This year we had the opportunity to experience yet another European vacation. Chander had a business conference in Amsterdam. This was his second conference, first being in Oct 2019 when I could not tag along because of other commitments. This time I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity. Thanks to COVID and the remote work culture, it is much easier to work remotely.

We decided to take a week off after the conference and tour Austria. Not sure why I picked Austria (I think it was mainly because the weather in April would be a little tolerable) but I am so glad I picked that country. This was one of the best European cities I have visited.

🌷Amsterdam 🌷

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We spent a week in Amsterdam, the capital of Netherlands, known for its extensive canal system, architecture and nightlife. Chander was my tour guide the weekend we landed and was busy at work rest of the week.

Our stay was at the Innside by Melia. It was conveniently located right outside Zuid station (6 minute train ride from Schiphol airport and 12 minute ride to the city center). It wasn’t one of the best hotels I’ve stayed at but I would probably stay there again. Proximity to the station, nice shower, gym, breakfast, prompt service (we asked for a tea pot and ironing board and it was delivered within a minute of asking for it). Another hotel in the same vicinity to consider would be Element by Marriott. It is a little bit of a walk from Zuid but is a much nicer neighborhood with a mall and lots of eating places.

Keukenhof Gardens

Since it was Tulip season, we visited the Keukenhof gardens, popular for tulip fields. We bought the 3-day Tulip Festival Card which gave us access to all the key modes of transportation to get around the city, reserve a seat on Bus 858 with non-stop round trip service to Keukenhof and skip the entrance line at the gardens (the line can be very long). We had lunch at the garden cafe. The spinach burger was amazing and everyone seemed to order the Apple Pie. We did not order a slice but could see that it was very popular. Wear comfortable shoes as the garden is pretty extensive and theres a lot of walking to be done.

Sightseeing

Spent Sunday doing touristy stuff. Highlights were :

A-DAM Lookout : 360º Amsterdam views, a sensational swing ride on the roof (I did not dare to sit on this). It is Europe’s highest swing. You swing over the edge of the tower at a thrilling height of almost 100 meters above the ground

Python Bridge : Its a bright red pedestrian only bridge in the shape of a serpent. Connects Sporenburg and Borneo Island, was built in 2001 and won the International Footbridge Award in 2002

City Walking Tour : We don’t enjoy going inside museums but do appreciate the architecture and grandness of the European buildings. Central station and De Gooyer Molen windmill were interesting sights. There are endless neighborhoods with narrow alleys, canals lined with 17th century houses, cafes and boutiques.

Red Light District: Trip to Amsterdam will not be complete without visiting this neighborhood. Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands but not on the streets. That’s why prostitutes in Amsterdam stand up behind a window and have their own room. The name of “Red Light District” comes from the red neon lights that highlight the 300 windows where women are working.

Public Transportation in Amsterdam is great. You can get to any corner of the city using the rail and bus network

We had lunch (Carrot soup and Salmon sandwich) at Exki Nature’s Kitchen at Centraal station and dinner at A-Fusion

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🏛️ Austria

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We decided to visit 3 cities in Austria : Salzburg, Hallstat and Vienna. Since we were traveling from Amsterdam, the most efficient (and cheaper) route was to fly from Amsterdam to Munich and take the train to Salzburg. There are at least 65 trains that go from Munich to Salzburg. We decided to purchase train tickets on the spot just in case there were flight delays.

🎵 Salzburg

When I picked Austria, I did not know that the movie Sound of Music was shot in Salzburg. That was a pleasant surprise and got me really excited.

We stayed at the H+ Hotel in Salzburg. I would highly recommend this hotel. It is right outside Salzburg Hbf. Tons of buses leave from this location to get to city center. Great view of snow covered mountains from the breakfast room

Allocate a whole day to tour Old Town Salzburg and wear comfortable shoes. Everything is within walking distance and there is something to see at every nook and corner of town on both sides of the river. My top recommendations are Mirabell Palace and Gardens and the High Salzburg Fortress.

Mirabell Palace and Gardens : The palace was built in 1600s. Gardens are accessible to public and beautifully maintained. On a clear day, the view from the North end of the garden is quite amazing with the the gardens leading up to the Fortress. This is where Do Re Mi from Sound of Music was shot

High Salzburg Fortress (Hohensalzburg) : is a large medieval fortress sitting on top of Festungsberg at an altitude of 506 m. Take the funicular to the top. On the way to the Funicular is Cafe-Restaurant, a cute and popular food place. Its like dining in a small garden. The veggie burger was quite amazing. The weather in Salzburg is very moody. Heavy rainfall, wind and sleet for 5 mins and then bright sunny, then warm for 5 mins and rinse and repeat. The fortress consists of various wings and courtyard. Views from top are absolutely breath taking.

Other Interesting Sites : Love lock and Mozart footbridges, Old Market Square (Alter Markt), Salzburg Cathedral (Salzburger Dom), Chapter Square (Kapitelplatz), Saint Peter’s Cemetery and Catacombs, Franciscan Church (Franziskanerkirche‎), Horse Bath (Pferdeschwemme)

We dined at Zaffran Indian restaurant. It wasn’t a planned choice but I am so glad we stumbled upon it. The food was just outstanding. We ordered Palak Murg, Paneer Masala, Methi Naan and Garlic Naan. The waiter served as a complimentary special Chai Pana Cotta which wasn’t listed on the menu. Two other nights we dined at Mr Wen Asia Food. Was just quick Asian food.

Trip to Salzburg / Austria would not be complete without talking about the Sachertorte, a dense chocolate cake with dark chocolate icing. Chander and I are both dark chocolate lovers. Upon reading great reviews of the Sacher Cafe, we decided to pay a visit and try out the cake. The cafe was very nice but the cake did not live up to the reviews.

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🧂🏔️ ⛷️ Hallstat

This town is a MUST-SEE. We took a day-trip from Salzburg. You can take the bus or train. Either way you have to change buses or trains. We decided to go via train as the layover time for train was a little relaxed than bus (5 mins vs 1 min). Made reservations in advance through the ÖBB website (national railway system of Austria). Some parts of the journey allowed us to reserve seats and other parts were open seating. You don’t need to reserve a seat unless you are going in peak season.

Salzburg to Attnang-Puchheim is a 50 min ride (reserved seating) and Attnang-Puchheim to Hallstat is 1.5 hour ride (open seating). Theres free wi-fi on the train but its best to keep your gadgets away and enjoy the countryside scenery on the train ride. The view of the town as the train approaches Hallstat is a sight not to be missed. The town is like a gem in the middle of snow covered mountains. Take a ferry from the train station to town.

We actually took a little detour by getting off at the next stop Obertraun to visit Dachstein, a ski area but it was closed at that time of the year. So, we took a bus back to Hallstat (the bus frequency is not that great). We ate fish and crispy friend chicken salad at Schirmbar Hallstatt (I would not recommend it). We were lucky with our next eating stop. Simple169. We had a a delicious squash soup and flatbread.

We started our exploration by taking the Salzwelten funicular railway to get to the Hallstat Skywalk viewing platform. The cable car runs every 15 minutes and takes you to the top station in about 2 minutes. You can also hike up the Salzberg.

As we walked around town, we saw a salt mine tour. Not knowing what to expect, we decided to go for it. Apparently its the oldest salt mine in the world. You have to change into special attire before starting the tour. You enter through a tunnel and go underground 400 meters. The salt mine has different levels and you have to use wooden slides to go between levels. The slide is pretty steep, just like a roller coaster. Chander took the stairs after he heard me screaming as I was sliding down. The tour is pretty long (almost 2.5 hours) and is exhausting but totally worth it.

Spent the rest of the day walking around the town, visitng small shops, took the last ferry back to the train station and headed back to Salzburg. It was hard to take our eyes off the view of the town when the ferry was headed back

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Berchtesgaden

Our next day trip was to Berchtesgaden, a city in SE Germany, bordering Austria. Its an hour bus ride from Salzburg. Eagle’s Nest (aka Kehlsteinhaus) a popular tourist attraction is located here. It is a Nazi-constructed building erected atop the summit of the Kehlstein and was used exclusively by members of the Nazi Party for government and social meetings. Today, it is open seasonally as a restaurant, beer garden, and tourist site. The road to Eagle’s Nest was closed during our visit but we still decided to take the bus ride to Berchtesgaden as it was highly recommended on Trip Advisor. The visit was totally worth it.

We arrived at the bus depot, cabbed to Lake Königssee and took a boat ride. West side of the boat is the best place to sit as you get to enjoy the beautiful scenery. One thing that I did not like was the commentary in the boat was German. There was no English translation. If you like hiking, there are several trails to explore in this area. We were short on time so we spent time around St Bartholomew’s Church and walked the short trail along the lake. We took the boat back and bus to city center.

Lunch was burger, sweet potato fries and a large beer at Bayerische Küche. The fries were just too good and I finished the whole plate. My body just became too lethargic after that. But Chander had a plan (as always). He took me through these narrow lanes, nooks and corners, steep hike to a high point where we saw a the Kalvarienberg chapel

Since my food was still not digested, Chander took me on another hike to Kirchleitn Kapelle. There were several people by the church all engaged in different activities. Some painting, some sleeping, some playing. Seemed like a popular relaxation spot

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Vienna

We chose to stay at Hotel Am Konzerthaus (Hotel at Concert house). It was a nice hotel but the gym was too congested in terms of equipment placement. During our stay, we were the only two people in the gym in the morning but there was no place to stretch, put a yoga mat. Vienna Marriott would have been a better choice. Both hotels are pretty centrally located with everything being within walking distance. Vienna’s public transport is amazing. The four main forms of transport are U-Bahn (subway), Schnellbahn or S-Bahn (local train), Straßenbahn (tram) and Autobus (bus). Vienna works on an honor system with no ticket barriers / ticket checks. Its best to buy a ticket because there are undercover agents monitoring and you can be subject to heavy fines.

There are five clusters in Vienna : PRATER, BELVEDERE, SCHÖNBRUNN, RING, HOFBURG We covered four of the five.

Day1:

We had lunch at Bahn Mi, a Vietnamese street food restaurant. The Pho and BahnMi sandwich was fresh and flavorful. Once our stomachs were satisfied, we started our exploratory journey.

First stop was Schwarzenbergplatz where we saw the Soviet War Memorial, constructed in 1945, commemorating Soviet soldiers killed during WWII.

 

We continued on to Belvedere Palace. We had no idea what to expect and certainly did not expect a palace right in the middle of the city. We were star struck when we arrived at the palace. The beautifully landscaped Belvedere gardens connect, the upper & lower Belvedere palaces and feature fountains, clipped hedges, flower beds.

 

We spent the evening at Karlsplatz (Charles Square). The Karlskirche (‘St. Charles Church’), a Baroque church is located here. Depending on the time of day, you can see a beautiful reflection of the church in the pool. Karlzplatz station is located right around the corner from the church and so is Vienna University of Technology. Kalrsplatz is a popular spot during Christmas with the Art Advent Christmas Market is set up in front of the church. We found a really good eating place close-by called Gorilla Kitchen. I would highly recommend the burrito bowls here.

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Day2:

Started with visit to St Francis of Assisi Church continuing on to UN office. We could have visited the Danube Tower next but decided to save that for the evening as that would be a better time to get blue hour pictures.  We returned towards our hotel and stopped at Stadtpark to see the Johann Strauß monument and walked around the park. 

Next stop was at Stephansplatz. As soon as you get off the station, your eyes are treated to the grand St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The roof is ornately patterned, richly colored roof covered with 230,000 glazed tiles.

We then went to CopaBeach, a riverside recreation area with a sandy beach, bars & restaurants, a skate park & summer swimming. Walked around there for an hour and headed back to Danube Tower to enjoy sunset and blue hour views. Danube Tower is the highest landmark in Austria. Take the elevator to the viewing platform for panoramic views of the city.

Tired walking around the day, we came back to Stephanzplatz, walked around the area, saw the night life, restaurants packed with people, lot of high end shopping stores (was like Rodeo drive in LA or Chicago’s Magnificent Mile). Had food at Akakiko | Sushi & Asian Fusion and retired for the night.

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Day3:

 

Previous day we saw so many people dining outdoors at Stephansplatz that we got tempted to experience the same. We had breakfast at Café de l’Europe. It was a ‘tourist trap’. The food was not good, its the ambience and the outdoor seating experience you pay for.

Our first stop for the day was at Votivkirche, a neo-Gothic style church located on the Ringstraße. the architecture in Vienna is quite amazing. Every building is similar, yet unique in its own way. Rest of the day we spent walking around the Innere Stadt district, appreciating all the government buildings, museums and the grandness of the architecture.

We stoped at Rathaus which is the City Hall building, houses the Mayor’s office. Opposite that was Burgtheater, the national theater of Vienna. Took pictures around the beautifully landscaped gardens, had lunch at Sahara Restaurant  and continued on our way to Justizpalast aka the palace of Justice or Supreme Court. Close-by was the Maria-Theresien-Platz, a large public square with two grand builds facing each other, one of them being the Natural History Museum of Vienna (39 exhibition rooms) and the other was the Art History Museum.

Then we stopped at Heldenplatz aka Heroes’ Square is a public space in front of the Hofburg Palace. The President of Austria resides in the Hofburg wing, while the Federal Chancellery is on adjacent Ballhausplatz. Near-by was Josefsplatz, another public square where we saw the  monument of Emperor Joseph II. Continue to the Mozart monument and then to Albertina museum. It has one of the largest print rooms in the world and 65,000 drawings.

Tired and hungry we went in search for food and decided to settle at a Vietnamese restaurant Pho Saigon Kitchen & Bar  close to Ringstraßen Galerien ,  a contemporary multi-story shopping mall with an upscale collection of stores & cafes. Decided to call it a night after dinner.

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Day4:

 

We started with a visit to Central Cafe, an over rated cafe, with a  loooooong winding line. We waited in the line for close to 45 mins, got seated, looked at the menu and walked right out.

We stopped for breakfast at Ferstel Passage and had a delicious breakfast at BEAULIEU Épicerie fine & Bistrot. In the square outside the building was Easter market. Walked around and saw the beautifully decorated eggs. We landed back at Stephansplatz to get our COVID test done at Apothecary before our flight back to the US. After our test, we wandered around the area and saw lot of people headed towards a building. We just followed the crowd and landed up at the Spanish riding school at Michaelerplatz. Had Thai food for lunch at Patara Restaurant  (was way too expensive and not worth it) and then headed toward Schönbrunn

 

We took the train to Schönbrunn Palace. This was a similar jaw dropping experience as Belvedere. Schönbrunn Palace was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers. We walked through the  sculpted garden space (Great Parterre) between the palace and the Neptune Fountain. There is also a  French garden with a maze. On the hilltop is the Gloriette structure which was destroyed in WWII but has been restored. The Gloriette today houses a café and an observation deck which provides panoramic views of the city. We stopped by the cafe and had a nice cafe latte.

 

 

We came back to Innere Stadt. Since this was a last night, we decided to re-tour our favorite buildings at night and get some night shots. had dinner at In-Dish, walked around the city and went back to the hotel.

 

Our COVID tests came out negative so we knew for sure that we would fly back next day. We checked into our flight and I got the option to upgrade to business class for a very reasonable price. So, I did. Unfortunately Chander did not get that option which confused us as there were several seats empty. So, we decided to go early to the airport next day and try our luck in-person.

At the airport we learnt the reason why he did not get the option to upgrade was that he had  a meal preference in his profile and Austrian Airlines wasn’t accommodating meal preferences. So, we got rid of the meal preference and upgraded him to business class. Had a really comfortable ride back home.

I would move to Austria in a heartbeat if I got a job there. I absolutely love the city and for the first time I felt like I was coming back to an inferior country / city on my return trip.

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