The Graham's European Adventure!

Wiping the sleep from eyes on our night train from Vienna we entered the lagoon and St Lucia train station.  Upon walking out you realize we are at a location until now only seen in movies, on videos and dreamed about.  Dragging the roller boards through the maze of pathways considered the Venice streets, bathed in a morning sweat, we arrived at the Boscolo Hotel on the north end of the Jewish Quarter.

Only one night here then we have an AirBNB we will be okay for the time being:)

Registering and dropping our bags we immediately headed for Morano, the island of glass.  What a fabulous ride in a Venice taxi, a handcrafted wooden boat giving you the sensation of a James Bond 007 movie, a shootout with the bad guy is coming soon I’m sure!

With the intense heat it takes to create the beautiful ornate glass pieces, fires were often and devastating.  Therefore the leaders of Venice forced the glass makers to relocate to the small island within the lagoon named Marano.  From here the legend of the most famous glass makers was created, a well deserved distinction as you can see by the glass.

Hunger should never be an issue in Venice, there is something for everyone and if not where you are standing it is right around the corner or just in another alleyway.  We tried to lose ourselves, making haphazard choices sometimes coming to a dead end with the canal in front and other times winding you back to our starting point.  Nonetheless it is worth the chance to explore and see all the history Venice has to offer.  Kellie managed to find something from Venice, an Italian purchase:)

Venice would not be captured without a Venetian Gondola ride.  We choose one origination at the San Sofia station on the Grand Canal.  Our gondolier pushed off into the busy canal just before dusk.  The light on the water, buildings and our gondola was simply amazing.  With the expertise gained in his thirty three years, Jereme’ somehow guided us through the busiest of canals with little to no room between us the walls and other gondola’s.  He was humming a little tune and very informative on the attractions we glided past.  As the sun had set and the lights illuminated the buildings and Grand Canal we arrived back at our departure point, an hour of romantic and beautiful not to be missed gondoliering!

It is late but the hot temperatures of the day have gone away so we made our way back to the hotel leisurely, stopping to admire the various sites, take a few pictures and have one last scoop of gelato before the day ends.

A tour is a great way to get the authentic historical perspective of the sites and the city of Venice.  We skipped the line at the Palace and Doge Museum through our Travelocity purchase in March prior to arriving, a must if you come.  The lines were already long but we were quickly escorted past and into the courtyard.  We took our ‘Secret’ tour through the former prison and the Doge Palace.  It was particularly interesting how they assigned you a position in the government.  If you were the keeper of sensitive documents you were usually illiterate so as not to let out any information, as well as being paid an exorbitant salary so you would have no reason to accept money for secrets.  Of course the famous Casanova was once imprisoned here for various crimes against the state.  It is fabled through his memories that this is where he and a frier escaped from, only to return to Venice as a spy for them this time.  He was a lover not a fighter and not the most upstanding citizen, a disappointment to his family:)

 

We met up with Jamie and Sue Weeks who happened to be in the middle of their Italy tour.  The distinct call of the TBIRD was unavoidable to hear as we sat on the steps of the San Marco tower.  We gained an instant friendship with Brin and Kate Shelly, two Aussies on the same escapades as the Weekser’s.  Famished, we dove into an alley, across one of the thousands of canal stairs and around a corner to a tiny pub serving lunch fare and drinks.  Around a plentiful plate of panini, fruit and a cold beverage, we learned about our new friends and caught up with some old ones.

Danili, Jamie and Sue’s tour guide allowed us to go with them for the remaining afternoon and evening, we were now companions on a group tour going to Lido, Burrano and an exciting dinner.  Hopping off the water taxi from San Marco to Lido we were immediately stunned to see cars and streets on the island.  In Venice neither exist.  A quiet little community where the beaches of the lagoon are located we rested in the comforts of the Weeks hotel room until boarding another water taxi to Burrano.

The island of lace, Burrano is colorful with a multitude of shops to buy the famous lace made on the island.  After haggling a little for price purchases were made, mostly by Sue and we went inside for a wonderful five course meal.  I had the fish, Kellie the Pollo.

A slow paced walk back from the hearty dinner we commented on the colorful architecture and the tower that must have some masterful engineering as it looks a though it will fall over at any moment, leaning to the water with some degree.  A great night spent with new friends and old, an opportunity not missed.

 

What a great day of learning and seeing the city of Vienna.  I inadvertently came upon a tour program here called ‘Vienna Greeters’. It is a program started by one man who wanted city dwellers to take visitors around their town and show them the best of what they know.  We got lucky and had Irene show us around, her English was just the right Austrian/Germain accent to make us feel immersed in her city yet clear enough to never struggle to understand her lessons.

The Ringstrasse is a loop that Emperor Franz Joseph I created after the townspeople became restless with crowded spaces and grew to an uprising.  Being the intelligent and fearful leader that he was it was decided to tear down the town wall to create this circular grand loop.  New buildings in the 1860’s were erected as gifts from the Emperor to the townspeople, it was their money, but it kept the peace.  While all these embellishments were happening he was building himself a new fortification as well for the military.  It could go from the fort to the Palace within ten minutes in full armament, the design of the Ringstrasse with the oversized streets was not by mistake.

One of the first buildings in this famous musical city would be the monument to music,the Vienna Opera House.  Mozart wrote The Marriage of figaro here as well as being the birth place of the Waltz.

The Castle Park was also part of the Emperor’s “giving” to the public.  It was carved out of the original Palace Gardens in the 1860’s, leaving the Paradise Royal Gardens to the elite.  A quiet place in this public park is dedicated to the beloved Princess Elizabeth.  Her story is akin to Lady Diana of recent times, being a youth wife to a stoic and uninteresting Emperor.   He was very sensible which made him unattractive to her as she grew.  He adored her and upon her death erected this monument to her, creating it as a young Princess.

The Sacher Hotel and Cafe gained notoriety due to its location.  Situated adjacent to the Palace meant that those who stayed there and yet dined at the Palace would be able to return for a meal.  You see when the Emperor would invite you to dinner, you would sit according to your ranking in society.  The most important and upstanding officials and townspeople would sit closer to the front, getting served in order.  Unfortunately the dinner would conclude as soon as the Emperor would set down is fork.  You may have just been served and would therefore go hungry if it were not for the Sacher Cafe located in your hotel:)

They too have a world famous cake, I’m not buying it nor is Starbuck’s.  Vienna is a popular coffee house location as well.  You sit for as long as you want extending your conversations until asking for the check unlike America where as soon as you stop eating or drinking you receive your check and the opportunity to leave.

St Stephen’s square is the combination of old and new.  The massive Gothic-style St Stephen’s Church began construction in 1137 across from the 1990 Haas House with its flowing curved glass walls.  The new does not come without controversy and arguments.  Many want to progress others want to maintain the UNESCO flavor of central Vienna.  St Stephen’s Church took over 800 years to build.  According to the plans it was not completely finished due to the fact that over the years styles change, Arch Bishop’s change and the needs of the people change.  Building needs to be on a timeline so that it fits the attitudes and ideals of the current population.

Mozart was married in this church as were other famous Viennese, his funeral was also held here in 1791.  During WWII the stain glass was removed to salvage the historic colors and cuttings.  The allied bombing took out this location so you will see that only the main alter area has original stained glass from the 1400’s.

During the dreadful time of the Black Plague taking over thirty percentage of the Viennese population, these beautiful ornate columns were dedicated to the gods for saving those who remained and hopefully protecting them from the inevitable return.

Death occurred here by humankind.  The Jewish population was confined to this quarter and then led out to camps on trains leaving very few remaining to rebuild their heritage.  The two monuments placed here are that of books facing out, giving you the sense to read the stories of those eradicated as well as a famous writer and poet who penned the plight of the oppressed.

Michael’s Square is dominated by the Baroque Facade of the Hofburg Palace.  Coming to this horse-drawn carriage cobbled center was by way of the Palace pathways.  Winding through the various buildings that were built by each succeeding Emperor and President you can see the time period and architect attitude with each addition.

Within this square during a renovation a Roman outpost was discovered.  This disappointed the bank doing the excavation as all construction ceased and the remaining Roman ruins saved as a window to the importance of the guarded outpost as an important crossroad in the mid 1200’s.

Riding Schools are throughout the city of Vienna as are the fabulously built churches.  Each riding school existed to train and build the military horse.  They were strong and sturdy horses, trained to defend themselves and their riders during a military battle.  Our hotel now owned by Marriott was the Imperial Riding School located just outside the original walled city.

It was said that as the armies tried to destroy all artifacts in Prauge the one in the Franiskirch of Mary would not release his axe, the Monks had it bronzed as a symbol to their power.

Old Town architecture is intriguing and beautiful.  Our guide Irene let on that the ledge we see is the original building from the early centuries housing the merchant on the ground floor and the residences the floor above.  In the 1700 and 1800’s the third and fourth floor additions were brought about as the towns grew.  Because of regulation, both architectural and safety, that is as far as they could be built.  In the 1900’s the attic spaces were converted to living quarters.  You can easily tell the difference between aristocracy, middle class and the peasant population with the store front images down a narrow street.

Had a great dinner at an outdoor venue in the middle of a hospital where they have a few restaurants and a local brewery.

While we have been using our feet to traverse these cities our little NIKE doggies get tired so we are well versed on the subway/tram.  Learning makes traveling more efficient:)

As we took on another day, we are traveling to Linz and then going back to Munich and finally on to Salzburg.  We have been to both beautiful towns but wanted to reconnect and enjoy them once more.

We had such an awesome travel mate today. We caught the 9:30am train from Prague Hlvani to Linz HBF and then on to Munich tonight. Settling into our carriage we were assigned a private room for six. Kay was a Professor of Bio Chemistry in lower Czech, Bohemia. She had immigrated to Scotland after WWII to avoid the rise of communism. In her words the Americans were so close and her family and countrymen wished so much that they had traveled the last 175 km to Prague rather than the Russians. A history lesson well taken from the perspective of an amazing woman who made half of our five-hour trip seem instantaneous. We were sad to see her leave, making a smaller train connection but not before she invited us to come visit her one day writing down the address in her own pen.

The expanse of the Czech Republic countryside is not unlike other European countries. It varies in tree species, farmland and little towns dotting the rolling and distant hills.  Once our guest left our train car we played a little music and gazed out the window.

Linz is a quiet little town on the Danube River.  It is just a quick stop for us today and I’m glad that was our choice.  With train travel you are restricted to the town centers and outlying sites and scenery is left to car travel.  No matter we found a few things to occupy our two plus hour excursion before we need to train it to Munich.  The Linz Castle is on the only hill surrounding the town offering a birds eye view of the sprawling city,  but other than that to us it had no other redeeming qualities.  Plain and matter of fact it was closed so no chance to see the real jewel I’m sure.  We enjoyed walking the narrow streets outside the pedestrian zone that was also home the easily used tram system just ride 1, 2 or 3 from the HBF to old town center.  We happened upon an authentic cafe and bakery that sold us a Linzer Torte.  It is the oldest ‘cake’ in the world, mentioned by name as early as 1653.  That might be quiet true as they put it into a beautiful box and said it will keep for two months unrefrigerated, it might be close to the twinkie theory.  I will taste it later:)

We were helped at the OBB station getting our tickets by Stefanie would along with so many others are the most helpful to us.  Not sure if we look lost often or not, I think we know what we are doing but perhaps the panic face goes undetected to us.  Another fast train to Munich, Railjet 66 are so comfortable.  We unfortunately got on the part of the train that was going on to Innsbruck rather than Munich so at the next stop we prepared ourselves to quickly jump out onto the platform and rush down five cars to the correct wagon.  Wunderbar!

Munchen HBF is a large station but we easily found our Ansfarht (Exit) out into a rather seedy neighborhood to the Marriott Courtyard.  It was evening so checkin was available.  I asked him how to get to Marienplatz, he replied you go to room and freshen up, then I will get you to center in a quick ten minutes.  Not sure what he meant but I guess all day of riding trains and walking narrow cobble streets makes you look disheveled:)

Working on adding to our mileage (average ten mile per day so far) as we were close for the day, against Kellie’s need for safety we trotted to the center of old town Munich in the evening dusk.  The center had thinned out but still bustling with tourists we went by many of the sites and straight on to the biergarten district.  No trip would be worth it unless you got to see the Hofbrauhaus.  I had a stein of Dunkles beer and warm Bavarian Apple Strudel while Kellie simply a cold still water to quench her thirst.  We slowly made our way through the lights of the old town and retreated to our hotel telling ourselves we would not be in a hurry to get up as this was the second late night for us.

True to our word we slept longer than usual so hurriedly ate breakfast and packed for the later train ride that day.  A very filling breakfast with just the right amount of options including berries, juices and a block of bees wax to dribble sweet fresh honey onto your bread or oatmeal.

Not having much time we took advantage of the 11:00am Glockenspiel doing its daily traditional story telling after the chimes of the hour.  With marionette music filling the square, the top characters have a joust ending in the death of one while the bottom story is of a dance to bring fresh vitality to fearful dispositions at the time of the plaque.

Once the rooster crowed three times we veered off to experience the marketplace so full of vendors and their various wares.  I of course got a local sausage, we purchased a small hand full of local cherries and split a juice of erdbeere (strawberry), orange and banana.

The train system is so efficient, we have learned how to get on and off as well as in and out of these stations.  Some are modern others ancient, certainly a people watching locale.

When you arrive in Salzburg it has a sense of music…probably because of the famous Sound of Music but it also is the home to Mozart and they really promote that throughout the town.  We have been here before so we do not want to retrace much of what we have accomplished.  Walking about town it is difficult not to cross over SOM sights, the beauty to your eye is so true and must be captured in a photo.  You feel so inclined to break out the selfie stick and document the view.

A trip to Salzburg would not be complete without a trip to the Augustiner Brau.  Upon arriving its unimposing frontage, a simple door with a Monk symbol above, we entered behind a man singing hymnals and the church bells ringing.  A sure sign this is where we belonged for the evening:)  Sliding down the stairs you turn right or left and order the Austrian food of your choice, we choose schnitzel and a tomatoe mozzarella salad.  Next up you go to the cupboard and grab your 1L mug, rinse it in the washer and throw it to the drafter for the finest beer in Salzburg.  We found a seat with an older couple, it was especially crowded, where a language barrier existed.  We had a great conversation which led to the gentleman trying his English to let us know Salzburg and our table under the shady chestnuts, is the best place around.  He was certainly proud of his country.

We finished the night with a slow walk down the glacier melt Salzach River.  Back to our to our 10 mile day:)