Hello 2016!  God I feel old.  And cold.  It will take a long time to get the ice out of my bones after this trip.  Exactly WHY did we decide to go north and east for our vacation?  We left the 27th of December and returned yesterday.  Over 1,500 miles.  Our trip was this:  Torino - Innsbruck- Munich - Salzburg - Graz -Vienna - Bratislava (Slovakia) - Budapest (Hungary) - Zagreb (Croatia) - Ljubljana (Slovenia) - Torino.  They are all rather mixed up in my mind now as they had winter/grey/cold in common.  But there were some really stand-out places.  But may I first say that I have successfully survived 10 days in very close quarters with my husband and 17 year old daughter.  I think I should be congratulated.  I have also discovered there is only SO MUCH sausage and beer one can consume before becoming very bad company.

In Austria we had a half day in Innsbruck and Salzburg, both places I've been before, and 2 nights each in Graz and Vienna, both new to us all.  Austria is gorgeous, pristine, well organized and has amazing museums.  But it's also outrageously expensive and austere.  The people just aren't friendly or helpful.  There is no signage in English unlike Germany and elsewhere.  Though efficient, the people who work in the hospitality business obviously missed the lessons about "Hospitality".  They accept tourism for the money it brings in but they are not pleased!  Austrians remind me very much of the Parisians with their strong sense of nationalism and dislike of outsiders.  So although the cities are stunning, I couldn't warm up to them and don't care about returning.  Salzburg, which I visited almost 30 years ago, has turned into Disneyland.  The beautiful old center has lost it's charm and is jam-packed with expensive boutiques and restaurants, crowds of Japanese tourists and their very annoying selfie-sticks (a subject of much contempt on this trip).  It has been ruined by it's popularity.  Vienna, where we spent New Year's Eve, has the most beautiful architecture I've ever seen.  There is a stop and stare building on every corner.  Though I would love to go back and see some of the multitude of museums I missed, (did go into one Art museum to see a show on Klimt), there are just so many places I'd rather return to.  On New Years Eve there were terror warnings all over Europe so I was a little nervous.  There was a surprisingly small number of police officers in view so either they were incognito or Vienna was not considered a target.  We stood in the square in front of the city hall, (pictures of which do not do it justice. Check it out here.  https://www.wien.gv.at/english/cityhall/),  and watched the fireworks.  A big drunk Russian in a pig hat stood behind us and shook his champagne bottle up before opening it.  It exploded all over his face and our heads.  Ah, the pig hats!  Pigs are the symbol of good luck in the new year in that part of the world and there were bright pink stands selling pig paraphernalia everywhere!  You know I love my pigs!  I resisted and didn't buy a hat or stuffed animal or even a magnet...I did however buy a rum-spiked nog of some sort that came in a pig mug!  The drink was disgusting and cost 10 bucks but the mug goes to Grace's "away to college tea mug collection", so all worth it.  Graz was a pleasant surprise.  I didn't know anything about it before going.  It's the second largest city in Austria and definitely has a grubbier side to it than the other cities we saw.  There is still the prerequisite castle on a hill over-looking a lovely old center and lots of cafes with more beautiful than tasty cakes but it also has tons of sex shops and sketchy areas where you wouldn't want to walk alone at night.  Surprisingly I also found it the friendliest city in Austria but then the people we met were middle-eastern or Greek. 

Salzburg

Salzburg

Ice rink in Salzburg

Shop window in Graz

Pig seller in Vienna


more to come  xxoo me