Austria in autumn...

I never got around to writing about our time in Austria, so here goes...

Seeing the stage version of The Sound of Music at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne in the early 1960s sparked my interest in Austria. It was the first live show I had ever attended and I thought it was just magical, even though our seats were at the very back of what is now referred to as the 'Grand Circle', but which we just referred to as 'the Gods'. Although of course it wasn't until the film came out in 1965 that I realised just how wonderful the scenery around Salzburg is.

We arrived in Salzburg on Wednesday October 9. It was a very grey day and I wasn't feeling particularly cheerful - not sure exactly why. When we arrived at the station, as usual, we were a bit confused about which way to go. I eventually decided that my sense of direction was so poor that it was probably best to just go the opposite way and ignore what I thought.

We had a productive evening and planned and booked our trip to Abisko - the wonders of the internet and wi-fi. We were a bit slow getting going the next morning, however after a great breakfast we purchased a Salzburg Card each. A lot of cities have cards which offer a variety of benefits. This was the only time we bought one and we found it good value. It included free public transport of which we made good use. It also included free admission to many/most of the city's attractions. Working on the principle of mutually agreeable outings we went first to the cable car Untersberg. The brochure says the summit is at 1776m, although I am not sure what the elevation of the rest of Salzburg is! There was certainly a magnificent view from the summit, although slightly obscured by cloud. (As it turned out the story of our life - London Eye, Montparnasse...)

A view from the summit

And coming back down

We then caught the bus to Hellbrunn - a pleasure palace dating from the late Renaissance. We undertook a guided tour of the trick fountains, which were rather fun, if you didn't mind getting a bit wet!

I

According to an explanatory plaque, in 1991, the Salzburg City Council, who had been presented with this pavilion at the end of the filming of The Sound of Music, decided to restore it and show it publicly in the Hellbrunn Palace Park.

Another bus ride took us to the Mirabell Gardens. We weren't doing a Sound of Music tour although this was the location for the filming of some of 'Do-Re-Mi'...

In 1963, along with the rest of my school music class, I attended Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. I had probably heard music by Mozart before that, but this outing certainly left a lasting impression on me. Although as much as I love the music of Mozart, I didn't feel the need to visit his birthplace or residence, both of which were included in the Salzburg Card.

I had rather fancied a cruise on the Salzach River. However I changed my mind as there was quite a long wait and it was rather cold and the weather looked threatening. We had reached the wharf by crossing the Makartsteg Bridge. As far as I can remember, this is the first time I had seen so-called 'love-locks'.

We then made our way to the Hohensalzburg Fortress which dates from the 11th century. This was our first experience of precipitation since we had arrived in Europe. I donned my bright yellow poncho, which at that stage was my only protection against rain - I bought a parka in Vienna and we both bought umbrellas on our descent from Neuschwanstein Castle, although it wasn't actually raining that day! Anna said she certainly wouldn't lose me, but in general I found the poncho unsatisfactory. If the entry to the fort hadn't been included on the Salzburg Card, we most likely wouldn't have continued. We caught the funicular up to the fortress and set off to explore. If the weather had been better and I hadn't been tired, it would have been fascinating. I am afraid my eyes were starting to glaze over. However there was a good view over Salzburg, even if it was a bit wet and I was a little scared of slipping over. The view would have been even better if not shrouded in cloud.

We decided going back to the hotel was looking good. We dined at the hotel that night and partook of their “Austrian “ menu – very delicious, although still not sure exactly what constitutes “Austrian” food.

The next morning we departed for Vienna – although not on the train on which we had booked our seats, it was running 2 hours late. We got another train that left only 10 minutes later. Apart from a delay just before Hendaye, on the very first day we used the Eurail Pass, thanks to a fallen tree, I think this was the only other “train” problem we had in Europe, although we had a few more in the UK. Well that is except for when we got on the train to Zermatt from Visp, we discovered that although we had seat reservations, the Eurail Pass didn’t cover the fare as it was a private railway. Fortunately I was able to pay by card.

As usual we had booked a hotel very close to the station – virtually just across the road provided you came out the right door. We dumped our bags and used the internet to check the location of the “plus size” clothing stores we had discovered the night before. We set off – as often – in completely the wrong direction. Our problems were compounded by the rain which began falling quite heavily. I was feeling rather damp and dispirited, however spied a station across the road. We purchased 24 hour tickets, consulted our map again and made our way to a shopping centre only one station from Westbahnhof and the hotel. I bought a parka, track pants and jeans, which all proved very useful in Abisko. It was interesting just to see ordinary Austrians out for Friday evening shopping.

By the next day the rain had disappeared and we were greeted by a warm and sunny day. We caught a tram to the Schönbrunn Palace. According to my guide book, the Habsburg summer palace is a grand display of baroque imperialism. However we decided to skip the guided tour and instead explore the Versailles-like gardens which were free. My feet were quite sore. They had got very wet on the previous day – the next day I, well actually Anna, discovered that there was a hole in the sole. So I paid for a hop on hop off transport option and Anna walked. We had arranged to meet at the Gloriette from where there are great views of Vienna. We partook of some delicious food before setting off again to make our separate ways to the entrance.

 

We decided to make use of our 24 hour public transport ticket which expired at 16:25, so we continued our Vienna exploration on PT. This included looking at the outside of St Stephen's Cathedral (we were actually in search of the nearby Manner shop to buy some biscuits!) and gazing at the Danube. We hadn't had the foresight to check out the cruise times, so we scrapped the idea of viewing Vienna from the water as the wait was too long.

We ended up doing some more clothes shopping, this time at the Stadium Shopping Centre. Bought a shirt and jumper but found this in the bathroom interesting!

At lunch time we had unsuccessfully tried to eat at a well regarded schnitzel place, however it would have been a very long wait – maybe something to do with it being a beautiful Saturday. However for dinner we had a huge and tasty Wiener Schnitzel at a pub quite close to the hotel. Went to bed early and prepared to farewell Austria and make our way to Munich.

Exploring Paris - in one day

These last three posts are rather belated. Since we returned home on Wednesday November 20, life has been rather hectic. However there are a few loose ends that I would like to tie up.

We only had one full day to explore Paris - Monday November 19th. So we obviously had to select what we wanted to do. Nevertheless, I am reasonably happy will what we did manage to see.

We were a bit slow getting started but eventually made our way to the Château Rouge metro station. En route, we went past a playground - not sure how many places in that neighbourhood would have had their own outdoor space as most seem to be apartments.

I had always envisaged climbing the Eiffel Tower if ever in Paris. However, at the suggestion of our host Nicolas, we decided to go to the Montparnasse Tower instead. After a short detour via a C&A store, we paid our money and got the lift to the 56th floor. The top floors and the terrace are only accessible by stairs. It wasn't until we got out of the lift, that we realised how poor the visibility was - our sole day in Paris was marred by low cloud/fog! We went around to all the display boards and tried to see the landmarks of Paris. Here are a couple of examples of how little we could see.

Jardins du Luxembourg (with Notre-Dame de Paris in background)

Rue de Rennes

Invalides

Eiffel Tower

We decided that it wasn't worth venturing up the stairs for more disappointing views!

Nicolas had also suggested catching the metro to Trocadéro as there was a good view of the Eiffel Tower from there. So we did that next.

We then walked to the base of the Eiffel Tower and bought our tickets to go on a Bateau Parisiens River Seine cruise. The boat trip was quite informative as it came with a commentary, but as we sat inside it was not great for photos. We originally thought of joining on a hop on hop off boat, but the Bateau Parisiens was the only one running as the river was very high (so we didn't get to see Notre Dame from the water).

Rather liked this view though:-

After our boat trip we thought that we still had things to see...so we caught the metro to Charles de Gaulle Étoile and emerged to view the Arc de Triomphe.

We then set off to walk the nearly four kilometres to the Louvre.

It was very exciting to be walking down the Champs-Élysées...

At about 5:30pm I decided that it was time for dinner - our last meal in Europe. A number of places we saw had been way too expensive and I wasn't prepared to patronise a well-known fast food outlet. However we found somewhere that fitted in our budget and it turned out the food was actually quite good!

Although it was only just past the middle of November, we walked past heaps of Christmas stalls as there was an extremely large Christmas market going on. Also, even though it was a Monday night there were numerous people out and about. We walked and walked, past the Place de la Concorde, past the Jardin des Tuillerie (which was just shutting), and eventually arrived at the Louvre.

We had already decided that we didn't have the time, or necessarily the inclination, to visit any galleries in Paris, or anywhere else for that matter. I love visiting art galleries, but it isn't Anna's favourite occupation and although we occasionally go our own ways, we tend to do 'mutually agreeable activities'! I had gone to Canberra in March 2010 specifically to see the Masterpieces from Paris exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. That exhibition featured 112 of some of the best-known works of modern art from the Musée d’Orsay, but this certainly wouldn't have been Anna's idea of a good way to spend one's (limited) time and money.

I have often heard about long queues for entrance to various attractions. One advantage of travelling in the 'low season' is that queues are usually quite short or even non-existent. On the other hand, not everything is open and the weather is sometimes less than perfect. I just have to think “view from Montparnasse Tower”!

By this stage I realised that I was very tired - it was 7:40 when I took the photo outside the Louvre. We were a bit confused about how to get back to the apartment, but realised that there was almost certainly a metro station close by. There was - the aptly named Palais Royal Musée du Louvre. We made our way from there to Barbès Rochechouart with only one change at Gare de l'Est. From there it was just a short walk to the apartment.

We almost had more time in Paris than planned as we only just made it to the airport on time the next morning. Although I completely unpacked at every place we stopped and successfully repacked, the thought of packing everything for our trip home was rather daunting. As I decided to finish my packing in the morning, I should have got up earlier as we were later leaving the apartment than we intended (but only by about 15 minutes). We walked to Gare du Nord rather than face the escalators at the metro with our luggage in tow. When we got to the station we had trouble getting a ticket - the first machine wouldn't take cards and the others had long queues (something we should have bought the day before I guess). Fortunately the queues at the ticket office were shorter. When we eventually had tickets we made our way to the appropriate platform, but there was no way we could get on the first train. We moved down the platform away from the entrance. However unlike most places we had been where trains are every few minutes we had to wait nine minutes, which actually become thirteen minutes, for the next train. We managed to get on, but sardines come to mind. Actually many people on the train weren't going to Charles de Gaulle but to Parc des Expositions, the stop before the airport. Fortunately we were therefore able to easily alight when we got to the airport. Although we had avoided the metro stations earlier because of escalators, we had to use escalators to access the platform for the inter-terminal shuttle. As I was racing along behind Anna, I made a mental note to never again put myself though such stress. However we got our luggage dropped off and got through security with very little time to spare. No time for breakfast and last minute shopping like at Luton. It was a great relief to find our seats and sit down. The plane wasn't full and Anna and I had chosen a window and an aisle seat with a spare seat in between. As we suspected would be the case, no-one ended up sitting in between us so we had room to move. Had a good flight to Singapore. The plane from Singapore wasn't full either so we didn't even sit together but each had a window seat with a spare seat next to us. (It was a 2 4 2 layout, not 3 4 3 as on the first plane. We had a great holiday, but it was wonderful to get home.

We are in Paris…

This morning started out OK.  We left the hotel at the time we meant to and although the walk to the terminal took slightly longer than the quoted seven minutes, it was relatively straight forward.  I had bought a luggage trolley in Bath, which I had been using for my two day packs.  Today I used it for the cargo bag and just carried my back pack (on my back) which I took as carry on.  It worked well going to the terminal at Luton.  Had more trouble in Paris as the pavement was more uneven and I don’t think I had it positioned as well.  In any case it beats carrying the cargo bag!

There was a slight hick up at Luton as I was chosen to be searched.  The most annoying thing was that I had to take my shoes off.  However a long-handled shoe horn was produced when I asked.  We found a café serving a decent breakfast of which we partook.  We were trying to use up the sterling we had left.  We also did a spot of last minute shopping.

The flight was fine – it doesn’t take long to get from London to Paris.  We eventually got to pick up our bags and made it to the train.  However there was another slight hick up as Anna had forgotten that when she turned off her tablet it forgot the email that was open and she didn’t know the code to get into the apartment where we are stopping, which we booked through Airbnb.  Fortunately Anna had a phone number, so we ended up finding a public phone and ringing the owner, who gave us the code.  It turned out the walk from Gare du Nord to the apartment wasn’t really all that far.  (Another problem was that our mobile phones didn’t seem to be working, although we thought they should.)

The apartment is in a sort of gated community.  The owner lives in the apartment above.  The way to the apartment is another slightly scary staircase, but only on the second floor at least!  This is a view of the garden from the apartment.

After we collected our thoughts and ate the lunch we had bought before we left Luton (I say “lunch”,although it was about 4pm), we set off to explore.  We walked to the Montmartre Hill.  We then actually caught the funicular to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.  This is a view from below.   

We got slightly harassed by two African men – ended up being easier to “buy” the bracelets they’d foisted on us (they were nice bracelets) rather than have a confrontation…

We walked back to the apartment to get ourselves organised for tomorrow's Paris exploration.

Walking in snow…

As I predicted we had a slow start this morning.  However after a delicious breakfast we managed to make it to Cambridge Station for the 11:15am train.  It was sort of a reverse of Thursday – train from Cambridge to King’s Cross and the short walk to St Pancras International from where we caught the train to Luton Airport Parkway.  As the weather was indifferent, we opted to take the airport shuttle bus which goes past the airport hotels.  The hotel is fairly basic but clean and close to the airport!  We are spending our last afternoon in the UK relaxing at the hotel.  We did consider all sorts of places we could go to as this is the last day of our train pass, but decided that relaxing sounded good.  We have to pack tonight for our morning flight to Paris.  We put our packs, poles and other paraphernalia into a cargo bag for the plane trip.

However this is a chance to fill in a few gaps in my blog.

The only snow we have seen in the UK has been on the top of mountains in the distance.  However there was plenty of snow in Lapland and some great places to walk.  I did spend a lot of my time at Abisko talking and planning our UK itinerary, but did venture outside occasionally.

Anna walked considerably further than I did.  I was very happy that she had our fellow Australian Emma as a walking companion for a couple of the longer walks.  Although we had reasonable mobile reception in the area, I felt it was much safer to walk with someone.

One day Anna and Emma walked to the mouth of the river, where it enters the lake, Tornetrask.  I didn’t get far before I decided to return, although I had my second ‘ice encounter’ before I got back to the hostel.  The river was very beautiful.

Where I fell over was only just below the hostel.  Anna hadn’t gone far and came back when I phoned, although I only needed her for moral support and managed to pick myself up.  This is the path down to the lake from behind the hostel.

The next day Anna, Emma and I set off on the ‘The King’s Trail’ (Kungsleden), however I decided that I would return after a short while.  This is what I saw before I turned back.

Sadly the next day Emma was leaving for Narvik, but we decided to go to the Sami camp before she left.

There is a recreation of a Sami camp behind the station at Abisko – the other side of the highway from the hostel.  The buildings form a reconstruction of a typical spring and autumn camp used by nomadic Sami reindeer breeders.  The reindeer have an instinct to migrate between the eastern forests in the winter and the mountains in the summer and the Sami people do the same.  Because of the migrations there has been a need for permanent camps where winter equipment could be stored during the summer and vice versa.

This is one of the buildings

After we farewelled Emma, Anna and I walked to the area from where Friday evening’s aurora photos had been taken.

  

On our last full day Anna and I went for a walk to the lake.  I looked again at the river before we walked on past the scientific station to the lake.

The day we were leaving for Kiruna, the sun came out and the sky cleared.  But of course we did see a fantastic aurora display that night.

A final photo.  This is the so-called ‘Gateway to Lapland’, which was the view from our bedroom window.

Evensong at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge

We decided to catch the train from Nottingham to London St Pancras International Station and then walk the short distance to King’s Cross Station, from where we got an express service to Cambridge.  There was an alternative that cut eastwards from Nottingham, but it was “standard” class and as we have first class rail passes, we have become quite snobbish in our need of the little extras!

This is me at Nottingham Station will all my possessions.

When walking the Camino it is recommended that your pack is no more than 10 kg.  Mine was actually a bit more than that.  It is now considerably more than that!  When we decided to go to Lapland, I knew that I needed warmer clothes so I went shopping in Vienna.  This was an interesting exercise in itself.  I know where to buy plus size clothes in Australia, but had no idea where to go in Europe.  Fortunately a travel forum provided the relevant information.  I also use travel forums to find laundrettes when needed. 

Well on the train to Cambridge we shared a carriage with a gentleman going to a wine tasting and lunch in Cambridge.  He suggested that “The Eagle” would be a good place to have lunch.  We took his advice and Anna found out that it is the place that Watson and Crick announced that they’d ‘discovered’ the “secret of life”, she shook her head and called them ‘brigands’ as she is always disappointed that Rosalind Franklin does not receive the recognition Anna feels she deserves.  We were certainly ready for lunch as we had very little in the way of breakfast and had walked to the centre of Cambridge from our hotel.

One thing I wanted to do in Cambridge was to see the college where my cousin studied for his PhD in the 1960s – Gonville and Caius.  Unfortunately it wasn’t open to the public.

.

Unlike at Oxford, we didn’t actually tour any college in Cambridge (although we walked through Clare College and King’s College, see below), but we did enjoy walking along “The Backs” – the area between the six riverside colleges and Queen’s Road.  There are some picturesque bridges across the River Cam.

I particularly like the look of the “Mathematical Bridge”.

One of the highlights of my trip to Cambridge was attending Evensong at the glorious King’s College Chapel.  It was wonderful to hear the superb singing of the choir.  I have of course seen them on television, but it is quite different to actually be there.

Anna was very keen to go but initially I was a little reluctant as the bus we were waiting for was very late and it was very cold.  However it was well worth going, so I am so glad Anna insisted. 

We plan on having a leisurely breakfast tomorrow morning before we make our way to the hotel we have booked near Luton Airport, from where we are flying to Paris on Sunday morning