Americans in Austria

It's been a long week and I'm sick but tonight I decided to have a beer after catching up on all the email I missed while I was in training all day. And naturally I decided on Stiegl, one of my favorite discoveries when we were in Salzburg. This made me realize that I never blogged about our trip to Austria... so here we go (note: I lack brain power so pictures will do most of the recapping). 

Our first stop in Austria was Salzburg...the birthplace of Mozart, a huge well-preserved fortress, a Mecca for fans of "Sound of Music" and puppets (no really - there was a puppet museum in the fortress). Most of our time here was spent just pal-ing around and checking out various sights and the fortress. A highlight was definitely Getreidegasse, a famous, very old street. 

Festung Hohensalzburg overlooking the city

First encounter with puppets

Getreidegasse - famous street where every store has a wrought iron guild sign.

Even McDonald's...

Sweet view from the fortress

We took a side trip to Stiegl Brewery where we discovered a new beer that we are very fond of. One of my favorites was the Ratler which is half beer, half fruit soda (I got grapefruit but their lemon is also sublime). Definitely a terrific afternoon that was topped off with a quick boat ride up the river. 

Trip to Stiegl Brewery. 

Super yummo

We're on a boat! 

After a day and a half in Salzburg, we took the train to Vienna. We very much enjoyed this city but I think it got a bit of the shaft since it was the last stop. Our legs were so friggin tired by this point that it hurt to walk at all. Plus I was exhausted from not getting much sleep in Salzburg (damn church bells rang every 15 minutes all night long and kept me awake).

A few highlights of Vienna were St. Stephen's Cathedral, Hofburg Palace, the museums, and naturally the Sacher Torte! Unfortunately we did not get to see the Lipizzaner Stallions but maybe next time.

Anddddd that's all I have to say about that... once again the beautiful and lovely Vienna gets the shaft because she was last in line. 

St. Stephen's

Hofburg Palace - a portrait of extravagence

Couldn't move after a trip to a museum... so we just hung out in the grass.

Sacher Torte!

This finally concludes all the recaps of our trip. Now we just have to start planning the next trip! I think we are definitely going to go back to Oktoberfest next year - too much fun not to - then maybe Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, who knows? So many possibilities!