Ozziez’ trip report – adventures in parts of Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, France, and England in December 2008 and January 2009
Feb 4th, 2009, 05:28 PM
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Ozziez’ trip report – adventures in parts of Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, France, and England in December 2008 and January 2009
We are a family of 5 from Brisbane, Australia, consisting of me the Mum, my dear husband (DH), our 17 year old daughter (DD17), our 12 year old daughter (DD12), and our 10 year old son (DS10).
For those whose reading time is limited, here is the executive summary of our trip. I planned the holiday in detail, with the help of many Fodorites who were very generous with their time. The research undertaken really paid off as we managed to maximise the time available to us and were able to quickly adopt an alternative course when little hiccups (such as rescheduled flights from Dresden, a strike in Rome, and unexpected closures occurred). We spent 6 weeks in Europe and England, from 2nd December 2008 to 15th January 2009. In this time we took 9 flights, hired 2 cars, went on 4 long train journeys in Italy, became very well acquainted with the Roman buses, the Venetian vaporettos, the Paris metro, and the London underground, and walked 283.54kms. We spent 2 nights in Salzburg, 1 night in Cesky Krumlov, 3 nights in Prague, 1 night in Dresden, 5 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Venice, 7 nights in Paris, 4 nights in Berlin, 4 nights in Salisbury, 2 nights in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and 6 nights in London. The weather was cold but mostly fine, our luggage never got lost, we were never mugged or robbed, we didn’t have any car accidents or attract any fines, the only time we felt we were in danger was late in Berlin on New Year’s eve, Australian customs let us bring all our purchases back into the country, we were still all really good friends after spending 6 weeks together 24 hours a day, and we had an absolutely marvellous time. Although we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves every single day, our trip highlights were:
DH – Florence and Venice
DD17 – Salzburg, Paris, attending the Don Giovanni opera in Prague, and seeing Les Miserables, Lion King, and Wicked in London
DD12 – Venice
DS10 – Salzburg, visiting the cat sanctuary in Rome, the walking tour of Paris, the walking tour of Berlin, the Tower of London, Mary Arden’s farm in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and flying in an A380 from London to Singapore.
Me – Salzburg, Pompeii, Florence, and Venice
For those who would like to know more, the detailed version of our trip continues from here. In January 2008 we decided to plan a 6 week holiday to Europe and England to coincide with my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday which would take place in England on 2nd January 2009. DS10 had never been overseas, and DD12 and DD17 were last overseas when they were 18 months and 5 years old respectively. DH and I have travelled extensively, but we had last been in Europe in 1989. DS10 and DD12 had never seen snow.
Each family member was asked where they would most like to go. DH wanted to go to Prague and Berlin, DD17 wanted to go to Paris and Salzburg, DD12 wanted to go to Venice and to see snow, DS10 wanted to see snow and to go to Disneyland Paris, and I wanted to go to Cesky Krumlov, Prague, Florence, Rome, Pompeii, and Stratford-Upon-Avon. We knew we would be spending a few days in the south of England around my mother-in-law’s birthday, and that we would stay in London for a week at the end of our holiday. Thankfully at the time we had no inkling of the 5 major challenges that would beset us during the year, or this holiday would never have happened.
DH and I were working very hard in January 2008, with no hope of finding the time to carefully research a trip, so we put ourselves at the mercy of a travel agent. He booked us on Royal Brunei flights that involved a 5 hour wait in Brunei for the connecting flight for the Dubai-London leg (this was fine because we were also told that we would have to clear customs in Brunei before being allowed onto the connecting flight) and a 10-day Trafalgar tour of Rome, Florence and Venice. We paid for the air tickets and tour in full, decided to look at tours for the other parts of Europe we wanted to visit later in the year, and carried on with our hectic lives.
At the end of March 2008 major challenge #1 arrived. Our travel agent informed us that Royal Brunei had changed their schedule and that we would only be in Brunei for 45 minutes before the one-and-only connecting flight for the day took off. Everyone (travel agent, friends, acquaintances who had travelled with Royal Brunei sometime during the preceding 4 weeks and had fallen victim to the new scheduling, and online reports) except Royal Brunei, told us we'd never make the connecting flight in time. We did not want to risk missing our flight and definitely did not want to be stranded in Brunei for 24 hours while we waited for the next flight, so we had to cancel our tickets, rebook with another airline (Singapore/Lufthansa) at a higher fare, and wait 6 weeks for Royal Brunei to refund us our money less admin fees. Having dealt with this little hiccup, we dived back into our hectic lives.
May 2008 was the time for major challenge #2 to rear its ugly head. I became ill and it turned out that I had a serious medical problem. By August it became evident that I would have to take leave-of-absence from University, and I had medical procedures involving 5 general anaesthetics and stays in hospital from July to November. However, I was determined that our trip would go ahead and the silver lining to this challenge was that I had time to carefully research our holiday and plan it in detail.
This was a good thing because major challenge #3 was waiting in the wings and made its grand entrance in mid-October. By this time I had booked flights and accommodation for the entire 6 weeks, working around the 10-day Trafalgar tour. I phoned the travel agent to query something about the tour and was horrified when I was told that the tour had been cancelled. I was just about to go back into hospital and was very worried that I wouldn’t be able to book suitable accommodation in time, but many helpful Fodorites came to my aid, gave me lots of advice, and accommodation was found and booked.
By the time major challenge #4 arrived in the form of the down-turn in the economy and the ever-weakening Australian dollar, we just gave it a few minutes’ consideration and then dismissed it with a stern warming that it was not going to stop us having a good time.
At the end of November 2008 major challenge #5 turned up. The worst storms in decades hit Brisbane and a considerable section of our garden disappeared in a landslide, down a cliff face, taking the garden fence with it. At the same time we developed an indoor waterfall as water came pouring through our dining room ceiling. I rang the insurance company just before I rushed back into hospital, DH put copious amounts of silicone on the balcony join above the dining room, we rescued what we could of the fence, asked our next door neighbour to keep an eye on the house for us while we were away as more severe storms had been forecast, and decided to escape as quickly as we could before any other challenges presented themselves!
Finally, at 7.30pm on 2nd December the taxi arrived to take us to the airport and we were off! Our Singapore airlines flight to Singapore left at 11.45pm. My in-flight entertainment system didn’t work but I was so tired I didn’t really mind. I don’t sleep on planes but it was great to just be able to put my brain into neutral and relax after such a busy year. We arrived in Singapore after 7 hours 45 minutes flying time. As we had a 3 and a half hour wait until our Lufthansa flight to Munich took off, DD17, DD12 and DS10 took full advantage of the Changi airport video gaming lounge, DH and I caught up on our e-mails, and we all changed into our winter clothes. The Lufthansa flight was during daylight. It was incredible to see how vast and completely empty the desert that comprises the Arabian Peninsula is – we flew over it for hours and hours. Eventually the desert scenery became mountainous as we flew over Armenia and Turkey. The mountains were covered in snow and looked as though they were made of gingerbread dusted with copious amounts of icing sugar. Beautiful! After 13 hours 25 minutes flying time we arrived in Munich. It was 4pm local time, and 6º Celsius which was a huge contrast to the 32º Celsius we had left behind in Brisbane. The airport was almost empty so baggage collection and passport control was a breeze.
We used Autoeurope (who used Avis) to hire a 7 seater people mover because they provided the best quote for our car hire in Europe and England. I had been involved in multiple communications with Autoeurope as I was insisting that the car come with a fluoro vest, first aid kit and warning triangle. At first Autoeurope had told me that we would have to supply these items ourselves as it was not law to have these in the car when driving in Germany and Austria. I did not want to waste precious luggage space on these items. Thanks to Fodorites who had discussed this topic at length, I knew that it was law and managed to find the German road rules for Autoeurope and e-mail them to them. Finally they agreed to get Avis to supply these items in the car we hired. Nevertheless, I was a little nervous as we approached the Avis desk. The Avis representative said “Aaaah” when he saw my name (could it be that my reputation for insisting on safety items preceded me?). To my relief all was in order, we managed to hire snow chains as well, and we were upgraded to an enormous Opel 9 seater people mover. I looked at its considerable girth and crossed my fingers that it would fit down narrow streets in Salzburg and the Czech Republic. The children leapt into the car and spread themselves and their belongings around with gay abandon, DH climbed into the driver’s seat and took a deep breath, I pulled out the map and my Viamichelin and Mappy navigation instructions to Salzburg, and we were off!
For those whose reading time is limited, here is the executive summary of our trip. I planned the holiday in detail, with the help of many Fodorites who were very generous with their time. The research undertaken really paid off as we managed to maximise the time available to us and were able to quickly adopt an alternative course when little hiccups (such as rescheduled flights from Dresden, a strike in Rome, and unexpected closures occurred). We spent 6 weeks in Europe and England, from 2nd December 2008 to 15th January 2009. In this time we took 9 flights, hired 2 cars, went on 4 long train journeys in Italy, became very well acquainted with the Roman buses, the Venetian vaporettos, the Paris metro, and the London underground, and walked 283.54kms. We spent 2 nights in Salzburg, 1 night in Cesky Krumlov, 3 nights in Prague, 1 night in Dresden, 5 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Venice, 7 nights in Paris, 4 nights in Berlin, 4 nights in Salisbury, 2 nights in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and 6 nights in London. The weather was cold but mostly fine, our luggage never got lost, we were never mugged or robbed, we didn’t have any car accidents or attract any fines, the only time we felt we were in danger was late in Berlin on New Year’s eve, Australian customs let us bring all our purchases back into the country, we were still all really good friends after spending 6 weeks together 24 hours a day, and we had an absolutely marvellous time. Although we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves every single day, our trip highlights were:
DH – Florence and Venice
DD17 – Salzburg, Paris, attending the Don Giovanni opera in Prague, and seeing Les Miserables, Lion King, and Wicked in London
DD12 – Venice
DS10 – Salzburg, visiting the cat sanctuary in Rome, the walking tour of Paris, the walking tour of Berlin, the Tower of London, Mary Arden’s farm in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and flying in an A380 from London to Singapore.
Me – Salzburg, Pompeii, Florence, and Venice
For those who would like to know more, the detailed version of our trip continues from here. In January 2008 we decided to plan a 6 week holiday to Europe and England to coincide with my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday which would take place in England on 2nd January 2009. DS10 had never been overseas, and DD12 and DD17 were last overseas when they were 18 months and 5 years old respectively. DH and I have travelled extensively, but we had last been in Europe in 1989. DS10 and DD12 had never seen snow.
Each family member was asked where they would most like to go. DH wanted to go to Prague and Berlin, DD17 wanted to go to Paris and Salzburg, DD12 wanted to go to Venice and to see snow, DS10 wanted to see snow and to go to Disneyland Paris, and I wanted to go to Cesky Krumlov, Prague, Florence, Rome, Pompeii, and Stratford-Upon-Avon. We knew we would be spending a few days in the south of England around my mother-in-law’s birthday, and that we would stay in London for a week at the end of our holiday. Thankfully at the time we had no inkling of the 5 major challenges that would beset us during the year, or this holiday would never have happened.
DH and I were working very hard in January 2008, with no hope of finding the time to carefully research a trip, so we put ourselves at the mercy of a travel agent. He booked us on Royal Brunei flights that involved a 5 hour wait in Brunei for the connecting flight for the Dubai-London leg (this was fine because we were also told that we would have to clear customs in Brunei before being allowed onto the connecting flight) and a 10-day Trafalgar tour of Rome, Florence and Venice. We paid for the air tickets and tour in full, decided to look at tours for the other parts of Europe we wanted to visit later in the year, and carried on with our hectic lives.
At the end of March 2008 major challenge #1 arrived. Our travel agent informed us that Royal Brunei had changed their schedule and that we would only be in Brunei for 45 minutes before the one-and-only connecting flight for the day took off. Everyone (travel agent, friends, acquaintances who had travelled with Royal Brunei sometime during the preceding 4 weeks and had fallen victim to the new scheduling, and online reports) except Royal Brunei, told us we'd never make the connecting flight in time. We did not want to risk missing our flight and definitely did not want to be stranded in Brunei for 24 hours while we waited for the next flight, so we had to cancel our tickets, rebook with another airline (Singapore/Lufthansa) at a higher fare, and wait 6 weeks for Royal Brunei to refund us our money less admin fees. Having dealt with this little hiccup, we dived back into our hectic lives.
May 2008 was the time for major challenge #2 to rear its ugly head. I became ill and it turned out that I had a serious medical problem. By August it became evident that I would have to take leave-of-absence from University, and I had medical procedures involving 5 general anaesthetics and stays in hospital from July to November. However, I was determined that our trip would go ahead and the silver lining to this challenge was that I had time to carefully research our holiday and plan it in detail.
This was a good thing because major challenge #3 was waiting in the wings and made its grand entrance in mid-October. By this time I had booked flights and accommodation for the entire 6 weeks, working around the 10-day Trafalgar tour. I phoned the travel agent to query something about the tour and was horrified when I was told that the tour had been cancelled. I was just about to go back into hospital and was very worried that I wouldn’t be able to book suitable accommodation in time, but many helpful Fodorites came to my aid, gave me lots of advice, and accommodation was found and booked.
By the time major challenge #4 arrived in the form of the down-turn in the economy and the ever-weakening Australian dollar, we just gave it a few minutes’ consideration and then dismissed it with a stern warming that it was not going to stop us having a good time.
At the end of November 2008 major challenge #5 turned up. The worst storms in decades hit Brisbane and a considerable section of our garden disappeared in a landslide, down a cliff face, taking the garden fence with it. At the same time we developed an indoor waterfall as water came pouring through our dining room ceiling. I rang the insurance company just before I rushed back into hospital, DH put copious amounts of silicone on the balcony join above the dining room, we rescued what we could of the fence, asked our next door neighbour to keep an eye on the house for us while we were away as more severe storms had been forecast, and decided to escape as quickly as we could before any other challenges presented themselves!
Finally, at 7.30pm on 2nd December the taxi arrived to take us to the airport and we were off! Our Singapore airlines flight to Singapore left at 11.45pm. My in-flight entertainment system didn’t work but I was so tired I didn’t really mind. I don’t sleep on planes but it was great to just be able to put my brain into neutral and relax after such a busy year. We arrived in Singapore after 7 hours 45 minutes flying time. As we had a 3 and a half hour wait until our Lufthansa flight to Munich took off, DD17, DD12 and DS10 took full advantage of the Changi airport video gaming lounge, DH and I caught up on our e-mails, and we all changed into our winter clothes. The Lufthansa flight was during daylight. It was incredible to see how vast and completely empty the desert that comprises the Arabian Peninsula is – we flew over it for hours and hours. Eventually the desert scenery became mountainous as we flew over Armenia and Turkey. The mountains were covered in snow and looked as though they were made of gingerbread dusted with copious amounts of icing sugar. Beautiful! After 13 hours 25 minutes flying time we arrived in Munich. It was 4pm local time, and 6º Celsius which was a huge contrast to the 32º Celsius we had left behind in Brisbane. The airport was almost empty so baggage collection and passport control was a breeze.
We used Autoeurope (who used Avis) to hire a 7 seater people mover because they provided the best quote for our car hire in Europe and England. I had been involved in multiple communications with Autoeurope as I was insisting that the car come with a fluoro vest, first aid kit and warning triangle. At first Autoeurope had told me that we would have to supply these items ourselves as it was not law to have these in the car when driving in Germany and Austria. I did not want to waste precious luggage space on these items. Thanks to Fodorites who had discussed this topic at length, I knew that it was law and managed to find the German road rules for Autoeurope and e-mail them to them. Finally they agreed to get Avis to supply these items in the car we hired. Nevertheless, I was a little nervous as we approached the Avis desk. The Avis representative said “Aaaah” when he saw my name (could it be that my reputation for insisting on safety items preceded me?). To my relief all was in order, we managed to hire snow chains as well, and we were upgraded to an enormous Opel 9 seater people mover. I looked at its considerable girth and crossed my fingers that it would fit down narrow streets in Salzburg and the Czech Republic. The children leapt into the car and spread themselves and their belongings around with gay abandon, DH climbed into the driver’s seat and took a deep breath, I pulled out the map and my Viamichelin and Mappy navigation instructions to Salzburg, and we were off!
Feb 4th, 2009, 05:53 PM
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This is great - can't wait to read about all your adventures. You certainly had more than your share of adventures before taking off. I admire your determination with so many challenges. I'll be waiting to read more! Hope your health was good during the trip.
Feb 4th, 2009, 06:22 PM
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Congratulations for getting through all of those roadblocks and carrying on with your trip.
Looking forward to hearing more of it.
Reports like yours are getting some of us through this New England winter.
Many thanks.
Looking forward to hearing more of it.
Reports like yours are getting some of us through this New England winter.
Many thanks.
Feb 4th, 2009, 11:01 PM
#5
Hi, loved reading about your trip...so far. As a fellow Australian, I'm intrigued to know what warm clothing a family from Brisbane would have to take with them on a winter European holiday! Did you buy coats, hats, scarves, etc just for the trip?
Kay
Kay
Feb 5th, 2009, 12:39 AM
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Ozziez, I love your trip report so far. It's very inspiring to read that despite all the obstacles prior to your travel, you still made it to Europe and everything went so smoothly there. I'm impressed by the thoroughness of your planning. Traveling with a family of 5 -- wow that is quite an amazing feat.
Looking forward to reading about your adventures in each city.
Looking forward to reading about your adventures in each city.
Feb 5th, 2009, 01:57 AM
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Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone. Yes, luckily our house and garden were still standing when we got home, and I was very relieved that I managed to get through the trip with only one bout of ill-health.
Kay, you are so right that we didn't have any suitable clothes in our wardrobes for the cold weather we faced in Europe. So that I wouldn't buy the wrong things, I did a lot of research on this board (see my thread http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35153089) and followed the great advice I was given by many Fodorites, to the letter. I managed to kit out the family without breaking the bank by shopping at the winter sales, borrowing a few items from friends, and using some items we already had (e.g. jeans and long-sleeved t-shirts). We invested in very good walking shoes(e.g. Keens) as we knew we would be walking a lot and also wanted to be able to keep our feet dry if it rained. These shoes can also be worn in hot weather when hiking. We also bought very good rainjackets, which we can use when it rains in Brisbane too. Instead of buying expensive thermal underwear we all wore black tights under our jeans and white, tight-fitting long-sleeved t-shirts under our top layers. We each took enough clothes for 5 days. The only items I couldn't buy in Australia were face warmers and I eventually bought these at a sports shop in Dresden.
Kay, you are so right that we didn't have any suitable clothes in our wardrobes for the cold weather we faced in Europe. So that I wouldn't buy the wrong things, I did a lot of research on this board (see my thread http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35153089) and followed the great advice I was given by many Fodorites, to the letter. I managed to kit out the family without breaking the bank by shopping at the winter sales, borrowing a few items from friends, and using some items we already had (e.g. jeans and long-sleeved t-shirts). We invested in very good walking shoes(e.g. Keens) as we knew we would be walking a lot and also wanted to be able to keep our feet dry if it rained. These shoes can also be worn in hot weather when hiking. We also bought very good rainjackets, which we can use when it rains in Brisbane too. Instead of buying expensive thermal underwear we all wore black tights under our jeans and white, tight-fitting long-sleeved t-shirts under our top layers. We each took enough clothes for 5 days. The only items I couldn't buy in Australia were face warmers and I eventually bought these at a sports shop in Dresden.
Feb 5th, 2009, 02:18 AM
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And so to continue. Please tell me if I am being too detailed and I'll summarise the rest of our trip for you.
5.30pm onwards on Wednesday 3rd December, 2008
After driving around the roundabout a few times at Munich airport while we tried to work out how to exit, we made a decision and sped off in the direction of Salzburg. We were impressed with the excellent condition of the Autobahn and made good time. DH and I were very tired so we stopped at a service station to stock up on caffeine (the coffee machine was broken so we had icy cold cokes – brrrr!) and also bought a Vignette for Austria (€7.70). The caffeine did its job and we reached Salzburg at 8pm. There our luck ran out. No matter how hard we tried, we could not find a way to drive to our hotel. We could see it, but we couldn’t get to it, and the road that Viamichelin and Mappy insisted we drive up was a pedestrian walk-way. After driving around for 90 minutes we gave up and parked in the Alstadt Mitte B car park in the Monksburg (at €14 per day) and walked, with our suitcases rattling over the cobblestones, to our hotel, the Goldene Ente. On the way we asked a lady for directions. She turned out to be English and was very helpful. The keys for our rooms were waiting for us at the restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel. We sent 2 people up at a time in the lift, got everyone ready for bed, and hit the hay.
Thursday 4th December, 2008
After a hearty breakfast we donned our many layers of winter woollies, and set off to explore Salzburg. The blue sky was cloudless, the air smelt fresh, and Salzburg really sparkled. Although we had come to Salzburg for DD17 who is a keen musician and an avid fan of Mozart, we were all smitten with this beautiful city. We were very lucky because the city wasn’t crowded and our accommodation was very central so we were able to cover a great deal during our time there. We were struck by how very clean and well-maintained Salzburg is and how friendly and helpful the residents are.
We didn’t buy Salzburg cards as they would have cost us about €26 each, and our entire costs for all entrances in Salzburg came to €22 for all 5 of us because we were given family rates. We started off doing a self-guided tour around the old town. There were Christmas markets in nearly every square, with the fattest pigeons waddling around that we have ever seen – they are obviously well fed! We covered Mozartplatz which had an outdoor icerink alongside Mozart’s statue, the Residenz Platz where the fountain was surrounded by scaffolding as it was being restored, walked past the Residenz, heard the Glockenspiel in the bell tower playing well-known hymns, and went into the Salzburg Cathedral after explaining to DD12 and DS10 that they had to be very quiet and remove their hats.
Although none of the lights were on, the main altar and side altars were illuminated from the sunlight pouring through the dome. Mozart was baptised here and later played at least two of the four organs. We were just contemplating this when there was a loud crash. DS10, still unused to his sturdy Blundstone boots, had tripped over one of the portable pews in the middle of the floor space and the resulting noise echoed for what seemed like an awfully long time. We pretended we didn’t know him and scuttled off to admire some of the side altars. Before long, DS10 was at my side whispering loudly, “Is there such a place as hell?” After doing my best to answer what seemed like a very tricky question in my jet-lagged, sleep-deprived state, he asked, “So what happens to your soul if you blow out a candle in church?” Let me explain that we are not Catholics. I quickly discovered that he had blown out a candle because he thought someone had left it burning by mistake – we were the only people in the cathedral. DD12 had seen him and had told him that his soul was going to go to hell – thanks DD12! I asked DS10 to show me where the candle was, in the hopes that we could make a donation and light another one. No such luck. My son had extinguished the one and only candle in the entire cathedral. Not having a lighter or matches, there was nothing I could do to remedy the situation, so I put some money in the collection box, apologised to God, and implored DS10 not to blow out anything else he saw during the holiday.
Outside the cathedral we saw the statue of Mary encased in plexiglass, and entered a large square with a huge, ornate pond that had been a horse bath. It has a clever inscription above it which means “Leopold the prince built me” and contains the letters “LLDVICMXVXI”. Adding up these Roman numerals gives 1732 which is the date that the horse bath was built. The water was covered with a thin layer of ice and DD12 and DS10 managed to find some rather old, unmelted snow lying in a corner of the square. The artwork behind the horse bath was also covered with plexiglass, as were most other outdoor statues and frescoes that we saw in Salzburg. Although this detracts from their beauty somewhat, In light of the graffiti and weathering we saw on many priceless works of art later on in our trip, this is probably a good idea.
We left the square through St Peter’s gate and came upon a waterfall powering a large mill wheel attached to a bakery. Delicious smells emanated from within but we were still full from breakfast so we continued to St Peter’s Cemetery. This well-tended, tiny cemetery is enclosed by three churches and is filled with very interesting graves. The rocky Monksburg cliffs rise up from the cemetery and contain carved-out cells where hermit monks are said to have lived – they must have been freezing! We went inside one of the three churches, St Peter’s church, to admire its beautiful interior. Once again, no lights were on so was quite dark. The lovely golden handles on the doors were fashioned to look like Archbishop Wolf Dietrich.
Outside we walked past St Rupert’s statue and a 20th century crucifix, into the Toscanini Hof square. We were able to see the carpenters in the backstage area of the Festival Hall theatre constructing lots of trees for an upcoming production. Walking through Max Reinhardt Platz we came to Universitatsplatz which housed a large open-air market with, besides other produce, huge wheels of cheese on display and more very fat pigeons. Beyond the square we came upon many medieval covered arcades that led to Getreidegasse and enjoyed ducking down each one to see the lovely shops contained within. At the end of the street we found we were across the road from the ornate horse troughs and the paintings of Prince-archbishop Wolf Dietrich’s many horses, protected by the obligatory plexiglass.
Wandering down Getreidegasse was a special treat. Its beautiful suspended wrought-iron signs helped me to block out the modern-day shops and imagine what this street was like 300 years ago. DH was desperate for a cup of coffee by this stage. Here we encountered the one and only thing we didn’t like about Salzburg – smoke-filled cafes and restaurants! As we opened the door to each establishment we were engulfed in clouds of smoke. At last we found “Die Teekanne”, a café that didn’t allow smoking, the adults had coffee, the kids had hot chocolate, and everyone had some Sacher Torte.
Refreshed, it was time to visit Mozart’s Geburtshaus (birthplace). It seems as though the only bad-tempered person in Salzburg works here as the ticket-seller! I had been reading the price list from behind another couple when suddenly it was my turn. She told me to hurry up and give her the money for a family pass. However, a family pass only covered 2 adults and 2 children, so I asked her for a ticket for an additional adult (for DD17). She impatiently told me that what I needed was the family ticket and that this would cover us for Mozart’s Wohnhaus too. I again tried to buy an additional adult ticket and she told me to shut up and get a move on. I was trying not to laugh because we were the only people in her queue. We saw her at various stages during our visit to the museum and she glared at me each time just to reinforce her point. Then we realised we had missed out the final exhibit and doubled back so we could get to it. That really upset her and we were all thoroughly scolded.
Chastened, we went to the Bosna sausage stand for a very tasty lunch, found a Billa supermarket near the river where we bought a healthy supply of Mozart balls, and then admired Salzburg from the Makartsteg pedestrian bridge that spans the Salzach river. It was a short walk from there to Mozart’s Wohnhaus, where we were greeted by very friendly staff who smiled at us and gave us audio guides. We spent 2 hours here and found it far more informative than the Geburtshaus. Jet-lagged DS10 fell asleep watching the video about Mozart’s life, but woke up at the end in good spirits. It was dark when we exited. We walked along Steingasse, a beautiful, quiet street dating from the Middle Ages and saw an age-old brothel (it is at #24 and very discreet - only DH and I knew it was a brothel because of the red light outside, so it didn’t matter that we had the children with us), an old door at #19 that exhibited beggars’ carvings from hundreds of years ago that signified to other beggars how successful they would be if they knocked on the door to beg, and the house at #9 where the lyricist for Silent Night, Joseph Mohr, was born in 1792.
We crossed back over the river and went in search of dinner in the Old Town. We eventually gave up trying to find a non-smoking restaurant and had take-aways from the Christmas markets while we watched people skating on the ice-rink next to Mozart’s statue. After a while we got too cold, and it was getting very late so we went back to the hotel, chatted about the wonderful day we had had, and then called it a night.
5.30pm onwards on Wednesday 3rd December, 2008
After driving around the roundabout a few times at Munich airport while we tried to work out how to exit, we made a decision and sped off in the direction of Salzburg. We were impressed with the excellent condition of the Autobahn and made good time. DH and I were very tired so we stopped at a service station to stock up on caffeine (the coffee machine was broken so we had icy cold cokes – brrrr!) and also bought a Vignette for Austria (€7.70). The caffeine did its job and we reached Salzburg at 8pm. There our luck ran out. No matter how hard we tried, we could not find a way to drive to our hotel. We could see it, but we couldn’t get to it, and the road that Viamichelin and Mappy insisted we drive up was a pedestrian walk-way. After driving around for 90 minutes we gave up and parked in the Alstadt Mitte B car park in the Monksburg (at €14 per day) and walked, with our suitcases rattling over the cobblestones, to our hotel, the Goldene Ente. On the way we asked a lady for directions. She turned out to be English and was very helpful. The keys for our rooms were waiting for us at the restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel. We sent 2 people up at a time in the lift, got everyone ready for bed, and hit the hay.
Thursday 4th December, 2008
After a hearty breakfast we donned our many layers of winter woollies, and set off to explore Salzburg. The blue sky was cloudless, the air smelt fresh, and Salzburg really sparkled. Although we had come to Salzburg for DD17 who is a keen musician and an avid fan of Mozart, we were all smitten with this beautiful city. We were very lucky because the city wasn’t crowded and our accommodation was very central so we were able to cover a great deal during our time there. We were struck by how very clean and well-maintained Salzburg is and how friendly and helpful the residents are.
We didn’t buy Salzburg cards as they would have cost us about €26 each, and our entire costs for all entrances in Salzburg came to €22 for all 5 of us because we were given family rates. We started off doing a self-guided tour around the old town. There were Christmas markets in nearly every square, with the fattest pigeons waddling around that we have ever seen – they are obviously well fed! We covered Mozartplatz which had an outdoor icerink alongside Mozart’s statue, the Residenz Platz where the fountain was surrounded by scaffolding as it was being restored, walked past the Residenz, heard the Glockenspiel in the bell tower playing well-known hymns, and went into the Salzburg Cathedral after explaining to DD12 and DS10 that they had to be very quiet and remove their hats.
Although none of the lights were on, the main altar and side altars were illuminated from the sunlight pouring through the dome. Mozart was baptised here and later played at least two of the four organs. We were just contemplating this when there was a loud crash. DS10, still unused to his sturdy Blundstone boots, had tripped over one of the portable pews in the middle of the floor space and the resulting noise echoed for what seemed like an awfully long time. We pretended we didn’t know him and scuttled off to admire some of the side altars. Before long, DS10 was at my side whispering loudly, “Is there such a place as hell?” After doing my best to answer what seemed like a very tricky question in my jet-lagged, sleep-deprived state, he asked, “So what happens to your soul if you blow out a candle in church?” Let me explain that we are not Catholics. I quickly discovered that he had blown out a candle because he thought someone had left it burning by mistake – we were the only people in the cathedral. DD12 had seen him and had told him that his soul was going to go to hell – thanks DD12! I asked DS10 to show me where the candle was, in the hopes that we could make a donation and light another one. No such luck. My son had extinguished the one and only candle in the entire cathedral. Not having a lighter or matches, there was nothing I could do to remedy the situation, so I put some money in the collection box, apologised to God, and implored DS10 not to blow out anything else he saw during the holiday.
Outside the cathedral we saw the statue of Mary encased in plexiglass, and entered a large square with a huge, ornate pond that had been a horse bath. It has a clever inscription above it which means “Leopold the prince built me” and contains the letters “LLDVICMXVXI”. Adding up these Roman numerals gives 1732 which is the date that the horse bath was built. The water was covered with a thin layer of ice and DD12 and DS10 managed to find some rather old, unmelted snow lying in a corner of the square. The artwork behind the horse bath was also covered with plexiglass, as were most other outdoor statues and frescoes that we saw in Salzburg. Although this detracts from their beauty somewhat, In light of the graffiti and weathering we saw on many priceless works of art later on in our trip, this is probably a good idea.
We left the square through St Peter’s gate and came upon a waterfall powering a large mill wheel attached to a bakery. Delicious smells emanated from within but we were still full from breakfast so we continued to St Peter’s Cemetery. This well-tended, tiny cemetery is enclosed by three churches and is filled with very interesting graves. The rocky Monksburg cliffs rise up from the cemetery and contain carved-out cells where hermit monks are said to have lived – they must have been freezing! We went inside one of the three churches, St Peter’s church, to admire its beautiful interior. Once again, no lights were on so was quite dark. The lovely golden handles on the doors were fashioned to look like Archbishop Wolf Dietrich.
Outside we walked past St Rupert’s statue and a 20th century crucifix, into the Toscanini Hof square. We were able to see the carpenters in the backstage area of the Festival Hall theatre constructing lots of trees for an upcoming production. Walking through Max Reinhardt Platz we came to Universitatsplatz which housed a large open-air market with, besides other produce, huge wheels of cheese on display and more very fat pigeons. Beyond the square we came upon many medieval covered arcades that led to Getreidegasse and enjoyed ducking down each one to see the lovely shops contained within. At the end of the street we found we were across the road from the ornate horse troughs and the paintings of Prince-archbishop Wolf Dietrich’s many horses, protected by the obligatory plexiglass.
Wandering down Getreidegasse was a special treat. Its beautiful suspended wrought-iron signs helped me to block out the modern-day shops and imagine what this street was like 300 years ago. DH was desperate for a cup of coffee by this stage. Here we encountered the one and only thing we didn’t like about Salzburg – smoke-filled cafes and restaurants! As we opened the door to each establishment we were engulfed in clouds of smoke. At last we found “Die Teekanne”, a café that didn’t allow smoking, the adults had coffee, the kids had hot chocolate, and everyone had some Sacher Torte.
Refreshed, it was time to visit Mozart’s Geburtshaus (birthplace). It seems as though the only bad-tempered person in Salzburg works here as the ticket-seller! I had been reading the price list from behind another couple when suddenly it was my turn. She told me to hurry up and give her the money for a family pass. However, a family pass only covered 2 adults and 2 children, so I asked her for a ticket for an additional adult (for DD17). She impatiently told me that what I needed was the family ticket and that this would cover us for Mozart’s Wohnhaus too. I again tried to buy an additional adult ticket and she told me to shut up and get a move on. I was trying not to laugh because we were the only people in her queue. We saw her at various stages during our visit to the museum and she glared at me each time just to reinforce her point. Then we realised we had missed out the final exhibit and doubled back so we could get to it. That really upset her and we were all thoroughly scolded.
Chastened, we went to the Bosna sausage stand for a very tasty lunch, found a Billa supermarket near the river where we bought a healthy supply of Mozart balls, and then admired Salzburg from the Makartsteg pedestrian bridge that spans the Salzach river. It was a short walk from there to Mozart’s Wohnhaus, where we were greeted by very friendly staff who smiled at us and gave us audio guides. We spent 2 hours here and found it far more informative than the Geburtshaus. Jet-lagged DS10 fell asleep watching the video about Mozart’s life, but woke up at the end in good spirits. It was dark when we exited. We walked along Steingasse, a beautiful, quiet street dating from the Middle Ages and saw an age-old brothel (it is at #24 and very discreet - only DH and I knew it was a brothel because of the red light outside, so it didn’t matter that we had the children with us), an old door at #19 that exhibited beggars’ carvings from hundreds of years ago that signified to other beggars how successful they would be if they knocked on the door to beg, and the house at #9 where the lyricist for Silent Night, Joseph Mohr, was born in 1792.
We crossed back over the river and went in search of dinner in the Old Town. We eventually gave up trying to find a non-smoking restaurant and had take-aways from the Christmas markets while we watched people skating on the ice-rink next to Mozart’s statue. After a while we got too cold, and it was getting very late so we went back to the hotel, chatted about the wonderful day we had had, and then called it a night.
Feb 5th, 2009, 05:20 PM
#17
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Ozziez,
I'm really enjoying your trip report, and I admire your positive attitude about still going on your trip despite the obstacles.
I think it's amazing that you endured a 21 hour flight, and then you and your husband were able to drive and navigate in a foreign country! Where we are from, it takes us 16 hours to get to London - I would go crazy having to travel a total of 21 hours!!
I found the story about your son in the church amusing - ahhh siblings. Salzburg always seemed like it would be a much more beautiful place to visit in winter than any other season.'
Can't wait for more, and don't even think about cutting out any more details!
I'm really enjoying your trip report, and I admire your positive attitude about still going on your trip despite the obstacles.
I think it's amazing that you endured a 21 hour flight, and then you and your husband were able to drive and navigate in a foreign country! Where we are from, it takes us 16 hours to get to London - I would go crazy having to travel a total of 21 hours!!
I found the story about your son in the church amusing - ahhh siblings. Salzburg always seemed like it would be a much more beautiful place to visit in winter than any other season.'
Can't wait for more, and don't even think about cutting out any more details!
Feb 9th, 2009, 03:11 AM
#18
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Friday 5th December, 2008.
It was overcast and misty when we woke up. After breakfast we packed up, went for a walk around Salzburg's old town once again, did some last minute souvenir shopping, and then checked out. We enjoyed our stay at the Goldene Ente. Its central location meant that we didn’t have to use pubic transport at all during our stay, and we were able to see everything we had wanted to. Our rooms were clean, very comfortable, dark and quiet. Breakfast was delicious. Ulriche Koller, the manager, was very friendly and efficient. It was a lovely hotel – expensive for what we got, but lovely all the same.
We rattled our way with our suitcases over the cobblestones back to the car park, and set off for Cesky Krumlov at 11am. We found the drive through Salzburg and onto the Czech Republic, via Linz, very easy going. DH really scored 10 out of 10 for his driving skills. Not only was he jet-lagged and driving a very large vehicle that took up every inch of its lane, he had to drive on the opposite side of the road (we drive on the left in Australia).
The Austrian countryside was beautiful and had patches of snow in places. Linz is an industrial city so it was far from beautiful, but the roads were still excellent so we passed through it very quickly.
Suddenly we emerged from the smog of Linz into another world. DH wondered where his beautiful road and English road signs had gone. DD12 wanted to know why there were so many ladies hitch-hiking, and suggested we give four of them a lift as we had four spare seats. DS10 wanted to know why these ladies were wearing such very short skirts in such cold weather, and boots with such very high heels in the middle of the country side. Hmmm. I counted 39 of these ladies within 4 kms and was saddened to see that most of them were no older than DD17 (who was fast asleep in the back of the car).
We were looking for a service station and soon found a Shell garage in the middle of the countryside, next to one other building – a strip joint. We bought our 7 day Dalnicni Znamka road tax sticker for 440KN (about $55 Australian). As I was the GPS, I also bought myself detailed maps of Cesky Krumlov and Prague. DD17 woke up and needed to use the rest room and had to walk past a floor to ceiling display of pornographic magazines, but she was so tired she didn’t even notice.
As we drove through the Czech countryside towards Cesky Krumlov we marvelled at how beautiful it was, but were also saddened to see how poor it was, in contrast to Austria. Houses had broken walls, peeling plaster, missing roof tiles and shattered windows. Fences were sagging or badly damaged. Farm equipment was rusting apathetically on the side of the road or in puddles in farm yards. Horses and cows were very thin.
The drive to Cesky Krumlov was easy and we arrived at 3pm. As we drove down the cobbled streets and through the main archway that formed part of the castle walls, we felt as though we had been transported back in time 600 years. Here was a medieval village in all its glory. We fell in love with it instantly. We stayed in an apartment in the castle walls and reception was at the Castle Information Centre.
On arrival, we saw an unfortunate having his car wheel unclamped by two policemen, so I was given the job of talking to one of the policemen to find out where we could park. Although he couldn’t speak much English, and I cannot speak any Czech, he was very helpful and explained we could park for 5 minutes outside reception. Reception was expecting us and gave us a one hour parking voucher so we could unload our luggage before parking the car at the Eggenberg Brewery a short distance away.
Our apartment was huge, spotless, very charming, and was above an apothecary that had been in business for hundreds of years. There was a welcome jar of Czech honey on the table, beautiful views from all the windows, lots of hot water, fluffy towels, and very comfortable beds.
We dumped our suitcases and ran down the stairs, out into the twilight to explore Cesky Krumlov. What a magical place! We seemed to be the only tourists in town and were surrounded by happy Czech families who had come to join in the Saint Nicholas Night celebrations. The town square sported a huge Christmas tree decorated with blue lights, a Christmas market, a stage on which Czech singers dressed as devils and angels sang boisterous Czech songs to crowds of delighted Czech children and their families, and hosted numerous games that involved proving one’s heavenliness to the devil.
The Czech children had put a lot of effort into their costumes. Ghosts moaned eerily and dragged chains, devils sported coal-blackened faces and wielded pitch forks, and angels pranced around in white dresses and gossamer wings. They all eagerly took part in the games, throwing hoops over poles, dashing around the square putting coal in barrels, carefully balancing while walking along see-saws, and lobbing potatoes into buckets.
We found the entrance to the Pivni Katakomby restaurant and walked down is steep spiral staircase, but the children’s jet-lagged stomachs were no longer hungry so we walked up to the castle instead. Although the castle itself is closed in winter, the grounds and tower are open. We were able to walk across the draw bridge, through the castle courtyards, across the statue-lined bridge, and up to the gardens. The whole area was flood-lit and we loved spending time, all on our own, admiring the beautiful frescoes, statues, and architecture. It started to rain lightly and the view across Cesky Krumlov from the castle was like something out of a fairytale. Bed time seemed to come too soon. We fell asleep to the sounds of happy revellers making their way home, and vowed to get up early the next morning so we could soak up as much of Cesky Krumlov as possible before our departure for Prague.
It was overcast and misty when we woke up. After breakfast we packed up, went for a walk around Salzburg's old town once again, did some last minute souvenir shopping, and then checked out. We enjoyed our stay at the Goldene Ente. Its central location meant that we didn’t have to use pubic transport at all during our stay, and we were able to see everything we had wanted to. Our rooms were clean, very comfortable, dark and quiet. Breakfast was delicious. Ulriche Koller, the manager, was very friendly and efficient. It was a lovely hotel – expensive for what we got, but lovely all the same.
We rattled our way with our suitcases over the cobblestones back to the car park, and set off for Cesky Krumlov at 11am. We found the drive through Salzburg and onto the Czech Republic, via Linz, very easy going. DH really scored 10 out of 10 for his driving skills. Not only was he jet-lagged and driving a very large vehicle that took up every inch of its lane, he had to drive on the opposite side of the road (we drive on the left in Australia).
The Austrian countryside was beautiful and had patches of snow in places. Linz is an industrial city so it was far from beautiful, but the roads were still excellent so we passed through it very quickly.
Suddenly we emerged from the smog of Linz into another world. DH wondered where his beautiful road and English road signs had gone. DD12 wanted to know why there were so many ladies hitch-hiking, and suggested we give four of them a lift as we had four spare seats. DS10 wanted to know why these ladies were wearing such very short skirts in such cold weather, and boots with such very high heels in the middle of the country side. Hmmm. I counted 39 of these ladies within 4 kms and was saddened to see that most of them were no older than DD17 (who was fast asleep in the back of the car).
We were looking for a service station and soon found a Shell garage in the middle of the countryside, next to one other building – a strip joint. We bought our 7 day Dalnicni Znamka road tax sticker for 440KN (about $55 Australian). As I was the GPS, I also bought myself detailed maps of Cesky Krumlov and Prague. DD17 woke up and needed to use the rest room and had to walk past a floor to ceiling display of pornographic magazines, but she was so tired she didn’t even notice.
As we drove through the Czech countryside towards Cesky Krumlov we marvelled at how beautiful it was, but were also saddened to see how poor it was, in contrast to Austria. Houses had broken walls, peeling plaster, missing roof tiles and shattered windows. Fences were sagging or badly damaged. Farm equipment was rusting apathetically on the side of the road or in puddles in farm yards. Horses and cows were very thin.
The drive to Cesky Krumlov was easy and we arrived at 3pm. As we drove down the cobbled streets and through the main archway that formed part of the castle walls, we felt as though we had been transported back in time 600 years. Here was a medieval village in all its glory. We fell in love with it instantly. We stayed in an apartment in the castle walls and reception was at the Castle Information Centre.
On arrival, we saw an unfortunate having his car wheel unclamped by two policemen, so I was given the job of talking to one of the policemen to find out where we could park. Although he couldn’t speak much English, and I cannot speak any Czech, he was very helpful and explained we could park for 5 minutes outside reception. Reception was expecting us and gave us a one hour parking voucher so we could unload our luggage before parking the car at the Eggenberg Brewery a short distance away.
Our apartment was huge, spotless, very charming, and was above an apothecary that had been in business for hundreds of years. There was a welcome jar of Czech honey on the table, beautiful views from all the windows, lots of hot water, fluffy towels, and very comfortable beds.
We dumped our suitcases and ran down the stairs, out into the twilight to explore Cesky Krumlov. What a magical place! We seemed to be the only tourists in town and were surrounded by happy Czech families who had come to join in the Saint Nicholas Night celebrations. The town square sported a huge Christmas tree decorated with blue lights, a Christmas market, a stage on which Czech singers dressed as devils and angels sang boisterous Czech songs to crowds of delighted Czech children and their families, and hosted numerous games that involved proving one’s heavenliness to the devil.
The Czech children had put a lot of effort into their costumes. Ghosts moaned eerily and dragged chains, devils sported coal-blackened faces and wielded pitch forks, and angels pranced around in white dresses and gossamer wings. They all eagerly took part in the games, throwing hoops over poles, dashing around the square putting coal in barrels, carefully balancing while walking along see-saws, and lobbing potatoes into buckets.
We found the entrance to the Pivni Katakomby restaurant and walked down is steep spiral staircase, but the children’s jet-lagged stomachs were no longer hungry so we walked up to the castle instead. Although the castle itself is closed in winter, the grounds and tower are open. We were able to walk across the draw bridge, through the castle courtyards, across the statue-lined bridge, and up to the gardens. The whole area was flood-lit and we loved spending time, all on our own, admiring the beautiful frescoes, statues, and architecture. It started to rain lightly and the view across Cesky Krumlov from the castle was like something out of a fairytale. Bed time seemed to come too soon. We fell asleep to the sounds of happy revellers making their way home, and vowed to get up early the next morning so we could soak up as much of Cesky Krumlov as possible before our departure for Prague.
Feb 9th, 2009, 02:23 PM
#19
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Saturday 6th December, 2008
We were up and out by 8am. Although it was a cloudy day, this did not spoil our enjoyment as we walked around the whole of Cesky Krumlov, soaking up the sights and ambience. For the first hour we were the only people outside which was very, very special. I had prepared some notes for a self-guided walk and DS10 was our guide. He did a very good job. When we reached the Castle Information Centre we took a break for breakfast which was served at the back of the building.
After a decent continental breakfast we paid for our accommodation and then walked up to the castle so we could explore once again, this time in daylight. We knew there were bears in the moat and were very keen to see them. The moat was empty when we arrived so we paid to climb the tower and spent some time admiring the view of Cesky Krumlov and the surrounding countryside from the top. Still no sign of the bears.
We then wandered through the castle complex, and just like the previous night, we were all on our own. Fantastic! On our way out DD17 found the bears – a huge male and a beautiful female. Evidently they are locked up on 24th December so they can hibernate undisturbed. Their quarters are under the bridge that leads to the castle and they were only out for a few minutes, so we were very lucky to see them.
Sadly the time had come to leave as we wanted to reach Prague in daylight. We collected the car from the brewery parking, bought a picnic lunch from the co-op opposite our apartment, and left Cesky Krumlov at 11.45am.
We were up and out by 8am. Although it was a cloudy day, this did not spoil our enjoyment as we walked around the whole of Cesky Krumlov, soaking up the sights and ambience. For the first hour we were the only people outside which was very, very special. I had prepared some notes for a self-guided walk and DS10 was our guide. He did a very good job. When we reached the Castle Information Centre we took a break for breakfast which was served at the back of the building.
After a decent continental breakfast we paid for our accommodation and then walked up to the castle so we could explore once again, this time in daylight. We knew there were bears in the moat and were very keen to see them. The moat was empty when we arrived so we paid to climb the tower and spent some time admiring the view of Cesky Krumlov and the surrounding countryside from the top. Still no sign of the bears.
We then wandered through the castle complex, and just like the previous night, we were all on our own. Fantastic! On our way out DD17 found the bears – a huge male and a beautiful female. Evidently they are locked up on 24th December so they can hibernate undisturbed. Their quarters are under the bridge that leads to the castle and they were only out for a few minutes, so we were very lucky to see them.
Sadly the time had come to leave as we wanted to reach Prague in daylight. We collected the car from the brewery parking, bought a picnic lunch from the co-op opposite our apartment, and left Cesky Krumlov at 11.45am.
Feb 9th, 2009, 02:24 PM
#20
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Did you buy one of those t-shirts that say "No Kangaroos in Austria"? I bought one and loved wearing it in Australia. I got some strange looks because people were reading the last word as "Australia".
