Schneeballen for all-en!

LOCATION:

Rothenburg, Germany

 

If Hallstatt is the most beautiful place on earth, then Rothenburg is the cutest place on earth. This walled, medieval Bavarian town is usually a day trip from Munich, so we decided to make a night of it in hopes of missing the swarms of tour busses. We checked into our hotel around 5pm and the owner recommended a restaurant where "everything is made of potatoes" and also the Night Watchman tour that departed at 8pm. Both of the recommendations were spot on! For dinner I had potato soup (with bacon) and a salad with potato dressing (and also more bacon). We had a few beers and then walked to the town square to await the watchman! Back in medieval times, the worst job to have was the hangman, followed by the gravedigger, and the third worst job was the night watchman. The duties were to knock on every door just before dark and remind people to lock their doors, and then stay awake all night to contend with crooks and drunks, and alert the town of fire which - back then - was the greatest threat to any small town.

 

Walking to the square to meet the tour - cute, right?

Blowing the horn to warn of fire! I think that stick was called a "hell stick."

 

We also learned a little about the relatively recent history of Rothenburg. During WWII, forty percent of the city was destroyed in a bomb attack. The city had no money to rebuild, so had the brilliant idea to ask the whole world for help. Rothenburg has a long and charming history of tourism, so people from everywhere sent money to help the town they had once visited or held special meaning for them. Rothenburg showed their thanks by putting their name on a stone in the wall as it was rebuilt. Walking the wall the next day we saw the names of people from Germany, other European cities, Japan, and America to name a few.

 

 

Erin was a good wall-size, I was a little big!

 

Where is Erin??!!

 

Another thing we learned about was a Rothenburg specialty - a pastry that dates back to the Middle Ages. Schneeballen (which translates to snowball) is a ball of flaky yumminess that comes covered in all sorts of toppings. We tried chocolate and peanut butter.

 

Schneeballs!!

 

Rothenburg is small and could have easily been a day trip, but the idea to stay a night was one of Erin's best yet. The town was so cute, and seeing the streets and town walls nearly empty enhanced its charm. Two great small-town visits in a row! Now it's back to the hustle and bustle in Munich, before chasing down the sun in Croatia.

Could this get any cuter? But notice the ugly tour bus lurking!

 

 

Rothenburg oozes Christmas charm, even in late April.

 

PS - this is what I look like, loaded up and ready to ease on. Eight weeks in and I don't even hate my pack that much!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Hallstatt - Maybe the Most Beautiful Place on Earth

LOCATION:

Hallstatt, Austria

 

One of the day trips high on the list for both of us was the tiny, mountain ringed, lake-side town of Hallstatt. Home to only a few thousand people, it is described by some as "The Greeting Card for Tranquility." Getting there was also a spectacular adventure, the two hour train ride featured some of the most beautiful lake and mountain scenery I have ever seen. Once we finally got off the train, we were shuttled to the town by a tiny ferry that meets each incoming train.

Waiting for the ferry - tiny Hallstatt in the distance.

Getting closer - looks like a post card doesn't it! And see that yellow house at the top? Little did we know we would end up there!

 

We were pretty hungry after the long journey, so found a great little cafe and (as has become the custom with a new place) sampled the local beer.

Good beer, great views!

 

One of the highlights of Hallstatt (besides the sheer beauty!) is the world's first salt mine. "Salz" translates to salt, and "stat" to stop, so a few iterations later the town got its name - Hallstatt - which essentially means salt stop. The mine is supposed to be reachable by hour long hike up the mountain, so off we went. We were quickly met with signs that said "do not continue - risk of death" so we decided to take the funicular to the top instead.

Erin prepared to hike - not yet aware of the "risk of death" looming ahead.

 

The funicular ride was fun too, and got us to the top much faster.

 

At the top, we were again amazed at the views!

 

Neither of us had ever been to a salt mine before, so had no clue what to expect. We were given miners outfits, which were pretty awesome and - despite making us feel sort of like prisoners - came in handy for keeping us warm as we journeyed about a fifth of a mile into the mountain.

Super cute, right?

 

Here we go, the long tunnel in.

 

Inside, I learned why the salt mines were there in the first place. According to several educational (and very cheesy) videos, the salt mines were created centuries ago as a part of the continents forming. There were oceans where the alps used to be and as the mountains started to form, the oceans dried up and salt deposits were trapped below, leaving them to be discovered hundreds of years later. I also learned that different colors of salt mean different things in terms of mineral deposits - red salt has more iron, and white salt has more calcium.

Examples of the different kinds of salt crystals. I may or may not have tried to lick them :)

 

While learning is always fun, the easy highlight of the salt mine adventure were the two slides we took to get from one area to another. Or special salt miners outfits had felt bottoms, so we got some pretty good speed on the longest slide (our tour guide told us they also sometimes grease the slides and have races, fun!) These slides aren't just for tourists, they are also used by miners for quick movement within the mines. The last adventure was a train, also used by miners, that led us out of the cave and back into the daylight.

 

The slide! Wheeeee!

 

On the train on the way out, watch your head!

 

"Please stay seated and keep your arms inside the train at all times."

 

Hallstatt is a place I would recommend to anyone - it really was one of the most beautiful, peaceful and awe-inspiring places I have seen! Though the town is tiny, it is absolutely worth adding to any European itinerary!

Bavaria at its finest.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Hills Are Alive! With The Sounds of Salzburg!

LOCATION:

Salzburg, Austria

 

I knew two things about Salzburg before heading there - Mozart and The Sound of Music (though I have never seen the movie and couldn't hum a Mozart tune if my life depended on it!). Our first afternoon was spent exploring, and we headed first to the most visible icon - the cliff top fortress of Festung Hohensalzburg. It was built in 1077, and has since been home to many prince-archbishops. We took a guided tour and my favorite parts were the torture chambers (never actually used for torture) and the magnificent views once we climbed one of the towers.

The mighty fortress, looking up from ground level.

 

Beautiful views of Salzburg to one side.

 

And stunning alps-views to the other side!

 

After walking down from the fortress, we went to the baroque Dom zu Salzburg. It has origins dating back to 774, but has been through many renovations - the latest of which occurred in 1959 after the dome was destroyed by an arial bomb.

 

The cathedral from the front.

 

And from the side with a view of the dome.

 

One of our goals in Salzburg was to attend a concert featuring Mozart music, but the timing didn't work out quite right so I settled for a picture of a statue of the composer instead. He was born in Salzburg in 1756, and lived in the area for most of his life.

Mozart!

 

One of the more surprising things about Salzburg were the sheer cliffs that seemed to surround the city. It looked like buildings were built right into them! I suppose its only natural that people start to climb these cliffs, so I decided to try out my rock climbing skills.

Just kidding - this is not me! Crazy though, right?

 

My guidebook recommended a beer garden, called the Augustiner Braustubl. On our way there, we got blissfully lost and had a little impromptu hike to work up our thirst. Along the way, we found remnants of the old city walls, and more stunning views of the alps.

 

The city was fortified during the 30-years war, in the 1620s.

 

Is this place for real??

 

After our hike we finally found the beer garden. It was one of my favorite stops - they only serve one kind of beer (brewed by monks - holy beer!) in ceramic mugs that come in two sizes. The place is so popular, it draws nearly 3000 customers per day!

Getting our mugs filled.

 

Erin enjoying the frosty cold beer.

 

Our final stop in Salzburg was to scope out some of the scenes from The Sound of Music. I do know a little about the movie - especially the part when the Von Trapp children learn to sing "Do, a deer, a female deer... Re, a drop of golden sun..." This scene takes place in the Schloss Mirabell gardens, which were quite beautiful. It was dusk by the time we finally went there, meaning most of the crowds had disbursed for the evening.

One of the scenes from the movie, with the fortress on the hill in the background.

 

Finally, some beautiful manicured gardens actually in bloom!

 

So pretty - tulips are my favorite!

 

Having seen Vienna, Salzburg, and several smaller cities via day trip, I feel pretty comfortable with my knowledge of Austria. I particularly loved Salzburg - it was so pretty, and seemed to be the right mix of old and new, nestled down in the valley below the magnificent alps.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Bratislava: Experienced in Limerick

LOCATION:

Bratislava, Slovakia

 

I already mentioned my love for the unlimited rail pass, but I'll go ahead and say it again - the rail pass rules. It makes it easy to do things like go to Sweden for lunch, and check out countries like Slovakia that you otherwise might not think to visit. Also, Erin and I have taken to writing limericks about some of our adventures, so I present the Bratislava blog post in limerick form. Enjoy.

 

Hey, Bratislava Slovakia - you ain't bad.

In fact, we think you are pretty rad!

We saw some funky sculptures and a church that was blue.

And a castle that was kind of old, but also kind of new!

Having heard mixed reviews, we liked Bratislava and were super glad!

 

The 19th century Art Deco "Blue Church."

 

Also blue inside, naturally.

 

Man At Work sculpture.

 

Very new looking in places, but with touches of its old roots.

 

Renovation happening before our very eyes!

 

Ruins from an older part of the castle.

 

No visit to a new country is complete without sampling some regional beverages!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Cruising the Blue Danube, Which is Not So Blue Afterall.

LOCATION:

Melk and Krems, Austria

 

In doing a little trip research we found a lot of recommendations for the nearby Austrian towns of Melk and Krems, located on the Danube river. We took a train to Melk and first checked out the incredible Stift Melk ("stift" means donation - the building was given to the benedictines hundreds of years ago). It is a working Benedictine monastery, home to about thirty monks. It has also been through a number of renovations over the years depending on the main family responsible for the property, so it was cool to see the contrast of newer and old construction.

The front, the newer facade and the older tower on the right.

Beautiful views from the hilltop location!

 

The monastery also had an impressive - and very modern - museum, which we took a guided tour of. Up until now I have been eagerly seeking out war history lessons, but the museum (and our amazing guide!) inspired a new topic of interest - art history. I did take a few art history classes in college and vaguely remember the different periods, but the few things I learned in just this one hour tour raised more questions.

 

Look at those facial expressions! It never occurred to me that before people could read, paintings were the way stories were told.

Jesus is depicted smiling, with no crown of thorns or blood. He is depicted differently depending on the era - later He is presented as a suffering Jesus rather than calm and angelic.

 

After the monastery tour, we boarded a boat to cruise down the Danube to the town of Krems. We were easily the youngest people on the boat, which is kind of fun. The scenery was incredible, seeing castle ruins and other ports along the journey. We had purchased a bottle of Pinot from the monastery, so the two hour ride unexpectedly turned into a fun little booze cruise for us.

Views from the boat.

Blue church, and castle ruins on the hilltop!

 

Keeping it classy - wine from a beer glass. At least it was blessed by monks.

Sneaking a picture with the unsuspecting captain!

 

The monochromatic lady behind me was my favorite person on the boat - it takes a lot of effort to match everything!

 

Krems is known for its wine production, and although this wine wasn't made by monks, we decided to sample some of the local varieties. I love dessert wine - it's so sweet and delicious! So in addition to a dry Krems Riesling (not my fave) we tried a moscato and an Eiswein (ice wine) and weren't disappointed.

So good!

 

Two final highlights of the trip were seeing the awesome statues outside of the caricature museum (at least we think that's what it was!) and Erin finally fulfilling her life-long craving for Smurf gelato. Smurfs, apparently, taste like bubblegum. Blue-ish green Danube day trip success!

Isn't this lady amazing?

 

Gelato dreams come true in Krems!

 

Posted with Blogsy