Hofburg Palace is the former imperial palace in the centre of Vienna. Part of the palace forms the official residence and workplace of the President of Austria. The outside of the palace is quite impressive. In front of the entryway of the palace complex Roman walls have been excavated. We also went inside the…
View More
We caught the early train from Salzburg to Vienna and arrive around 10:30am to be greeted by Peter and Silvia’s cousin Karin and her husband Josef. We checked into the Vienna Centrum Mecure Hotel and were delighted to be given a room on the top floor overlooking the city with views of the…
View More
We thoroughly enjoyed witnessing the Perchten and Krampusses (wild spirits) in many different styles and shapes in Salzburg. Ironically, the Krampusses created a pentacle which is actually a pagan symbol that was taken by the church and became the symbol of the devil and the event occurred right in front of the Salzburg Cathedral! …
View More
We wondered around trying to find this Christmas Museum. It took us a while! This was one woman’s collection of Christmas memorabilia. Worth a visit (only need 30-minutes to see it all) Salzburg’s Glockenspiel is next to Salzburg Cathedral and opposite the Christmas Museum. It plays wellknown melodies to entertain the tourists and residents. The Glockenspiel is…
View More
We then went into the Residential State Rooms. Unfortunately you can’t take photos in there but it was very beautiful. (photos below were taken outside). From the Residential State Rooms there is a wonderful view of the old part of Salzburg where they were having the Christmas Markets. We felt very conscious walking…
View More
The Cathedral was very different to the Abbey and it had a beautiful dome with paintings around the base. We then bought some massive pretzels filled with an assortment of different fillings, including Mozart chocolate & apple strudel. Silvia & Peter had an orange alcoholic punch with Amarillo in it. I thought it was totally…
View More
We then walked into the Abbey. The inside of the Abbey is beautiful, all white! It is a Benedictine monastery and former cathedral and is considered one of the oldest monasteries in the German-speaking area, and in fact the oldest with a continuous history since its foundation in 696.
View More
After coming down from the Fortress we walked into St Peter’s Cemetery which is the oldest cemetery in the Austrian city of Salzburg. Its origins date back to about 700, when the adjacent St. Peter’s Abbey (Stift St. Peter) was established by Saint Rupert of Salzburg. The abbey’s cemetery, probably at the site of an…
View More
We left Munich to travel to Salzburg on the train. We arrived in Salzburg around 9:30am and walked to our hotel. Unfortunately John was unwell and he had to stay at the hotel & rest. Peter, Silvia & I travelled via tram to our first attraction, Hohensalzburg Fortress. It was very cold, I think about…
View More
We only had one day in Munich and after our day tour we went and had dinner in a Augustiner-Keller which was recommended by our tour guide, Gunner (the cellars were first established as a beer repository back in 1812, so it was a real treat to visit), where we consumed some traditional German food…
View More