2012-07 European Vacation

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     Animals
Displays
Flowers
Matterhorn
People
Signs
Statues
Steeples
Towers
View from lunch table
View from our room
Waterfalls
Windows and Doors
Wires and Trees obstructing the view

Slide show of photos in this blog:
Blog 1 of 2
Blog 2 of 2

General comments

1. Paul, Mary, and Phyllis were on a self-planned, self-guided vacation, not a tour. We hit 6 countries: Austria, Germany (for one day), Liechtenstein (passing through on the train), Switzerland, Italy (for lunch), and France.

2. Photography by: Mary, Paul, and Phyllis.

3. Paul and Mary did a few things different than on our previous vacations:

a. We packed for ten days, to cut down on the number of laundry days (to 3 instead of 4 or 5). And we did not wash whites in the room. In addition, we packed warm clothes for the mountains. Less laundry days were good, but that meant an extra suitcase, and the roll-ons were expanded, so they had to be checked. And it was more of a hassle to cart the luggage around. We normally pack for seven days – one roll-aboard and a backpack apiece, so we do not check luggage and it is easy to cart the luggage around.

b. Paul bought a backup camera, on which he took a lot of pictures just to see how it did compared to his big camera. It actually did quite well. Paul also had trouble with Image Stabilization when using the program setting on his big camera, so was taking duplicate pictures on the automatic settings. This, coupled with the backup camera, meant that we took a lot more pictures than normal, and thus had a lot more pictures to go through afterwards.

c. We flew business class to Europe instead of economy. This was close to first class but a lot less expensive. You still get choice of individual movies, meals were included and were better than economy, wider seats than economy, and the seats laid down – but they were narrower than first class, making it harder to sleep.

d. We normally watch a lot of the Olympics, but were traveling during them. Fortunately, we did see a lot of it in the evenings in our rooms, although the commentary was in German, or, in one case, French.

4. The hotels tended to be in the old or most interesting sections of town, making it easy to walk around.

5. We drove in Austria and Germany, but we took the trains through Liechtenstein and in Switzerland, Italy, and France. The drives we took and the trains we took were all very picturesque and scenic. And views from the mountaintops were gorgeous. Pictures do not do justice. We do think it would have been even more dramatic scenery if we had gone late spring/early summer when there was more snow on the mountains and flowers in the meadows. So we plan on going back.

6. Trains in Switzerland are a great way to travel. On time, and generally come every hour at the same time from the hour. And the tourist bureaus or train ticket places will give you an itinerary of what trains to catch on which tracks, connections, and timetables. And whoever would be driving can sightsee as well. On the other hand, many pictures from the train did not turn out – reflections on the glass, blurry from the moving train, and bushes, poles, and signs getting in the way. And driving allowed us to stop and explore and take photos often. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, as it takes a long time to get anywhere when we are always stopping for photos (see the comments below for August 2).

7. We had a Swiss Rail Pass, which came in very handy. Most of our train trips in Switzerland were covered (not the extra for the special panorama cars on the express trains), and any gondola, cog train, funicular, or cable car between towns was free. And generally a 50% discount on those that went to tourist sites, top of mountains, etc.

8. It did rain some of the time, parts of 7 days. But always just for part of the morning or part of the afternoon, and cleared up (or at least was just cloudy) after that.

9. Frequently we could hear cow bells whenever we were on the mountains, whether one could see the cows or not – they are ubiquitous throughout the Alps.

10. Smoking is a lot more prevalent than here. Ashtrays were on every table in the restaurants. But only twice, I think, did we have to move because of smokers.

Fri - Sun, July 27 - 29: Left for Europe

Paul and Mary flew to Chicago on Friday. We met Phyllis on Saturday, and left for Europe on Sunday at 6:25 pm. We spent overnight on the plane.

Mon, July 30: Salzburg, Austria

Hotel (2 nights): Hotel Kasererbrau Salzburg.

We arrived Frankfurt at 9:55 am (8 1/2 hour flight). Frankfurt is a huge airport. We taxied for 20 minutes to get to our terminal. The bus ride to the terminal that our next flight was departing from was another 20 minutes.

We left Frankfurt at 12:10 pm, on Tyrolean airways, and arrived at Salzburg at 1:15 pm.

We did some sightseeing in old town – Mozartplatz, Residency Plaza, etc. Lots of narrow streets and very old buildings. We ate lunch in Old Town. Salzburg was warm and humid.

Tue, July 31: Salzburg, Austria

We took a funicular up to Salzburg castle (impressive from the outside, not so much on the inside). Had to walk up stairs to get to the main courtyard. We ate lunch in the castle, at the top of the hill.

More photos of Salzburg Castle ...

We then walked through old town. We saw some places that were used in the Sound of Music movie, in particular, the fountain and the Residence Plaza.

More photos of Salzburg ...

We toured the inside of the Archbishop’s Residence.

More photos in the Residence ...

We walked along the oldest street in Salzburg, which is now a shopping street.

Wed, Aug 1: Salzburg, then drove to Zell am See, Austria

Hotel (1 night): Hotel Heitzmann

We took a Sound of Music tour from 9:30 am - 1:30 pm. The tour visited filming sites that were outside of Salzburg: the two houses used – one for the front and inside shots, one for the garden and lake; the gazebo, with the oldest and youngest on the tour posing – Phyllis and a young girl; the church the wedding was filmed in; the line of trees the kids were hanging from.

More photos from Sound of Music tour ...

We were back in Salzburg for lunch in old town, and then took a taxi to the airport to pick up the car around 4:00 pm.

We drove to Zell am See ("am See" means “on the lake”) via Route A10. We stopped on the way at a church and cemetery for photos.

Rock sculptures:

More photos on drive to Zell am See ...

We arrived in Zell am See at approximately 6 pm. The hotel was very good, but parking was tight. The car could not fit in front of the hotel, so another guest moved his small car to the front, and Paul parked in his spot in the back. Paul had to move it after 9 pm and park in the cook's spot until morning.

There was a festival just down the block from the hotel. We walked around, listening to the music and browsing the food stalls and various other stalls with things to buy. We always appreciate local festivals and street markets.

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Watch video in a large window

Thu, Aug 2: Drove the Grossglockner Road to Heiligenblut, Austria

Hotel (1 night): Landhotel Post

We drove the Grossglockner Road ("longest and most splendid alpine highway in Europe"). It is Route 107, into Hohe Tauern National Park. The road ascends to 8,490 feet, with 47 hairpin turns.

We ate lunch overlooking the Alps, at the top of the pass.

We stopped to view the Pasterze Glacier.

It took 6 hours to travel 36 miles, including numerous (like every turnout) photo stops, some short walks, lunch, and a break at the Glacier.

More photos of Grossglockner road ...

We arrived in Heiligenblut late afternoon, a very picturesque village in a narrow valley.

More photos of Heiligenblut ...

Fri, Aug 3: Drove to Innsbruck, Austria

Hotel (2 nights): Hotel Innsbruck

It rained in the morning. We drove through picturesque country to Krimml Falls.

Then stopped at Krimmler (or Krimmlr or Krimml) Falls (the highest falls in Europe) at 1,247 feet high, in three stages. We walked up to the bottom of the lower falls. We ate lunch overlooking the base of the falls.