The Sound of Music

After our wonderful day trip to Hitler's Eagle's nest, we took the 1 hour train back to Salzburg which where our Hostel was. North of Berchtesgaden and 150 KM east of Munich, Germany, Salzburg is home to a few main attractions, such as the birthplace and residence of Mozart, Festung Hohensalzburg Castle and numerous places around town used for the famous film "The Sound of Music".

We did not spend much time with the local attractions because both Andy and I needed to prepare to go our separate ways as our 2007 European trip is coming to an end. Andy wants to pursue a deeper cultural shocking experience by going to Africa and I need to head back to Hanoi, Vietnam to see my girlfriend and to help her with the remains of her Canadian Student Visa Application.


Funny, most of our euro dollars were spent on quickly made kabobs and surfing in the Internet cafe as most of the preparation works required access to airline websites, online banking, emails, and using skype to contact the people we needed to contact. Later, at night we would go and check out the local breweries and tried various German-Austrian local made beer and eat bratwurst or Currywurst dinners before heading to bed.

A weekend of memories...

After visiting the Austrian capital of Vienna, Andy and I have made promises to visit our police officer friend Roland in the southern region of Villach. Villach is a mountainous town like Canmore, Alberta residing at the base of many of Austria's Bavarian mountains. Roland has gotten a day off from his work on Friday and we have plans to meet him at the local train station from our morning long journey through the whole country and then into Bavaria. We have spent the day catching up and then eventually drove north to see his sister and his parents who live in the hills in a traditional style Austrian Bavarian house.

Their family were excited to meet us and have given us a place to sleep for the weekend. Over the course of the next few days, we had many exciting things to see such as climbing a couple of mountains, taking a tour on the diagonal mountain train which later took us through 1.5 km into a mountain resembling a hotel-cafe mountain house up high on the plateau. This was indeed a fresh air quiet beautiful area in which the three of us had lunch and celebrated peace and great friendships.

Another day we had a chance to take an elevator up on a very high communication tower which lets people see the whole region and the towns / farmland / mountains the filled the valley views. It certainly felt like it was being on the top of the world. Later after suffering from mild reddish sunburns, we found a nice spot on the beach of a huge lake which provided a refreshing swim and a chance to show off from the swimming diving board into the lake.

Roland's family was great as his mother and father provided us with home cook meals with lots of local food such as cheese and sausage meat. We even had the chance to walk and drive around checking out the marvelous landscapes that made Villach a lively beautiful Bavarian place to live.

It was sure a great weekend of memories and I will never forget the times I have spent with everyone there and got a chance to know them on a personal level. I hope one day that I will have free time to visit everyone again.

Click here to view the pictures from Villach and the southern region of Austria...

The culture of Vienna

Our next stop after Budapest was the lovely cultural capital city of Vienna, Austria. Vienna for many years has been known for it's art and architecture. Andy and I took a local street bike tour around the tourist aspect of the city visiting many landmarks and famous monuments of Mozart and Strausse. During one day we spent a whole day and visited the Museum of Technology which was the home of well known inventions and gadgets throughout history. The coolest gadget that should be noted here was the hearing aid collection showing from previous decades. There was one hearing aid that I should have gotten was the one that was located in a suitcase and the cables ran outside of the box to the ears. Can anyone picture me with this?

Click here to view the Passionate Traveler's photos from the city of Vienna...

For those who don't know much about the city of Vienna, here is a description from Wikipedia:

Art and culture have a long tradition in Vienna, including theatre, opera, classical music and fine arts. The Burgtheater is considered one of the best theatres in the German-speaking world alongside its branch, the Akademietheater. The Volkstheater Wien and the Theater in der Josefstadt also enjoy good reputations. There is also a multitude of smaller theatres, in many cases devoted to less mainstream forms of performing arts, such as modern, experimental plays or cabaret.

Vienna is also home to a number of opera houses, including the Staatsoper and the Volksoper, the latter being devoted to the typical Viennese operetta. Classical concerts are performed at well known venues such as the Wiener Musikverein, home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Wiener Konzerthaus. Many concert venues offer concerts aimed at tourists, featuring popular highlights of Viennese music (particularly the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Strauss).

In recent years, the Theater an der Wien has become widely known for hosting premieres of musicals, although it has recently devoted itself to the opera again. The most successful musical by far was "Elisabeth", which was later translated into several other languages and performed all over the world. The Haus der Musik ("house of music") opened in 2000.

Many Roman Catholic churches in central Vienna also feature performances of religious or other music, including masses sung with classical music and organ.

A variety of architectural styles can be found in Vienna, such as the Romanesque Ruprechtskirche and the Baroque Karlskirche. Styles range from classicist buildings to modern architecture. Art Nouveau left many architectural traces in Vienna. The Secession, Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station, and the Kirche am Steinhof by Otto Wagner rank among the best known examples of Art Nouveau in the world.

The Hundertwasserhaus by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, designed to counter the clinical look of modern architecture, is one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions. Another example of unique architecture is the Wotrubakirche by sculptor Fritz Wotruba.

In the 1990s, a number of quarters were adapted and extensive building projects were implemented in the areas around Donaustadt (north of the Danube) and Wienerberg (in southern Vienna). The 202 m-high Millennium Tower located at Handelskai is the highest building in Vienna[citation needed]. In recent years, Vienna has seen numerous architecture projects completed which combine modern architectural elements with old buildings, such as the remodelling and revitalisation of the old Gasometer in 2001.

Most buildings in Vienna are relatively low; there are currently (early 2006) around 100 buildings higher than 40 m. The number of high-rise buildings is kept low by building legislation aimed at preserving green areas and districts designated as world cultural heritage. Strong rules apply to the planning, authorisation and construction of high-rise buildings. Consequently, much of the inner city is a high-rise free zone.

Source: Wikipedia