**Originally published 9 July 2016
In every city so far we’ve walked or caught public transport from the railway station to our accommodation. We worked out that in Vienna a train would mean a couple of changes plus a short walk and cost us about €15 where as a taxi should cost about €20 direct. We decided, for the first time in our 3 weeks away so far to treat ourselves to the taxi. We very clearly told the driver the name of our Pension, The Continental. I started to get a feeling something was not quite right when the meter was heading toward €25 and I could see the Inter-Continental hotel in the distance. Sure enough we were heading in the complete wrong direction and after a bit of a squabble with the driver and €35 later we arrived. It certainly was not the first impression I was expecting but that all changed the minute we stepped in to the foyer. The very smiley and rather attractive gentlemen behind the desk went above and beyond to make us feel welcome, he drew on maps to show us where things were, he recommended local restaurants and cafes and the best part of all, upgraded us from the standard quad room we had booked and paid for to a two bedroom fully self contained apartment! I’m not sure who was most excited, my husband for the fact that after 3 weeks of sharing one room with 2 teens the “special cuddles” drought could be broken or me, because we had a washing machine in the room so I wouldn’t have to spend another 2 hours sitting in a laundromat!
Vienna is a very clean and pretty city. We wandered for hours around the famous Schonbrunn palace imagining the lavish parties and the parliament meetings that would have been held here over so many centuries. We walked through acres of manicured gardens with its regal fountains in awe of the wealth the Habsburg family had built all those years ago. We peaked inside the famous Spanish horse riding school, watched buskers in the park & wandered past opera houses named after Mozart.
We ate at the very highly recommended and famous Cafe Sacher where we paid far too much money, about €60, for 2 coffees, ( Mr O may have had liqueur with his..) 2 hot chocolates and the privilege of eating the Original Sacher Torte, apparently the most highly regarded chocolate cake in Europe. Sure it was delicious but we try not to spend even €50 on a really decent dinner so it certainly was a treat.
Sticking with the food theme, which you’ll not be surprised to hear has been a huge part of this trip and Vienna did not disappoint in this department either.
We ate our weight in Weiner Snitzel, Pork Knuckle and spare ribs and like the rest of Europe so far, washed it all down with more beer.
From Vienna we caught an early train to Salzburg. With time being limited we could only squeeze in one night here which was real shame as it was just so picturesque but at the end of the day it’s all I needed to be able to tick off one of the things that I’d been looking forward to the most. We arrived at 11, dropped our packs at the hotel, grabbed a quick bite to eat and within the hour we were singing Do Re Me & Edelweiss along with a bus load of strangers on the Original Sound of Music tour. As kitschy as it sounds, if you’re even the most reserved fan I’m pretty certain you’d still love this tour. Visiting many of the sights the movie was filmed at including the lake where the kids fall in, the glass rotunda where Leisel gets her first kiss ( I always wanted to be Leisel when I was young!), the abbey where the Captain & Maria were married and the highlight for me, Mirabellaplatz gardens where Do Re Me was filmed. All of the stops were so pretty and exactly as I had hoped they’d be but it was also hearing little stories about what went on behind the scenes and the changes from the real life story compared to the Hollywood version.
So this 4 hour tour not only allowed me to relive one of my favorite childhood films, I also had an absolute blast singing all the songs, seeing the sights and I was able to achieve every parents God given right and really embarrass my kids, now that’s worth the cost of the ticket alone!
Until next time, So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!
wanderlust mum 