Crossing the Swiss Boarder

Paz made a joke on the road side "Why do we have to do this, we could have done Europe on our backs, but no we have to be moral don't we."Anyway we soon got our next sentimental driver who carried us across the German boarder - we explained that we were South African, which then needed detailed discussion, while the stupid official stood there with our British passports in his hands. We walked over the Swiss boarder (actually we don't know which boarder it was, but at one point I had to ask a driver what country we were in, and yes, it was Switzerland). It was the first time I'd been in three countries in an hour - Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

From Salzburg to Munich, and the end of the Gulf War!

We really had something to celebrate when we got back to Salzburg as the Gulf War is apparently over! I hadn't spoken to friends in Israel in a while but I'm sure they are still waiting for Saddam to pull something from his sleeve. America is stupid to be so proud of a victory, so early. There are headlines on USA papers here saying "How We Won The War". So American!
On Sunday, our last day before we start work, we hung around the hostel - a very friendly, big warm place - we learnt more about Australians here than Austrians - till 3pm. We watched Amadeus, the video, then saddled up and headed back to the castle hostel in Munich/pallach for one night before heading for work the next morning.

From Salzburg to Liechtenstein

Next day we walked around Salzburg and returned to the Palace Gardens where part of "Sound of Music" was filmed. We did laundry and then went walk about in the food market. I bought 1/2 Kg of Sauerkraut for 9 Marks and sausages, which I lived on for the next 2 days. I also developed my photos, 2 spools for an exorbitant 295 Marks ($29.5) The photos were not clear and were small. I have kept the negatives to maybe reprint once I get home. So I resolved to take more photos to make up for the ones that don't come out.
We stayed up in the hostel pub until 12.30am and then tottered off to get the train to Liechtenstein! It is a country/principality between Austria and Switzerland. Our Rabbit pass took us to the Swiss side of the boarder, then in a new currency, Swiss Francs we took the bus into Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein. The train there took 6 hours so we slept on the train and saved on a night's accommodation. We were in a compartment with three obnoxious males who spread like lard across their seats and most of ours.

Photo by Danez

Monk's beer and Innsbruck to collect the post

That evening we sat in the hostel bar with a bunch of Australians. Two of them were twins and looked exactly like Saddam Hussein - moustache and all! We all walked to across the river in the evening to a beer hall run by monks in a monastery. Below the bridge we saw 4 black swans, it was so quiet and beautiful. We had a beer each and got on well with everyone, the Aussies are really nice people.
The next day we went to Innsbruck just to collect our post. I had 5 letters! Paz didn't get any which really upset her, but they could be held up in Athens as the post is having to follow us around. We just got on the train and returned to Salzburg, bought some food and returned to the hostel. We bought a big box of cornflakes for the price we had payed for a bowl at the hostel, and ate our full.

From Vienna to Salzburg, Krens & Polten

Next morning we packed and went to the train station to enquire about train times. The poor information guy was quite baffled when I asked him when the next train is going to somewhere nice, about an hour away. He just kept saying - what city do you want? and we kept saying - anywhere nice. We ended up saddling up and using our rabbit cards to go to a place called St. Polten.

It is a little nothing town, we walked around for an hour than sat at the station pissing ourselves over the bad English in the town brochure. You really know a town has nothing to offer when they include in the tourist brochure that new bicycle stands have been erected, and that the city is the centre for the Austrian Medical Insurance Industry. We did pass one interesting sight - a photo shoot with an ugly girl standing on a brass bed in the street with a brown coat on and holding an umbrella.

So far I have used a camera spool in Greece, Yugoslavia, and another whole one in Vienna and Salzburg. Back on the train we made for Krems - a small town in the Vienna Woods and on the Danube, north of Wien (Vienna). The town was cute with cobbled streets and small shops. Also a church with hourly chimes. We walked miles to the tourist office, to be told that the youth hostel is closed, and the cheapest accommodation was $20. So we got back on the train and still using our Rabbit Card, went to Salzburg. We found a great hostel for $10 and lots of perks i.e. they show Sound of Music every day. So we caught up on some letter writing and had a huge German sausage, Camembert, and watched the Sound of Music.

Photo from Wikimedia

Standing room, Fidelio Opera in Vienna

The opera was "Fidelio" by Beethoven, his only opera. About a wife who dresses up as a man to work in a prison as her husband has been wrongly imprisoned. The jailer's daughter falls in love with the disguised wife. The husband is eventually released and they all live happily ever after. At one point when Mahler was head of the orchestra he reorganized the music of this opera.

It was fully sold out, no student tickets, so I lined up for the standing room. God help you if you don't know the unspoken rules of places like this. There were all sorts of lines, some for students, old people, couples. But there was no shortage, as there were 500 standing room places. That's more than the capacity of some theatres. You pay $2 to be on the ground level, and $1.50 to be on the 6Th level, where you might be able to sit on the steps or spare seats, where as the bottom level is cut off from the seating area so there is no chance of sitting. So I went for the lofty gallery.

You line up with your ticket, then line up at the stairs to get a place allocation, then there is a stampeded into the theatre where you can tie a scarf around the bar in front of you to mark your place. Then and only then can you relax until the performance begins. I did this all then read my newspaper which I have decided to treat myself to once a week. After the overture I slipped into a vacant seat but after the interval the legitimate ticket holders came and so I moved into the isle. Some arsehole, who also had a standing room ticket, came and said to me in German to move down. So I moved down a few steps. Obviously I was in his spot. Then he - in full view of me - goes and tells an usher to check my ticket or something. In front of hundreds of eyes the usher came and checked my ticket. I had trouble finding it. Once I showed it to him he said I had to check my bag and coat into the cloak room area, and then move off the stairs to the standing area. This was all minutes before the second act began.

I ran all over the place sorting out the storage of my stuff, and explaining that my scarf was still tied to the bar, and could I please return there to get it. Eventually as the lights were about to go down I dashed into place, passing the arsehole on my way and only managed to hiss "was that really necessary", which he probably didn't understand. Well that ruined the second act overture for me which was supposed to be the most famous part of the opera. I stood through the second half, and will never do that again. The anxiety. The opera was just something happening, over there, while I was shifting from one foot to the other. I enjoyed the music but my favorite opera so far on this trip was "Cosi Fan Tuti". I rode home on a tram without a ticket, shitting myself that an inspector wouldn't get on.

More Austria on a shoe string

After Mass we went to MacDonald's, for a cheap cup of coffee then it was off the Maria Theresa's(Maria Antoinette's mother) castle/palace. It was yellow with green shutters and extremely large, resembling the palace in the three musketeers. It is set on enormous grounds which include a zoo, fake ancient ruins, monuments, fountains and parks. They wouldn't accept our student card - cheek to deprive us poor students! So we didn't go it, as it cost $5, but instead we walked around the grounds.

About 2 days ago winter suddenly ended. There is no more snow on the ground and a marked increase in the amount of tourists. It will be a totally different experience travelling in the summer. There was still ice on the ponds though, with cold ducks desperately trying to break through to the water. So I took a shot - not a shot shot - of the ducks!

After a really tranquil walk through the woods we descended home, and spent about an hour getting lost on the trams. Then Paz went back to the hostel and I went on to the Opera. I have about $250 left and her money is virtually gone so she missed the opera to save money.

When ever officials are nasty to me I get the impulse to say F off Nazi, but I restrain myself. There is so much unstated, or under stated history in this region. The difference between Austria and Germany, is that Germany has a big chunk of history that it prefers not to speak of, so Austria seems more old-worldy.

The opera in these Germanic countries though , is outstanding!

Photo by Imagelink

Vienna Boys Choir

Next day - Sunday - we went to church - in the chapel of the palace. We saw mass and heard the Vienna Boys Choir. The Mass and ceremony turn me off, but the boys had beautiful sweet voices. However they were very sibilant, they held notes strongly but had trouble with actual words. They sang in about 5 parts. That was one of the unique things about Phantom, several numbers were different people singing different parts at the same time. The boys wore cute navy blue sailor suits, crisply ironed, and little sailor hats. After the show I got another shot of a nutcase dressed as a Roman carrying a sign saying he was the prophet!

Viennese sight seeing

Next morning was a Saturday and we wandered around town stopping at every food place, drooling at the Viennese pastries. We checked out how much it would be to see the stallions performing but it was too much. We ended up back in the palace area, as the rest of Vienna seems dark and dirty. So we went to see the crown jewels. I've never seen such big rocks, and natural chunks of gold. I was surprised to see how much delicate enamel work they used. There were also several relics - a piece of wood, a tooth, a cloth, ornate boxes with gold and silver cherubs on them. These are all worshiped as having been touched by, or having been part of a Saint or Jesus. One had what was supposed to be a nail from the cross. The Catholic religion is beginning to turn me off, and I think a trip through Europe might do this to anyone.
Next we wandered up one of those famous boulevards and went to a famous cake shop torte a traditional Austrian/ Viennese cake of chocolate, delicious but not satisfying. The waitresses were all fat! The coffee house had chandeliers, and was decorated with gold and green walls, and mirrors.
Then it was on to St. Stephens church. It has a mosaic roof and a famous steeple. We just whipped through it really fast, as we have seen a few too many beautiful churches. The two month break of working in Munich will do us good and make travelling and churches seem more appealing. Got some great character shots, but wish I had a better camera. Then we went shopping and back to the hostel. Made ourselves a huge meal of rice, cabbage, garlic, beans and mushrooms mixed together. Then we made some calls home from a call box and off to sleep.

Phantom of the Operaa - Vienna

We enquired about tickets to The Phantom Of the Opera, and were told no chance. No standing room, nothing. We decided to try anyway. On our way walking to the theatre we saw a protest march of about 20 Muslims with signs in Arabic and all chanting Ala Akba - which means God is great, and is the call to prayer and what suicide bombers shout before they blow. Freedom of speech I suppose. We met a very nice box office man at the theatre. There were tickets for $5 standing, that were sold out, and $15 for students, and there were tickets. So we went for it, a little apprehensive about spending so much money, but it was worth it. The BEST I have EVER seen, and I have seen a lot of theatre. Total performance, every aspect perfect. I wish I was still involved in theatre, and it makes me want to never get married, and just devote myself to theatre. The costumes, music, emotional acting, everything, spot on. The production was in German, but it didn't matter, I basically know the story, and the songs are well known. We had front row seats which are normally not the best place to sit but this gave us a great view of the falling chandelier, crashing and swinging over the audience's heads. Because of copyrights, all of the show - set, costume music etc has to be the same where ever it is performed. We went home on cloud 9 speechless. We gushed about it in the hostel common room, but it all went over their heads - low flying intellect. The seats we were in would have cost $87. We are still thinking of changing our money to Marks, because of the Dollar dropping.

The Hapsburgs

We walked through the palace grounds which now constitute the old city. There are many sculptures, archways and hidden courtyards. This is also where the Spanish stallions are kept, the ones famous for dressage. We didn't get to see them performing but we stuck our noses in and saw them practicing in the beautiful ornate enclosed ground. It was like they had taken a ball room and cleared it out to make room for the horses. There is really a lot to see in Vienna.

We next took a tour of the Imperial Apartments where the royal family used to live. The last Hapsburg died 2 years ago. After reading in the guide book, I remembered that I had once been in a radio play about the Hapsburgs. Elizabeth and Francis Hapsburg had 4 children, 3 daughters and Rudolf, a son who committed suicide at 30 and left them no heir. The crown then fell to their nephew who was, I think Ferdinand, who's murder started the WWII. The apartments are beautiful with gold leaf on the ceilings. The dining room has been laid out as if for a banquet, with all the cutlery and glasses.

We have both become enchanted with Elizabeth Queen of Hungary. She has several exquisite portraits, and she was very popular, and married at 14. After her son's death she became a recluse, and Hungary was her only passion, she loved the people and the language, although she was originally from Bavaria. She was assassinated in the end. We were both enthralled reading her biography in the book store when we got to the bit where it describes how she began to travel the world writing poetry and calling herself Tatiana queen of the fairies! We both burst out laughing, realizing that the poor dear must have cracked - lost a marble or two!

Huge Schnitzel, Palace,

At the end of the production we went to dinner in an underground cellar restaurant. We had an enormous schnitzel. We had to have Vienna schnitzel in Vienna. The schnitzel over flowed from the plate and the place was packed. We asked for water and the waiter very gallantly put it down and said "the best water in Vienna!"

The next day we walked into town to the Hapsburg Empire Palace. We entered a large courtyard through four arches. The courtyard holds statues and gardens, on one side is the National library, the building is curved and has pillars all along the side. There is a balcony over looking this enclosed area and apparently it is where Hitler made one of those famous speeches to the masses. Sitting in the courtyard was an oriental man in an orange sarong/sari and head dress. He had a gold Buddha stove in front of him and was beating a thing like a pan made of animal skin. Behind him was a sign saying "peace in the gulf". It was a protest. The sound of the banging could be heard from afar. The buildings here are all so big my camera could not do them justice.

Photo by Leonid Yaitskiy

The Magic Flute in Vienna

Vienna is another big European city, sprawling and dirty. Admittedly on foot I suppose we didn't see it all. We found a hostel near the station and dumped our stuff. There is a locker in the room and a communal kitchen and lounge with some very friendly Australians. In the evening we walked to the National Opera and lined up outside the wrong door for half an hour, then were let into the wrong box office, where they told us tickets were $90. Then we were directed to a line with about 50 people in it. There was standing room available for $2 but we didn't think it was worth the foot pain. Eventually we got to the front of the line and got student tickets for $5. Funny we both left varsity about 3 years ago but are still getting student discounts. So here we were front row box seats, and the people sharing the box had paid $160! The Opera House is much bigger than the one in Salzburg but not as beautiful. It has 6 levels of seating with boxes in a horseshoe shape. I have always wanted to sit in a box seat. We saw the Magic Flute also by Mozart. I preferred Cosi Fan Tuti, but for grandeur and set design this one was better. There is also the famous aria by the queen of the night, clear crisp high notes and top C. At one point I just looked up at the ceiling, listening, it was exquisite. None of the theatres/operas we have visited have been miked/amplified, it is all voice projection and acoustics. The story is a fantasy about the night forces versus the day, and a couple caught in the middle. Long story! Again we left in awe. Not one performer let the show down.

Photo by Leacyy

Rabbit Card

I kept saying"this is only Salzburg, what will Vienna be like, how can it be any better?", I was right, it was not more beautiful than Salzburg. In fact, I found that Vienna paled in comparison to Salzburg. Basically the size put me off. The Rabbit Ticket, actually the "Ferret Card" as the travel guide says, is discontinued. That was another piece of misleading information, as we found and bought one. Under 27's can now buy a Rabbit Card Junior, allowing 4 days of unlimited travel over a ten day period. It cost $59, this saves us a lot of money as one trip from Salzburg to Innsbruck is $59, and we intend to go to Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck. The advert is of a carrot! And the card has a little picture of a bunny and "junior" written on it.

Sightseeing Salzburg, Part 2

We ended up outside Mozart's house, so we went to have a look. The house has of course been turned into a museum, and fitted out in the period of his day. Most of the house has portraits on the walls, of his sister and father and other family members. There was a portrait of his wife Constance and it was strikingly different to the standard portraits of his time. Her hair is short and all messy and mousy brown, when it was the style at the time to wear those big white powdered wigs. The house was 4 stories high with steep stairs and intricate hall ways, that you could get lost in.

We saw an open cheese market, with an enormous cheese cutter, so we stopped for lunch on the steps of a church. Then we went to the Landstheatre, the first theatre in the region. We paid $8 and saw Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tuti". The theatre is the most beautiful I have ever seen. Totally impractical because of the bad sight lines, but exquisite. Gold and deep red decor, a giant chandelier, box seats, horse shoe audience and a proscenium arch. The little lights around the boxes were shaped like violins. The opera was excellent, full of fun. It is a comedy about 2 couples, testing their wives fidelity, by dressing up and presenting themselves to see if their wives would have an affair. The set was sparse and pale colours. We went home culture sated.

Someone once asked us why we are "doing" Europe while we are young, when we should be seeing the harder countries like India and South America, well now I have the answer: the discounts for students and young people are significant - an opera at $8 - unheard of! We decided to move on to Vienna the next day as there is an opera there tomorrow night.

Photo by Italiangerry

Sight seeing in Salzburg part 1

We descended the mountain still in awe, and wandered through a graveyard with very old and very recent grave stones. Some of the grave "stones" were metal. We went into a church, ignoring the lady in a booth demanding a voluntary donation. It was probably the church used in the Sound of Music for the wedding, and Mozart's local church. We again walked into a grand and huge courtyard, where just one street away the lanes become small and quaint. We stopped for lunch in a food bar packed with locals only, and had a real German/Austrian meal of sauerkraut, goulash and a big dumpling, a typical meal here.

In the side of the same mountain as the castle we entered the catacombs, through secret passages and two stone chapels. These were used during the Roman era when Christianity was outlawed. At one time there was a landslide which revealed the chapels. Since the 1600's and till present day, men called mountain cleaners, come every spring and check for cracks in the mountains, if they find any they are sealed up. The tour guide lady used too much dramatic pause, and indicated everything with a flat open hand, while whispering in reverence of the site.


When we exited I spotted a lady in traditional Austrian hat with feather, and and a dog in a jacket, I just had to get a shot of her, so I stalked her for a while with my Instamatic at the ready. I got my shot. We did some essential shopping: camera spools, stockings for when we start work, hand body and face cream and deodorant (badly needed). All in all $23.
Photo from Wikimedia, by Joachim Köhler

Hohensalzburg Fortress

This is the most intact fortress in Europe, it was built between 1300 and 1600 by the Archbishops of the region, who kept adding bits on. There are several different bits as you go up that were gradually added on, like a gate house and the outer walls. I just kept exclaiming - it's beautiful, it's wonderful. It's was just breathtaking, the river, the castle, the white snow with flashes of green showing through and the old buildings. Nothing my camera could photograph could capture and do justice to it's beauty.

At the top we entered the fortress surrounded by walls and there was a large courtyard. One was irregularly shaped and bare apart from a tree in the middle, black against the snow. The branches of the tree were edged in dark green moss, which in turn was edged with yellow, orange glowing reflections of the sun. I resisted taking a photo as the mind can recall it best. It was also completely silent. From the courtyard we walked through an archway to an open balcony - a landing hanging over the city and surrounded by mountains - something out of a paramount movie. There was mist everywhere, especially in a thick line hanging just below the height of the balcony. The black birds sitting on the wall flew away as we approached, onto the fingers of trees a little down the mountain. I waited about 15 minutes to capture a picture of the black bird on the tree, but they had moved on. We walked through the arch way several times just to feel the world opening up at our feet.

The less aesthetic experiences in the fortress were the museum and the genuine chastity belt! We had a tour included in the entrance, and we saw one room with portraits of all the archbishops who had lived there. One had a Mistress as they were not allowed to marry, and he built her a palace in the middle of town and had 16 kids with her. He was later imprisoned by his successor in a torture chamber we saw. It had all the torture equipment, like a stretching machine, and a 6 foot pit to stick people down. There are pillars of red marble only found in this region, one has a hole in it made by a stone cannon ball that was fired into the fortress during a peasant revolution.

We descended the castle still in awe of the castle and city.

Photo by Starbuck77

A first look at Salzburg

Next morning we set of to see the town. We walked up a cobbled street where Mozart was born and lived. They have kept it as original as possible, with even the MacDonald's camouflaged. Every shop has a gilded sign beautifully decorated and ornate. The shop windows are wooden and with thick glass. A lot of shops have the Mozart Kuglen chocolates displayed in the window. There is a sense of good city planning to make everything look part of a whole.

We dashed through cobbled streets and arches with the snow covered mountains in the distance. There are several large courtyards surrounded by national monuments and churches. Horse drawn coaches went over the cobbles and under the arches making that beautiful clipity clop sound.

We discovered that the cable car was not operating so once again we climbed. If there is a hill in a town we will find it and need to climb it! The air was crisp, fresh and icey. I became snap happy taking more pictures than normal. There are lots of steeples and minarets and green copper roof tops. The walk up was very steep.

Photo by [j]t

Arriving in Salzburg

We arrived in Salzburg and I can tell you it is the second most beautiful city I have been to - after Jerusalem - . There is a castle that rises over the city, and a river that flows through the town. It is relatively clean and a digestible size to travel around. We followed instructions, trying to get to a Youth Hostel. Three hours later, trudging around a suburb in the snow we found that it had been closed down. So we were back on the bus sitting side ways on two chairs to facilitate our lumps and humps on our backs. We were actually sitting on the seats in the front for the handicapped and with all our worldly possessions on our backs. We arrived at a hostel and the price was $15, an entire day's budget, but we could not go any further, so we stayed. At least they had free flowing hot showers and a free breakfast.

Photo by Pablo F. Ceparo

Last Day in Innsbruck

There were now 2 Korean girls in our dorm who speak English. I am proud to say I made myself a salad - healthy - and had it with a big German sausage. Tasty! Found a very warm way to sleep in between blankets, not sheets. Postage was incredibly expensive, 3 letters and a post card $5. We showered, them I jumped up to my top bunk and wrote letters.
An idea of our finances:
When we began we were much more penny counting and fiscally minded, but as the prospect of work drew nearer, we began to treat ourselves. And of course having travelled to the land of chocolate, well what can I say. A breakdown of prices:
Train to Munich$18, Lunch $2.50, Apple strudel $2, Underground $3, Pretzels and chocolate $1.50, accommodation $12 - plus I had to buy a Youth Hostel card as mine expired $4. We started with $1500 each, and based on 100 days travel, we really need to find work.
Next morning we saddled up and went down to the station, arrived just in time, bought tickets to Munich and off we go.