Today was the day we (well, at least I) had been waiting for. The Original Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg, which takes you to many of the set locations of the famous movie, and also gives you a history of the real Von Trapps and information about the movie. We woke in the original Von Trapp house early in the morning. Our tour started at 9:15, and although we had done the test-drive of getting there the night before, I was eager to be ready to make sure we had plenty of time. I wanted to check-out by 8 to give us time to walk to the bus stop and then remember our way to Mirabellplatz, where the tour started. Breakfast in Villa Trapp is only served from eight, so we had to forgo it ... read more

There's so much that we already love about Innsbruck. From its small town feel to the mountainous backdrop that is visible no matter where you go. It's so stunning here, and absolutely nothing like anywhere in Australia. The first thing we noticed upon opening the windows this morning were the mountains. They quite literally surround Innsbruck in every direction. The cloud and mist this morning just added to the feeling that we had entered a place that we would truly love. When we checked in yesterday, we had organised with the hotel staff that breakfast today would be added on to our hotel charge. After the mishap with rooms it seemed that she had forgotten to transfer that information over. It didn't matter too much, I don't think. They still let us eat, anyway! The breakfast ... read more

For our last day in Vienna before heading on to Innsbruck, we were treated to a beautiful, cold winter's day. A chilly -4 Celsius at the warmest part, it snowed from about 10am and continuing even now as I write this, at 8pm. I believe by the end of the day the snow on the ground would have had to have been at least half an inch. It was cold, but very beautiful to wander the streets amongst the Christmas lights that are still up in Vienna. Today was spent trying to cover as much as we could before we leave this beautiful city tomorrow. We had a plan, and knowing that there was no public holiday and no weekend that could interfere, we were ready to leave nice and early to ensure we got it ... read more

We woke today to a very cold and foggy morning. It reminded me of a morning in Canberra - some fog and you need to rug up on your way to work or school. In Austria, however, that weather was all day. We were even able to stare directly into the sun without it hurting our eyes. After breakfast we went into the hotel lobby to wait our ride to the bus, where our tour would begin. Months ago we booked an all day tour to the Danube Valley (located in the north-east of Lower Austria). Tours run throughout the year, but they change it up a bit in winter, compared to the summer months. The starting point was actually only about a ten minute walk from our hotel, but considering we had already organised to ... read more

It was not a good start to the day, but in the end it turned out to be a wonderful (if not rather boring) New Years Eve. When I woke in the morning, I was horribly sick. I was vomiting every 15-30 minutes. This was not what I wanted on my very first official day in Vienna. We had tickets to a New Years Eve performance at the Spanish Riding School, and then we had plans to see the city and go to a few places. We were going to get a train to the city area and then get a hop on hop off bus to near the Riding School (we have a 6 day Vienna pass, which means we have unlimited access to all the hop on hop busses around Vienna. It was very ... read more