A Weekend in Salzburg, Austria – September 2014

18/11/201427/08/2015wareontheglobe Leave a comment

The last stop of Eurotrip2014 was Salzburg, Austria! Salzburg has long been on my travel wish list, and I was very happy to travel here!

We rented an apartment in Apartment City, which was a great location just off the Getreidegasse, between the Altstadt and the University area. Gorgeous views from the apartment! In addition to the views, there was a beautiful old church that turned into what appeared to be a drug-fuled, underage rave on Friday…luckily it stopped at midnight, and went right back to a church on Sunday morning! #clubchurch

We arrived on a Friday night, and our first stop was Augustiner Bräu Mülln – also long on my wish list! Augustiner Bräu is a brewery and beer hall, serving delicious, delicious beer and housing a variety of stalls selling food.

On our first full day, we toured all of Salzburg’s best sites, including the Mirabell Palace Gardens, Mozart Square and residences, the Salzburg Cathedral and the Festung Hohensalzburg.

We also stopped for coffee, breakfast and the famous Sacher Torte at Cafe Sacher. The cake was decadent! Bucketlist – check!

After hitting the “must see” list, it was finally time for shopping on the Getreidegasse! The Getreidegasse is a pedestrian-only shopping street abounding with international chain stores, restaurants and tourist shops selling Mozart balls and countless other Mozart paraphernalia. In addition, to shopping, Getreidegasses is quite picturesque, as all of the stores, including the McDonalds, have metal signs displaying a picture of their wares, harking back to the time when the masses were illerate. The street was so picturesque, I returned early Sunday morning to take pictures without the crowds.

My favorite shop on Getreidegasse was a small shop called Spirtuosen Sporer. Sporer is a family-owned liquer store, selling countless varieties of flavored brandy and schnapps – from pine to edelweiss to blackberry – since 1903. We tried a variety of samples and all bought bottles to take home. Plan accordingly, Sporer is closed on Sunday and closes at 5 on Saturday.

Later that evening, we dined at a delicious restaurant – Bärenwirt. his may have been the best schnitzel I had on the trip (close with my Hallstatt schnitzel), and this was certainly our best meal in Salzburg. Our waitress spoke perfect English and was extremely friendly. The mean ended with a complementary bowl of gummy bears!

Our final day (SAD), began with a stroll down an empty Getreidegasse for pictures and then a visit to the famous Cafe Tomaselli for some truly delicious coffee!

After, we set out for what was one of the most fun events of the trip! We walked about 30 minutes to the Stiegl-Brauwelt, or the Stiegl brewery, for a brewery tour! This is truly a great brewery tour and it is one of the best I have ever taken. The brewery also has a restaurant, beer garden and a fabulous giftshop!

We ended the trip on a touristy note by a Mozart dinner concert at the Restaurant St. Peter Stiftskeller. The performance was very good and the location was gorgeous. A good way to end the trip!

I was very sad to leave, but we had a great time in Salzburg!

24 Hours in Hallstatt, Austria – September 2014

15/11/201414/06/2015wareontheglobe 1 Comment

Hallstatt, Austria was our third stop of Eurotrip2014, and Hallstatt was quite possibly my favorite place on the trip! Hallstatt is a tiny village in the Salzkammergut lake district in the middle of Austria, historically known for salt production, and recently known for tourism (and for the knock-off replica in China). I added Hallstatt to our iteniary based on a picture that I saw two years ago on CNN’s travel photo of the day – seriously. Random, but Hallstatt totally lived up to my expectations.

Our trip was quite short – only 24 hours – and it took some effort to get here. Specifically, we left Munich around 1 p.m. and took the train to Salzburg (about 2 hours). From Salzburg, we took a different train to Attnang-Puchheim (about 50 minutes), where we changed again to a local (read: slow) train to Hallstatt. Once at the Hallstatt train station, we took a boat, the Stefanie, across the lake to the town of Hallstatt. This took a grand total of about six hours. Hallstatt was worth it, but the trip can be difficult.

The train/Stefanie dock.

We arrived just as it was getting dark. The boat ride across the lake was beautiful, and I think we all fell in love with Hallstatt on that boat ride. We found our hotel, Gasthof Bergfried, pretty easily, checked in and set off for one of the best dinners of the trip! Note – if you arrive late (like after 6:30) call your hotel and let them know. Hallstatt is very much a morning/day town and most everything except restaurants close at night. We called ahead and our hotel left directions and keys to the room for us.

Now, on to my favorite dinner of the trip! We dined at Gasthof Zauner based on TripAdvisor recommendations. It was delicious. The meal started with complementary bread with two butteresque spreads – a potato-based one and a pimento cheesy one! For mains, I ordered my favorite, the schwineschnitzel, which is pork schnitzel. The schnitzel was so, so declicious here. YUM!! Everyone else got pork medallions in gorgonzala sauce, which was also decision, but everyone agreed that mine was the best! For dessert, we split the famous (and HUGE) Salzburg dessert, the Salzburger Nockerl.

Before dinner, we stopped by the local Spar (a European grocery chain), which must be the best small grocery store in the world! The Spar had a great selection of souvenirs, Austrian candy (including Mozart balls for less than in Salzburg), bacon-wrapped hotdogs and a wine bar with Austrian wine (who knew?!). Yes, a wine bar! I lost Dan for a few minutes, and I found him at the wine bar! The owners were really nice, too!

For our only day in Hallstatt, we woke up early to head up to Rudolfsturm – where my CNN picture was taken! Note, Rudolfsturm is the only lookout point in Hallstatt, but there are several more a short bus ride away. Make sure you know what you are looking for before getting on a bus!

Rudolfsturm is directly above Hallstatt, very close to the entrance of the salt mine (which we skipped). To get to Rudolfsturm, you take a funicular to the top of the mountain.

The entrance is right behind our hotel, Gasthof Berfried, and you can follow the “salt mine guy” (above) to the funicular. To go to the salt mine, continue following the “salt mine guy,” other wise head right up to the Rudolfsturm. Rudolfstrum has an awesome lookout point with great views! For an awesome picture, wait for the tourists to clear out (it will happen!) and take a picture of just yourself at the tip of the lookout!

Rudlofsturm also has a restaurant and outdoor beer garden/tables. When we went the outdoor dining area/beer garden was closed for food due to bad weather, so we just had drinks outside. Prices were pretty reasonable! My attempts at recreating my CNN photo are below! The middle one isn’t bad!

After visiting Rudolfsturm, we walked around town, tried the local Hallstatt Bier, shopped and had a great day!

LOGISTICS

Rudolfsturm

Salzbergstraße 1

4830 Hallstatt • Austria

Phone: +43 (0)6136/8811-0

info@rudolfsturmhallstatt.at

Stiegl-Brauwelt

15/11/201414/06/2015wareontheglobe 1 Comment

On our last day in Salzburg, we took a tour of the Stiegl Brewery! This was such a fun experience, and I am so glad that we did it.

The brewery is about a 30 minute walk from the Altstadt. We used the GPS on my phone to ensure we were on the right track, and the walk was much, much easier that I anticipated. Actually, I had worried about this activity since I started planning our trip. It was very difficult to find much information on the brewery in English on the internet, or in other blogs or travel books. In any case, it worked out great!

We called the morning of and confirmed the time of the English tour, which was at 14:00 when we visited, and I think there is only one English tour a day. Upon arrival, we went into the giftshop and purchased tickets for the tour (€11,00/person). Easy! Before the tour, we had a quick lunch in the restaurant and checked out the grounds, including Stiegl’s own maypole. So cool!

The tour started with a very “euro” 360 movie, proceeded through the making of beer and ended in the Stiegl museum. The tour was great and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves beer, or who is in the area and has not had a chance to tour a brewery, since beer is such a part of the culture in this part of the world. The tour ended with a tasting of three beers of your choice, which equated to a little over a 1/2 liter of beer, and a free gift. For our gift, we had the choice of another beer to take home (in a bottle), a magnet or a lapel pin.

The three beer sampler was served in the outdoor beer garden, where Dan finally got to smoke his Cuban! We left around 16:30, and the entire event lasted about four and a half not-rushed-at-all hours.

LOGISTICS

Sitgel-Brauwelt

Bräuhausstraße 9

5020 Salzburg

Tel. +43 (0)662-8387-1492

The brewery is open on Sunday.

The website seems to have improved A LOT from when I was researching this. I think they may have read my comment card!

Bärenwirt Salzburg

15/11/201414/06/2015wareontheglobe 1 Comment

In Salzburg, we dined at a delicious restaurant a short walk from our apartment – Bärenwirt. This restaurant is just up the hill from the Altstadt on the way to Augustiner Bräu. We walked by this restaurant earlier in our trip, and we were so glad that we returned! Dan and I dined on pumpkin soup, a meat platter, schweinschnitzel and German chocolate cake. YUM!! This may have been the best schnitzel I had on the trip (close with my Hallstatt schnitzel), and this was certainly our best meal in Salzburg. Our waitress spoke perfect English and was extremely friendly. The meal ended with a complementary bowl of gummy bears – so cute! When the waitress saw that we were excited about the gummy bears, she gave us some extras in a to go bag!

Bärenwirt also claims to have “the best friend chicken.” Craig tried it, and he seemed to like it. Growing up in Virginia, it was hard for me to get on board with this. However, it seemed like a valiant attempt.

LOGISTICS

Bärenwirt Salzburg

Müllner Hauptstraße 8

5020 Salzburg

Tel +43 (0)662 422 404

We didn’t make a reservation and were able to walk-in around 8 on a Saturday.

Munich During Oktoberfest – Eurotrip 2014

12/11/201414/06/2015wareontheglobe Leave a comment

The second stop on Eurotrip2014 was Munich, Germany (or München, in German) for Oktoberfest, and just because we love Munich! Munich is the capital and largest city in the State of Bavaria in the South of Germany. Munich (and the whole of Bavaria) has a very specific culture, and is very proud of that culture. Think beer, leiderhosen, pretzels – that’s Bavarian! This was my third trip to Munich, and I was very excited to hit a few places that have long been on my wish list, but that I had not previously had time to visit.

Visiting Munich during Oktoberfest is a beast in itself. Munich is extremely crowded and much of the city is focused on Oktoberfest – meaning some attractions will be closed all together, such as tours of the major Munich breweries, or on certain, unspecified days (to allow its employees to enjoy Oktoberfest with family & friends). Weekends are the most crowded. When we visited, we got stuck walking to our hotel for about an hour while the Costume and Rifleman’s Parade passed. It was cool to see, but very unexpected. Most attractions, aside from the brewery tours, will be open for most of Oktoberfest, so if you keep a flexible attitude you will be fine. Also, hotels book up extremely early (AT LEAST 6 months in advance). We booked our hotel in February. Be guided accordingly. You DO NOT want to be stuck at Oktoberfest without a place to stay! I also recommend confirming the opening hours of all must see attractions, tours, etc. before leaving home and buying transportation before arriving in Munich. Trains, planes and buses book up, too!

Enough warning, Munich is a great city anytime, and especially during Oktoberfest! Per usual, our first stop was the Hofbräuhaus for lunch and beer! Hofbräu is one of the large six breweries in Munich (along with Löwenbräu, Augustinerbräu, Paulaner, Hacker-Paschor and Spaten), and certainly the most famous in the US. Dan is a big fan of the Hofbräuhaus because they have a lot of pork dishes that are not very expensive. Actually, none of the food at Hofbräu is very expensive – its a solid budget option.

We had planned to go shopping after lunch, but all of the shops were closed on Sunday (take note – all shops in Munich are closed on Sunday). Instead, we checked out another famous beer hall, Augusinerbräu, which is also one of the big six Munich breweries. This was my first visit to Augustiner and I really enjoyed it. Augustiner had an atmosphere similar to Hofbräu, but was decidely less touristy. We drank beers, listened to the band and made some new friends. After Augustiner, we went to bed to prepare for Oktoberfest!

Our other non-Oktoberfest day in Munich was dedicated to the city and its history. First up was one of my favorite places in Munich, the Viktualienmarkt. The Viktualienmarkt is a huge, open-air market in the center of Munich. Its open everyday and contains stalls selling crafts, food, wine, beer, candy, you name it. We shopped around for a bit and lunched on traditional Bavarian food & fancy focaccia sandwiches. The Viktualienmarkt is free to visit and it makes for great souvenir shopping and eating!

After lunch, we had a busy afternoon, two tours and the Residenz…ready, set, go! First up was Sandemans Free Walking Tour, which is a free, three hour tour of Munich that hits all the highlights, including Frauenkirche (inside & outside below, including the Devil’s footprint!), and gives a very decent historical overview. I did this tour on one other occasion and it was good both times. You can make reservations online. Also, you should tip your guides!! We tipped €10/person, but thats up to your discretion.

We left the tour after about an hour and a half to tour the Residenz Museum. The Residenz museum is the former palace of the wealthy Wittelsbach family, who ruled Munich for many, many years (huge influence!). There are many rooms and gardens to visit, and you could really spend hours here! We walked through the palace rooms, but regrettably did not see the Cuvilliés Theater or the Treasury. I guess that will have to wait to 2016! My favorite rooms were the Ancestral Gallery and the Antiquarium (below). I also enjoyed the outdoor gardens, which are free!

After rushing through the Residenz, we had a second tour at 5:00 with Mike’s Bike Tours (adjourned from Sunday due to rain…). The tour started at 5:00, lasted about 2.5 hours and visited a few places that I had been wanting to see, namely the Munich surfers and the English Garden. I had heard a lot about this tour, and was really excited to take it, but it was not that great and I do not think I would recommend it or take it again. The surfers were really cool, though!