Hi Images,

Glad you had a great early Christmas with your family. Yay for snow!

I think we'll be taking the 10:19am bus to Strobl on Sunday as well and we'll try to take the 5:05pm bus from St. Gilgen to Salzburg on the way back that evening. We'll probably be on the same bus Sunday morning, though it sounds like you may be getting off earlier than us in St. Gilgen. Anyway, have a great flight!

Gills

Time is running out on I-net. We're in Munich. Christmas market great, gluhwein warming. Having a ball. See you the 25th.

images2 and colleagues.. i am enjoying following your excitement and future gtg.

also envious you are escaping and seem to have it al planned out so nicely.

have a wonderful time, and i´ll be thinking of you.

I have spent many Christmas weeks and after in Salzburg and Munich and I do envy those of you who are there now! Have a lovely time--I am very very homesick this year. I am tempted to just jump on a plane at the first available moment! LOL
please report back about your trips for the rest of us who cannot be there this year. Enjoy the Gluhwein too!

Jen

Good morning,

Jen, we'll report back after this year, and you can report back after you go next year!! It sounds like a very special place. We've only been to Munich in the past and are so excited to see it at Christmas, and Austria. It looks like it's going to be on the warm side in Salzburg these first few days.

Lin, thanks so much. How was Dubai? I'd love to hear how your December trip went!

We're all so very fortunate and I'm so thankful for our families. I just read about Mimi's husbands death on the board and I ached for her all night. I'm sending up a prayer for her this Christmas.

hi! i am really enjoying following the progression of your trip ..
we spent one new year´s in munich and salzburg.
you will have a wonderful time. it is magical, especially if it snows.

the shopping pedestrian area in s. had beautiful green pine swags(??) and lights across every 10 ft. or so. we especially enjoyed our horse drawn carriage ride up to neuschwanstein. now that was cool!

there was an outdoor stall frying apple fritters near a church between fussen and mondsee if you are around there.

dubai was interesting. mind boggling. luxurious. reasonably priced for what we were getting.

had a great time in the desert, too.
15 camels walked near us in the dunes.

can´t complain. i am not sure this project is really going to get totally completed and inhabited, but what is finished is admirable and very well executed.

would be a good stopoever on the way somewhere else, too. we just didn´t have the time. i hope to do a report.

happy holidays all you austrian travellers!

We are in our second day in Vienna--first time here. Love it more than I thought I would. Always thought of Vienna as stiff and formal---NOT. Enjoyed the Christmas markets and several good meals and still another day to go.

Heading to Salzburg on Saturday. Very curious--there is an Australian couple staying here in the B&B with us. They are going to Salzburg on Satuday as well. And then they are going to Florence from there, on the same day we are! DH says it will really be spooky if we all show up at the same B&B in Florence!

I'm a little behind, but you can read about our trip on our blog site www.yourskiclub.com/blogs . "Contemplating Shakespeare" is the first one for this trip if you want to put that in the search box.

We're really lucky at this B&B. She had a computer for guest use and I asked if she had wireless, pretty sure she wouldn't, but it turned out that she does have ethernet in our room. Never know till you ask!

Hello to all! Sorry we have been out of touch for so long! We had a month long trip to the US and then a race to get home, unpack, wash clothes, wrap Christmas gifts and repack to had out again! We are currently just outside Fussen and having a wonderful time!! We would love to join the Salzburg get together on Christmas day, if it is not too late to come along. It would be me, husband and our two kids (ages 3 & 7). Could someone let me know if this would be alright? Thanks and hope to see you soon!
Kristin, Peter Katrina and Connor!

pgnewby, of course it's alright! The more, the merrier. And besides, you were the first one to respond to my original post, so naturally you should be there. Looking forward to meeting you and your whole family.

We get into Salzburg Saturday. We plan to go by the Tomaselli Cafe and see if it's possible to make any kind of reservations. It sounds like maybe 8-10 of us? I'm planning to be the one in the gold hooded sweater (unless of course I change my mind )

Good to hear from you Candy! I've invited Flying Mom to join us on Christmas. If you don't have her, that's another 4 people possible. They have 2 children and very well may join us.

So happy you're having a great trip! We leave in the morning. See you soon!

We also leave for Salzburg tomorrow (Sat.) morning! Unfortunately we are have lunch reservations for Christmas afternoon and won't be at the Cafe, but that's okay. I'm sure all of you will have a blast. Glad to hear that you are enjoying Vienna Lady. It's beautiful isn't it?! Did you get a chance to see Schonbrunn?

Happy Holidays everyone!

Gills, yes we saw the palace. Fabulous. We'll probably be at the cafe most of the afternoon if you get a chance to drop by later.

Images, good to hear there will be even more. We can always pull up tables. Assuming I can get by the language barrier, I'll try to let them know what we are doing and that the number is flexible.

Excellent! We can't wait to meet you all on Christmas day. We're off to the markets today! Hope everyone's well!

We tried to make today pretty much a day of rest and got a very late start. Mostly just wandered the markets and took the funicular up to the fort. Great views of the frost-glistening trees.

Found my all-time favorite hot drink here. There are two drink booths on the far side of the skating rink. The one on the right sells a baked apple punch that I fell in love with. They put dried apple rings in the hot drink. I've had three so far! And then I bought a bottle of the stuff they mix it with. Plan to share it with our friends in Forstau and Florence.

Stopped at Cafe Tomaselli. VERY busy place. I talked to the gentleman who said he cannot make reservations. He asked how many and when I told him there would probably be 10-12 he said that if we come,he will help us.

They do not serve full meals. There was an omelet, some rolls, and I think I saw a sausage on the menu. No soup, salad or sandwiches. There are lots of sweets and plenty of all kinds of drinks, but if you want a full meal, you should eat first. I plan to have a pretty good breakfast and then an omelet and sweet will be fine for lunch.

Those of you I don't run into on the Christmas Eve tour, I will see Christmas Day. Have a happy.

Sounds like a great time! Hopefully there will be a repeat GTG next year in Salzburg--DH and I are determined to celebrate Christmas 2008 in either Germany or Austria and we are strongly leaning toward Salzburg.

Perhaps Tomaselli can fit all of you in upstairs?

I'd love to see it become the First Annual Salzburg Christmas Day GTG, but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to make the Second Annual. :'( Up to you BTilke.

Had a fantastic Christmas Eve. First the tour to Oberndorf--well, after more Christmas market shopping! Met Images2 and GillsinEurope. Yeah, my first meeting with Fodorites. Naturally they are awesome people. And then back here to Haus Wartenburg B&B. Sat down to dinner about 7:20 and got to the room after 10pm, just sitting around talking to the others. Now I need to blog and I'm so tired (a good tired) and don't want to. But I will.

Ya'll have a very Merry Christmas. Talk to you later.

Hi Guys,

Even though we weren't able to make it to the official G2G at the cafe this afternoon, we really enjoyed getting meet some of you throughout the weekend.

Images, we had a great time getting to talk with you and your DH on the bus ride to Wolfgangsee on Sunday. We hope that you enjoy Vienna this upcoming week and that you have a wonderful time with your grandson in March. Let us know what your travel itinerary finally pans out to be.

Lady (Candy) and hubby, we also enjoyed meeting you on Christmas Eve on the Silent Night tour. Sounds like you guys are having a really fun vacation. What's next after Salzburg? Also, thanks for posting this thread. It was such a good idea.

For the couple from Belgium (sorry I don't remember your screen name), it was fun getting to hear a little bit about your story as well. How exciting to be living here in Europe for three years. See as much as you can and tell us the musts!

For the couple sitting in front of us on the bus (again, bad memory), it was nice meeting you too and we hope that Salzburg was as magical for you as it was for us.

For those of you I did not mention and may have forgotten (sorry again), it was a fantastic weekend and we loved every minute of it! Enjoy the rest of your holidays if you read this before you get back home. We left Salzburg this afternoon and are back in Vienna, but will remember our weekend in Salzburg.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Yes, some of us met on Christmas Eve on Bob's Tour to Oberndorf. What a wonderful evening that was! Well worth going if you're here next Christmas. At the end of the service as they sang Silent Night, I stood on the hill just below the chapel which was glowing in a soft amber light and in front were two trees, lighted in white and next to them a rooftop above which shone a brilliant full moon. It was truly amazing!

Gills, a delight meeting you and DW. Golly, you guys look so young! How wonderful to be able to do all this traveling now. We were not able to get a good start till much later in life.

Then on Christmas afternoon, DH, Images2 and her DH and pgnewby her DH and two delightful daughters met at Cafe Tomaselli.

Boy, the place was packed, but we managed a good space, thanks to the guys next to us who let us spread out as they left. The cafe served great omelets and wonderful sweets. We ate lots and talked more. It was really teriffic. Thanks, ya'll, for taking time out of your holiday for meeting.

Images2, have a safe and fabulous rest of your trip. Between you guys and pgnewby's DH, it sounds like our next trip will be Provance and Pyranees!

pgnewby, how wonderful that your family has this opportunity and how great to see you taking advantage of it the way you do!

And for both of you, stay in touch and let us know when you'll be in Florida. Love to do this again.

Now I've met some Fodorites and they are just as great, wonderful and helpful in person as online.

I have been following your enjoyable post with envy. We are planning on doing a similar thing for 2008 so I have been soaking up all your ideas.

Were you happy staying at Haus Wartenburg and would you recommend it?
I would love to take a trip to Hallstatt, did anyone do that? The Silent night tour sounds great too.