Day 3- Christmas Eve, Salzburg, Austria

Were awoken this morning at the absolutely indecent hour of 5.45am by the ringing of Church bells (which is opposite the hotel). The bells were relentless, ringing away happily every 15 minutes making the Catholic neighbourhood feel guilty for being in bed and not at Mass. Talk about no rest for the wicked. Anyway, we had to get of bed early anyway to get on the coach for our visit to Salzburg (of Sound of Music and Mozart fame).

The journey to Salzburg involved driving through Austria then into Germany and then back into Austria again (alrighty then). Considering I managed to spend yesterday sleeping most of the way through Belgium, unconscious throughout the Netherlands and waking up halfway through Germany I convinced myself I’d make a real effort to stay awake and enjoy the scenery. Didn’t happen. I once again slept most of the journey. Good work Karen.

I was all drowsy when we got off the bus but the –2ºC temperature woke me up quick smart. We followed our dodgy guide around for a while (couldn’t really understand what he was saying) and then were left to explore for the day. I was so excited to see the sights and even more importantly, check out the Christmas markets. The markets did not disappoint, beautiful Christmas decorations adorned the stalls but the price. Yikes!!! I’m not spending ₤30 ($75) on a Christmas bauble, even if they are stunning. One thing we also fell in love with was Gluhwein (hot mulled wine). Oh my, this was so delicious. In England the mulled wine is just red wine heated up in a saucepan but these Europeans have it down to a fine art. It was spicy with cinnamon and all creamy and frothy on top and the perfect way to warm up. Sooooo Good. Strangely, people were also giving mugs of the stuff to their children- hmmm, alcoholic baby that’s a good look.


Luckily for my bank balance, most of the shops were closed and it gave me the opportunity to look around at the buildings without the errrrr ‘distractions’. The streets were by my standards very busy but apparently they were quiet compared to a normal day. So it was nice to see the city without the usual crowds (I think the locals are a wee bit smarter than the tourists and actually stay inside during sub-zero temperature).

We saw the convent where Maria VonTrapp trained and visited Salzburg Cathedral (Mozart was baptised here). I have never seen anything like it! It was an incredible sight and was nothing like the pictures I’ve seen in art textbooks. It was a feast to the eyes and everywhere you looked was something more beautiful than the last. I really can’t begin to explain how special it was and I could upload hundreds of photos and still not be able to convey what it was like to see in person.

One of the many other highlights was visiting St. Peter’s cemetery (you know the one where Julie Andrews and Co. are all running around hiding from the Nazi’s in the movie). It was really lovely and looked very picturesque with all the frost clinging to the leaves and flowers. After visiting several churches (honestly they’re beginning to bleed all in to one humongous church) we walked the steep, frosty incline to the fortress. Whilst having stunning views (despite the copious amounts of thick fog) I was pretty tired and a little overwhelmed by all we had seen so I was glad to get back on the coach for the journey home…. To get more sleep