
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