Before I left America, I loaded my 2 favorite Christmas CDs onto my iPod: Amy Grant’s Home for Christmas and Sarah McLachlan’s Wintersong. Playing in the background right now is “The First Noel” by Ms. McLachlan.  Lovely. Now I just need a glass of vin chaud and this picture of me sitting among unwrapped gifts and sparse Christmas decorations in my toasty and candlelit Parisian bedroom would be complete!

Listening to these sounds of Christmas made me distinctly aware that I have not yet posted about the remainder of my trip to Austria…including my Sound of Music tour in Salzburg!! Humph! I can’t stand for that…even if t’is the season where the sands of time seem to run faster than a Frenchie from a pumpkin pie (the French don’t really like pumpkin…nor cinnamon!). So I am breaking from the champagne swilling, fois gras consuming and bavarde-ing avec mes amis 🙂 to post some of my favorite pictures of my last days in Vienna and Salzburg.

Let the onslaught of photos begin…get comfortable!

VIENNA

Saturday morning at the Naschmarkt.  Over 1.5 kilometers long, this market has been in existence since the 16th century.

This man is a celebrity sauerkraut producer!!

He passed out samples and would fill big plastic bags with a week’s worth of the sour cabbage.  A hot dog lover’s dream :)!

This is Jovan!

He along with his girlfriend, Ala, were my hosts in Vienna (friends of a friend of my Dad).  He was gracious enough to take me around Vienna and show me the market.  He goes to the Naschmarkt weekly for his meat.  I was surprised that he was able to get a week’s worth of different meats all for under 10Euro!

St. Stephen’s Cathedral in the heart of Vienna.

Jovan proposed that we climb to the top of the 850 year old cathedral. He said that it is something that he does once a year…I enthusiastically accepted.  Four hundred and fourty five feet, 6 rest stops and a bit out of breath later we arrived to the top of the tower and a wonderful view of the city. Jovan than proceeded to point out all the major landmarks from 45 stories in the air.  I later learned from my Mom after I returned home, that Jovan is 80 years old.  Incredible!  The above picture was taken on the way up (one of the rest stops…good excuse, huh!?).

The quintessential pre-opera stop: Hotel Sacher for the famous Sacher-Torte.

I added a glass of prosecco :).  I really dug the story of this cake.  It was first made in 1832 by a young sous chef, Franz Sacher, who had to take over an important menu when the chef de cuisine of the Court of Prince Metternich fell ill.  The guests were, of course, important and apparently very picky. He ended up blowing  their socks and tiaras off with this chocolate cake.  It became famous across Europe and America within 2 years time.  Today the recipe is kept secret, is still made entirely by hand and is a major export out of Vienna.  Well played, Chef Sacher!  (As a note, versions of the sacher-torte are made all over town, but only the original is found at the hotel…and  having tried many of the others…the best is also found at the hotel.)

Inside one of the halls in the beautiful Vienna State Opera House.

Breathtaking….and for only 3Euro40 you can order a glass of white Austrian wine to sip while you stand in your elegant clothing taking in the beautiful surroundings before the bells herald  you to your seats for the start of the opera.

Best deal in Europe!

The marble staircase I took up to find my box seats to watch Rossini’s “L’Italiana in Algeri.”

View of the stage and orchestra from where I sat.

All of the well-heeled folks also excited to see Rossini’s comedy.

Great performance.

My assessment of the story: Very complimentary to Italian women….uh, not so complimentary to Algerian men!

Thanks to this little monitor I was able to get an English translation of the opera so I could laugh at all the appropriate parts (although I laughed more than most…I had to keep biting my lip!).  We developed such a good relationship over the 3 hour performance that it even wished me a good evening and invited me to the next performance! Wow!

Walking home from the opera…..

My last day in Vienna, I made one of my childhood dreams come true…I went to see the Lipizzaner stallions at the Spanish Riding School.

This beautiful arena is located right in the center of Vienna…just a stone’s throw from the Opera House (actually, you would have to throw the stone pretty hard and far….but you get it 🙂 )

The royal box.

Inside is a portrait of Emperor Charles VI on a Lipizzaner.  He commissioned the building of this riding hall in 1729.

When the riders enter they always salute the royal box by taking off their hats.  The riders also carry willow sticks for whips…like they have for over 400 years!!

You can’t tell, but in this picture I am plotting my return trip to Vienna.

I went to have lunch on the ground floor of this expressionist apartment building.  It is the design and concept of Friedensreich Hundertwasser.  He wanted to create a more individual and organic idea to urban living…it is complete with a forested roof. As a tenant in one of the 52 apartments you have “window rights”…the right to embellish the facade of your window however you chose.  None of the apartments are the same and some even have trees growing from their windows.

Cool concept to all except for the neighbors….apparently they aren’t keen on their quiet neighborhood being completely overrun by tourists coming to take photos….something the architect didn’t take into account during the design phase :).

Dinner at Figlmueller, famous for their Wiener Schnitzel, with my favorite Wiener couple!

It is impossible to see in this picture, but on Jovan’s suspenders are little mugs of beer and in German it says, “Have a beer!”  Still makes me chuckle.  Ala and Jovan ordered the wiener schnitzel to share….because it was larger than the size of the plate.  I ordered another important Viennese dish…..

Boiled Beef!

It is called Tafelspitz and was the favorite meal of Emperor Franz Josef.  It came with the most amazing applesauce with grated, fresh horse radish to spread on it, as well as savory roasted potatoes seasoned with some spice that I am still trying to figure out.  Our wine was one of Figlmueller’s house white wines called Prälatenwein…which was the best Austrian wine I had my entire stay.  I even brought a bottle home!

After dinner we headed to one of Vienna’s cozy kaffeehaus….

(In this picture Jovan is writing down a list of kaffeehauses for me to visit in Salzburg)

A final glimpse of St. Stephen’s and Vienna at night.

The last thing that Ala and Jovan showed me before bidding me goodnight at my hotel….the oldest church in Vienna, St. Rupert’s church.  Completed in 740!

SALZBURG

I was told one day would be enough in Salzburg…I don’t agree.  One more day would have been perfect. I was completely enchanted by this city.

The following few pictures were my first glimpses and impressions of Salzburg after my 3 hour train ride from Vienna.  It was a crisp night (so cold in Austria!!), but the charm and abundant twinkling white lights warmed the cockles of my heart immediately :).

The Christmas market in Salzburg’s Altstadt.

Mozartplatz with it statue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  The memorial statue was placed there in 1842.  Both of Mozart’s sons were present for the unveiling.  His wife, Constanze, had died 6 months before. Sad.

Ice skating rink!

A booth in the Christmas market….all these ornaments are hand made outside of Vienna, but only available in Salzburg.  The display was amazing.

The sign was true!…and I did coax me to try some on, but, alas, I left all cheap sheep in Salzburg.

Walking Getreidegasse…lots of lovely, tempting shops.  This street is also the address of Mozart’s birthplace home.

Salzburg sits in a valley so particularly during the winter months it is not uncommon for it to be covered in fog.  It wasn’t the best for touring…but added to the magic of my entire Salzburg and Austria visit.

So what sort of touring was the fog bad for, you may be wondering??  🙂

Well, ask no more…it was the highly rated on Trip Advisor, Original Sound of Music tour by Panorama Tours!!

Frankly, I didn’t have any intention of following The Trapp Family through hills that were alive with the sound of music. But the more I read about how the tour was a great way to see some of the lake towns surrounding Salzburg as well as remembered how my family use to religiously watch “The Sound of Music” around Xmas time when it was an ABC special (I use to even set up a tap recorder in front of the t.v. to record all the songs…it was a happy day when I memorized “Doe a Deer”), I thought it would be insane not to take the tour.  I booked the last seat.  Phew!

Our guide was fun and good, but he felt quite bad that he kept pointing out things that the fog inhibited us from seeing (i.e. the gate to the Trapp Family house where Maria in that horrible hat and with a guitar is seen dancing and singing about confidence).  Our first stop was right outside of Salzburg and something we could see, Schloss Hellbrunn.  I don’t remember the history of this palace or if it was used in the movie because we made the stop for another important reason…..

To take photos with the original pavilion that was used in the 1964 film!!

You may remember Liesl and Rolf dancing and flirting in and around this singing, “Sixteen Going on Seventeen.”  After the filming, it was given to the city of Salzburg as a gift. In 1991 the city had it moved from its original set location to here so all the public could view it. However, they had to seal the pavilion doors to the public recently because an 80 year old lady broke her hip while bounding from bench to bench trying to imitate Liesl in the movie :).

This is one of the gorgeous lakes that is about 30 minutes outside of Salzburg, Wolfgangsee Lake.  The summit of the mountain seen on the left side of the picture was were Maria was filmed at the beginning of the film picking flowers.

Our lunch stop was in the small lake town of Mondsee.

It is the home of the church where Maria and Captain Von Trapp married in the film.

Beautiful interior….just one thing to note, the alter was full of mummified martyrs.

Not sure if they are mentioned in the ending credits of the movie :).

I loved the ceiling…hence this photo to share.

Last stop of the 4 hour tour (complete with tunes from the movie soundtrack as well as movie clips) was back in Salzburg at the Pegasus fountain in Mirabell Gardens where Maria and the children enthusiastically sang “Doe a Deer” in the curtain clothes that Maria had made for them.

Ah, look! A unicorn!  I told you Salzburg was magical :).

Trying to get the song “Edelweiss” out of my head, I headed to one of the kaffeehauses that Ala and Jovan recommended to me, Café Tomaselli. I ordered a specialty of the 150 year old, family run cafe, Tomasellium’s Coffee.  It was a mocha with original Mozart liqueur (a chocolate liqueur), whipped cream and almond slices.  The great thing about Austrians is that they love to add alcohol to any coffee drink.  Quite decadent!

Having heard that Mozart also heralded from this town 🙂 …I thought I would get in a visit to his birthplace home (one of two former residences of Mozart in town).  A great stop…and with the free wifi in the house (just like home!) I was able to download the app that gave a room by room tour by typing in the exhibit number. Love technology. This is obviously the kitchen in the home.

This was the one item in the house that really gave me goosebumps…it is Mozart’s childhood violin.

I could almost picture him in a corner of that very room where it was displayed practicing and coming up with compositions at the tender age of 4.  Incredible.

Mozart isn’t only found in spirit in Salzburg.  He is quite literally found on every corner…as a stuffed doll, as a life-sized cardboard cutout promoting a Mozart chocolate (which is hideous!), as a puppet….and it goes on and on.  Here is just a sample of a devoted shop window…the dolls are cute, the mannequin kinda freaky.

My last Austrian indulgence was dinner at the oldest restaurant in Salzburg and central Europe.  It was called Stiftskeller St. Peter and opened in 803 ad.  My experience in this restaurant completely sealed my complete adoration for this town.  Ah, just look at this entrance…it looks like I am about enter some sort of fairy land!

The courtyard was glorious with all it decorations and white lights…and this was just on the way to check in with the maître d.  I had no idea it got even better inside.

I always come armed with my Kindle when I know I will be dining alone.

They sat me in the oldest part of the restaurant called Prälatenzimmer (Prelates’ Room).  Many legends are told about St. Peter’s. Some say Charlemagne dined here and some believe Columbus enjoyed a glass of its famous Salzburg Stiegl beer just before he set sail for America in 1492…I can’t confirm either, but I can confirm Bill Clinton did eat here. His picture is on the wall!

This room was just as warm and cozy as the candlelight and cushy red pillows suggest.

My bread plate with the 3 different spreads and butter made in Salzburg.

Notice there aren’t a lot of other folks around…I went on a Tuesday evening and almost had the whole place to myself.

My plat for the evening was called “Game from ‘Faistenau’.”

My friendly, attentive server recommended it to me.  Coincidentally, ‘Faistenau’ is a venison farm right outside of Salzurg that I saw earlier in the morning on my Sound of Music tour.  Hmmm…wonder if any of the cute deer I glimpsed was now the delightful meal I was enjoying with a glass of Cab Sauv Rose…..nahhhhhhh!

Oh, Dessert!

They called it a chocolat soufflé, but really it was a chocolat gateau…they are forgiven. 🙂  My server paired it with the first “white” port I have ever had.

During and after dinner I went exploring.This is one of the magnificent banquet rooms in the restaurant. It is a rooms that makes you want to invent some sort of event just to bring people to it so they can share its beauty with you.

Prior to my arrival the room had been used for a classical concert and dinner. *sigh* Wonderful.

The whole restaurant (which can hold 750 people) was dressed head to toe in intricate Xmas decorations…like nothing I have ever seen.  This is a photo of the diorama of  Bethelehem at Jesus’ birth that spanned an entire wall.

Like most restaurants, I was the last to leave….I couldn’t stop taking pictures and I didn’t want the evening to end.  But it had to…this is the picture that I took after I left the restaurant and started to head home.

I turned around to get one final glimpse….

The restaurant says, “Blessed are those who enjoy.” I felt very blessed to have enjoyed my final evening in Austria at a place as special as St. Peter’s.

Walking home I was alone in the old streets of Salzburg.  Everything was enveloped in a light fog that gave it a mystical and romantic feeling…I felt transported in time as if I could have been on those cobble stone streets at any moment in their history.  It was a thrill….and Salzburg’s final seduction. It will be with me always.

Austria was an absolute dream….and I can hear the sound of my heartbeat planning its return.