The Cubicle is empty!!!

Where: Salzburg, Austria
When: Friday, Sept. 16, 2005

Travelers always says that if you arrive in a new town and need some company, always head to the nearest Irish pub. More on this later.

We were running a little late this morning. Had to rush through breakfast and got in the lobby for our Bavarian tour that I set up with Bob’s Tour. I found out later that Bob is no longer running the show that he has been divorced and got back to the states about 20 or so yrs ago. His ex-wife took over but kept the name. She eventually remarried to Bruno. But Bob’s tour sounds better than Bruno’s don’t you think?

After seeing some very nice little towns and breweries, that’s been brewing beer for over 500 yrs. We finally got to the Eagle’s nest. This place a present for Hitler’s 50th birthday and it took 3 yrs to build. They had to build a roadway to leadup to the tunnel that leads to the elevator that took you up to Hitlers retreat. All the original building material is still in tack. The marble fireplace that Mussolini gave to Hitler for his birthday has been chipped over the yrs by people looking for souveniers.

The views are what brings people up here. Can’t wait to show the pictures. We stayed up there for about 30 minutes. After touring Eagles nest we went into the town of Bergtesgarten. Had a traditional german lunch of bratwurst, mashed potatoes and sauerkrout. Most excellent. We also had an order of pretzels with white sausage.

After lunch we went back home, while Claudia, Markus tour assitant sang Edelwies and the Salzburg songs for us. She’S a good singer.

Late that night we did go to the Irish Pub as its called and had one to many pints of the Guiness. So, every half hour we had to order chicken wings so we can drink more. It was a fun time. They started out with traditional Irish songs and then switched to more rock tunes like the POLICE!!! This really made my night as one of the bartenders like the Police alot. Maybe more so than me. He was a great guy to talk with but had a very thick Irish accent and I had ask what all the time.

I’m certainly feeling the effects of the Guiness and the cigarette smoke this morning.

Gotta run to breakfast.

Auf wiedersehen!!!!

Where: Vienna – Salzburg
When: Sept. 16, 2005

Travel Day.

Maria and Deanna got up early to get coffee before we had out to WestBahnhoff to catch our train to Salzburg. We packed most of our stuff last night except for toiletries and overnight clothes.

We bid Tina farewell as she has been a gracious host. She autographed my guidebook as her picture was in it. I’ll make a copy of the page and mail it to the author.

There was a little confusion at the train station as I checked the board it said that our train to Salzburg was leaving at 9:34 at Track 5. But I could not locate the car, number 313. So I ask a train rep that roams around the tracks helping helpless tourists like me. He said the train at track 5 is the slow train. I didn’t understand by slow train as it was not painted yellow and it had long cars. (bad humor). Anyway, the train weÄre looking for is at track 7 the faster train to Besl. Which I believe is in Switzerland if I’m not mistaken. They posted the final destination of the train. But they did not post the intermediate stops which included Salzburg. Oh well. We found the right car and the reserved seats.

The ride itself was ho-hum. Mostly flat terrain with quaint villages here and there. It got prettier as we got closer to Salyburg.

We got to Salzburg at near 1pm. We got our tickets for Füssen on Sunday right away, so we don’t have to wait last minute. We then got a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver was very nice as he spoke english very well. He was also very engaging. He pointed out places and gave historical accounts as we headed for the hotel. He mentioned that he had just dropped off 4 people from Wisconsin just an hour ago heading for Vienna. Ok. He then mentioned that he has a brother that lives in GB and that he gets numerous packers paraphenalia(sp) as presents from his brother. I’ll give him a benefit of a doubt here. I didn’t see any packer stuff in his van, which was very nice. A mercedes benz by the way. We were at the hotel in no time and it only cost us 8€. Not bad considering the luggage we have.

The Hotel Weisse Taube is located a block away from Mozart Platz. There’s this guy Moyart again. As we were checking in we booked a dinner & concert at the Hohensalzburg. Which is the castle high above the mountain that overlooks the entire city sorrounding. The rooms are nice and clean as Mary and Don has a great view of the castle from their window.

We took the furnicular to the castle. Very expensive. Will not take this again, I’d rather hike. The view are breathtaking! even though it was in the foggy side, the mountains as you look towards Germany are very impressive. Awesome view. We will be in and seeing the mountains tomorrow on our Bavarian tour. The view of Salzburg is equally impressive. You can really distinguish the old town from the new town. The old town being the “touristy” side of town. The two places are divided by the Salszach rive. This was called the salt river because in the olden days when salt was worth it weight in gold, pretty much all the salt travelled down this river from the salt mines of Bavaria. So, Salzburg was strategic and wealthy as they would tax these salt boats. The fortress built here was never breach in its numerous attempts. But the railway station was heavily bombed during WWII.

The dinner was great food, but the restaurant overlooking the west side of the fortress has a commanding view of the valley to the west and the Bavarian mountians. We had a spectacular view of the sunset.

The concert was great as usual. Everyone thought it was great including myself, considering the location. It was in a chamber that when peering over the windows, you can see all of Salzburg. This will probably be my last concert of this type for a long while. I can only hear of Mozart so much.

We had a great walk back to our hotel after the concert. The streets were void of vehicular traffic with patrons talking and laughing at various cafe’s along the way having their last coffee or beir for the day. The window shopping at night is great as there is no chance of purchase. Whew!

Will have to try that Mozart chocolate tomorrow. See if this Mozart guy is as good of a confectionary as he is a musician!

Having a great time! but miss you all!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Where: Vienna, Austria When: Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005 Mozart! Mozart! Mozart! Today was Mozart. We didn't get going until 11am today. A little tired from last night and recuperating from the beer and wine from yesterday. Drank ... [Continue reading this entry]

Where: Vienna, Austria When: Sept. 13, 2005 After all the hubub last night, we all took it easy this morning. The garbage trucks actually woke me up this morning around 6am and couln't go back to sleep. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Wow Day 9 already. It seems like we just left La-X. Checked the web this morning and the Packers lost 17-3 to the Lions. What gives? The've always have had tough time there and I'm sure they'll right ... [Continue reading this entry]

Where: Vienna, Austria When: Sept. 11, 2005 God Bless to those Americans affected by the events of 9/11. Our generations Day of Imfamy. May those that perished rest in peace. Today we started by going to the high mass ... [Continue reading this entry]

Another wonderfull travel day. Word of caution. If I mispell any words it because I'm having a hard time at this moment figuring the Austrian keyboard. But I'll try my darndest. We left Conegliano a little before six. Vito ... [Continue reading this entry]

Where: Coenglliano, Italy When: Sept. 9, 2005 It was thundering and lightning and really raining throughout the morning and into midafternoon. We all slept in since we had a grandiose time at Leo and Elda's last night. When the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Where: Conegliano When: Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005 Today we all got up around 8 or so. Actually closer to 9. Maria had prepared a wonderfull breakfast with lots of fruits. I played the eggman. I guess somethings don't ... [Continue reading this entry]

Where: In transt from Rome to Conegliano When: Wednesday, Sept. 7 Today was travel day. We're going to visit my sister Maria in Conegliano. We left the Hotel Alimandi early, like 7:45 am. Early enough so Don ... [Continue reading this entry]