Stephansdom (or little Stephen)

This spanish horse looks a little rusty

Grand Hall in the National Bibliothek

Wow - Grand Hall Again

Christmas markets at Vienna city hall (Rathaus)

Schloss Schonbrunn palace gardens

Statues in Schonbrunn palace gardens

Roman ruins - Schloss Schonbrunn

Holy gemstones batman! Vienna Treasury

Chapel where the little boys (Vienna Boys Choir) sing

Lou, choir boy, Rob

Blopp! Beer on the train

Christmas decorations in Salzburg old town

The Fog gives Schloss Mirabell an eery aspect

Rob wearing his awful Christmas pressie (scarf)

The interior of the concert room in Schloss Mirabell

They're playing travel chess, Salzburg

Dead-looking tree, Salzburg Fortress

We had an excellent view of The Fog from the top of Salzburg Fortress

Salzburg Fortress… so that's what it looks like

Frozen lake on the Sound of Music tour

Salzburg Fortress….Tres cool

Hill with frosted trees…...Very tres cool

The Untersburg!

Lou after conquering the cable car ride up the Untersburg

First sighting of snow this trip! Untersberg

The alps, Untersberg

Salzburg old town

Lou was so thirsty at Augustiner Braustubl she had two drinks!

Hitler's Eagle's nest, near Berchtesgaden

Frosted trees! These looked amazing!

The first slide within the salt mines

Rob works on his tan; train ride to Innsbruck

Innsbruck Christmas decorations

Rockstar Rob…………Innsbruck (if only he could sing!)

The Spanish Hall; Schloss Ambross

The golden roof - surprisingly it actually does look golden

The golden roof again. Our hotel is the pink building in the top of the picture; from the Town Tower.

Swarovski wishing ribbons

Lou's new best friend - a ridiculously huuuuuuuge piece of crystal; Swarovski Crystal worlds

Gimme 5! Garden maze; Swarovski Crystal Worlds

On the train again, just can't wait to get on the train again….to Zurich!

Grossmunster by night, Zurich

Zurich's mascot - Lion overlooking Lake Zurich

Lou up the top of the cable car in Zurich

Zurich by night…..so pretty!

Rob looking cold in Zurich - should of used his new, beautiful scarf this day!

CHRISTMAS 2006 - AUSTRIA, GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND

It was a tough decision where to spend the Christmas period this year. Whilst being at home with our family and friends would have been nice it just weren't gonna be this year.

Instead we decided to follow a recent tradition of heading to Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Our good friends Nikki & Paul spent Christmas in Austria for 2005, while Penny and Kris were there for 2004. Thanks to Paul's amazing writing skills and even more amazing attention to detail we decided to base the majority of our holiday plans on their previous year's itinerary and good recommendations.

Click on any of the photos to view larger versions. Or don't.

Day 1: Thursday 21 December 2006 - LONDON

The news all day was about the flight cancellations and delays from most UK airports due to The Fog. Work was not a priority today. We were constantly checking various websites for flight updates and trying to determine whether we would actually get away for Christmas.

Once at Stansted Airport we thought we were the fortunate ones, however just as we were finishing dinner and about to head to the gate, Air Berlin announced the delay (of an hour) to our flight departure. Two hours later we boarded the plane only to sit on the tarmac in the plane for the next hour and a half. So instead of arriving in Vienna at 11.00pm it was closer to 2.30am Friday morning. After a hairy cab ride (think 130km in 80km zone) we arrived at our hotel to check in and crash. Thank goodness for 24 check in at our hotel, the Westbahn Hotel Vienna.

Day 2: Friday 22 December 2006 - VIENNA

The alarm going off at 8.00am that morning was not a sound we really wanted to hear but…….a new city awaited us. So after breaky we hit the town to get lost. Yep, Rob's map reading skillz were all but forgotten until some local pointed us in the right direction.

We walked from Karlsplatz U-Bahn station (pronounced oo-bah-han) up the mall admiring the stores and Christmas decorations until we reached Stephansdom. This is the city's main tourist and 'postcard' attraction. Unfortunately there was mass on so we were unable to explore the cathedral. From there it was to St Peter's, a catholic baroque style church which was pretty amazing. It was interesting to find out some time later that 90% of Austrian's are Catholic (whilst 90% of Swiss are Protestants).

We then ventured to the Burgkapelle (Royal chapel in the Hofburg Imperial Palace) to pick up Sunday's tickets to mass and the Vienna Boy's Choir.

The next location (still in the Hofburg) was the Nationalbibliothek (National Library) which we both think was one of the most extraordinary attractions we have ever seen. The National Library houses the Prunksaal (Grand Hall) and contains the most unbelievable, old, most beautifully preserved books. One in particular dated back to the 5th Century. The hall itself is baroque with paintings al fresco. Amazing!

From the Bibliothek we endeavoured on, first to the Parliament building and then to the Christkindlmarkte at Rathaus (City Hall). The Christmas markets were so fantastic with heaps to eat, drink and wonderful stalls selling all sorts of Christmas goodies. Up the road we took a quick look at (not inside) Votivkirche with its gothic spires and then it was back to our hotel for a quick kip (is a 3 hour nap still considered a quick kip?).

Once recharged we decided to head back to Rathaus to view the markets at night. Very impressive! By this stage we had worked up a serious appetite as it had been at least 15 minutes since we last ate so it was off to a small restaurant off the main mall, 'Frauenhuber' the oldest café in Vienna for schnitzel and local beer. Disaster was narrowly avoided when Rob was saved by the waiter from ordering two alcohol free beers! Phew.

Day 3: Saturday 23 December 2006 - VIENNA

We started the day with a visit to Schloss Schonbrunn for the grand tour and a stroll through the gardens. The Schonbrunn is an incredible palace - once owned by the Hofburgs. They seemed to have previously owned almost everything in Austria. The main female Hofburg was Maria Theresa who was Marie Antoinette's mum and a serious overachiever.

We then visited the Prater which is a big amusement park. All the rides but one was closed. So we jumped aboard the Riesenrad (Ferris Wheel) and took advantage of its view of Vienna on the 20 minute round trip.

As the Stephansdom was closed for mass the previous day we ventured back there to climb the 343 steps (yes, spiral) of the Sudturm (the skeletal spire - despite it's name there was a distinct lack of skeletons). Due to the structural work they were doing the views from the top weren't that great but still worth the climb.

It was then back to Hofburg Palace for a look at the Schatzkammer - the treasury. This place gets the award for the coolest sounding name of the trip. Some of the jewels on display were brilliant. And big!

Day 4: Sunday 24 December 2006 - VIENNA to SALZBURG

Up early today to go to the 9.15am Christmas Eve (morning) mass at Burgkapelle. This particular mass was spoken/yelled in Dutch. The highlight however was the Vienna Boy's Choir who performed throughout the service. We had paid a little bit extra and had views of the choir throughout the mass. Funnily enough, we didn't see any of the actual mass first hand. What we did see was on a TV. The layout of the chapel was definitely not what we expected.

After mass we took a tram ride to circle the Ringstrass which is the main tram track circling Vienna's old town. It was incredible to see just how many biiiig, old buildings Vienna has. One building in particular has the Ankeruhr, an art nouveau clock with organ which goes off on the hour. At midday, life-size figurines circle it like a huge cuckoo clock. It's a tourist thing and quite interesting. Sort of! Maybe if you're a horologist….

As a splurge to ourselves, call it a Christmas present, we bought some Imperial Torte. It's certainly not cheap but very tasty. Yum!

Our train from Vienna departed at 1:30pm. We were very surprised at how much we liked Vienna. The city has plenty to do to keep you occupied and now comes with a Rob and Lou's Highly Recommended Stamp Of Approval For Being a Bonza Good Place TM. Three hours later after leaving Vienna we disembarked in Salzburg. Unfortunately The Fog from London greeted us there and though it was also dark, it added a pretty cool atmosphere to the few things lit up enough to actually be able to see them. After initial concerns that we would be eating the remains of our Imperial Torte for dinner, we found an open Japanese restaurant and gorged ourselves as the thought of another schnitzel was terrifying us.

Day 5: Monday 25 December 2006 - CHRISTMAS DAY in SALZBURG

The morning was spent unwrapping Christmas presents and calling family back home in Oz. After these formalities we strolled through the gardens of Schloss Mirabell and then ventured to the warmth of the palace's Grand Hall. Here we expanded our hoity-toity-ness listening to a Mozart concert sipping champagne. After doing it tough we took a walk to the old town for some lunch. The restaurant we picked had some of the oldest wall remains in Salzburg. It was then a nice steep climb up to the Festung Hohensalburg (fortress) for a look around. The view back to town didn't exist due to The Fog which was a real shame as the postcards of the view look sensational.

Christmas dinner consisted of pizza which pleased Rob.

Rob - "I can't believe the people who invented pizza didn't take over the world. They must have had mad skillz!"

Day 6: Tuesday 26 December 2006 - BOXING DAY in SALZBURG

We started the day with the 'Sound of Music' tour. Quite appropriate for us both given neither of us have even seen the movie. Now however we can watch it and be familiar with the scenery and some of the props. The church where the Captain and Maria get married is situated in a town called Mondsee which was our pit stop for lunch.

Once back in Salzburg we took the bus 25 to St Leonhard which dumps you at the base of the cable car station which whisks you to the summit of Untersberg (1853m). Fortunately for us the weather had changed from fog to clear blue skies so we had gorgeous 360 degree views of Salzburg and its surrounding areas.

We then raced around the old town viewing the Dom Cathedral, the Stiftskirche St Peter, Franziskanerkirche (another church), the Kollegienkirche (University church), Residenzplatz, and the Pferdeschwemme which is a rather elaborate name for a rather elaborate horse trough.

At this stage I think it's important to point out that the best thing about going to any country that speaks German is the opportunity to speak in a very bad Arnold Schwarzenegger accent (interesting - MS Word spell checker actually has Schwarzenegger in it). And when I say speak, I mean talk very loudly. The louder the better in fact. Rob's witty and entertaining accent kept Lou (and anyone else within earshot) amused for the whole ten days. Lou disagrees strongly.

There are two very cool stores in Salzburg, one for each major festivity. We had the "Christmas in Salzburg' store in our sights and got some very pretty, very fragile baubles for next year. The store is three levels with glass baubles everywhere. Definitely not a store a klutz should shop in!

The highlight of our day was the Augustiner Braustubl which came highly recommended by numerous friends. We now vouch for it also. The Augustiner Braustuble is a vast underground beer hall run by renegade monks (under their monastery) where they brew their own and obviously know how to have a good time. The whole concept is very cool; the beer is served in ceramic mugs varying in size which you get to pick yourself. Rob had the litre, Lou the half litre. You then wash the mug in a water fountain and take it to the man behind the bar who fills it for you. The next step is to quaff as much beer as possible and repeat many times. Finally you stumble home along a route resembling Lou's headphones that always emerge from her purse in knot formations that would have a truck driver cursing, not that it would take much to get a truck driver cursing, but you get the idea. The beer hall also has its own food hall with numerous options so dinner and drinks were easy this night. As was Rob after his two and a half litres of beer!

Day 7: Wednesday 27 December 2006 - SALZBURG to INNSBRUCK

After enjoying the 'Sound of Music' tour with Panorama Tours so much we decided to join another of their tours; the 'Bavarian Alps and Salt Mine' tour. This tour took us straight into Germany for a look at Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest' which unknown to us is very close to the Austrian-German boarder. Unfortunately the Nest itself is closed in winter so we could only view from a distance. We also saw where Hitler's old house would was located prior to being blown up into a million itty-bitty pieces. From there it was to the small town of Berchtesgaden where they make chocolates of their skyline, some very beautiful (and tasty) mountains. Then we were off to the salt mine where we got to dress in traditional miners clothes. This tour had it all; a train ride down into the mines, two rides on miner's slides (heaps of fun) and a boat cruise. It was also very informative as it was news to us that salt is mined by water rather than pickaxe or as Rob always thought, teaspoon. Interesting!

Once back in Salzburg it was straight to the train station for some lunch and our train trip to Innsbruck.

When we initially booked our accommodation in Innsbruck we realised that it was close to town centre. What we didn't realise was that the main tourist attraction in Innsbruck 'The Golden Roof' could be viewed from our sun room (not to be confused with our sitting room, or our entrance hall).

Dinner was once again Japanese where we met one of the Innsbruck (ice) hockey players - Carl Mallette - who was a Really Nice Guy.

Day 8: Thursday 28 December 2006 - INNSBRUCK

THE DAY PUBLIC TRANSPORT SUCKED!

We started the day early to buy our Innsbruck card (which gives free admission to every tourist attraction and public transport in town) and then it was all systems go. Our first location was Nord Park where you take a cable car to Seegrube (1905m) which is the base of the ski field. We had considered bringing our boards on this trip and getting some action on the slopes, however once we reached the base here we were thankful we hadn't as there was no snow. It was all very sad!

After missing the first bus back into town, and then the next one to Bergsel we decided to check out the Hofkirche. The Hofkirche is a church with 28 bigger-than-life bronze statues and a huge (empty) tomb.

Just out of town is the Bergsel ski jump where we enjoyed the views and a hasty lunch. The lunch was a quick affair as we had to be down at the bottom for the bus at a particular time. As it is winter the bus was only hourly (absolutely ludicrous idea considering how busy it gets and the amount you pay for the day pass) and we missed it. Rather than wait an hour for the next one we thought we'd jump on the tram that would take us up to the Schloss Ambras. But no, the tram is hourly also and we had just missed it also. Instead we walked the 45 minutes to the Schloss Ambras. Thankfully the weather in Austria had been mild so the walk was easy. We'd never had considered it if there was snow and ice around.

The Schloss Ambras is a fine Renaissance castle with a fantastic amour collection. The highlight of this castle though was its Spaniche Saal (Spanish Hall); a long hall with amazing frescos and portraits. Palaces and castles are always banging on about how amazing their 'main halls' are but in this case it really lived up to the hype. It wasn't the biggest hall we'd ever seen but we thought it was just jaw droppingly beautiful.

After missing the shuttle another time (4th time for the day) and no frequent buses a good 50 minutes after leaving the castle we jumped on tram 6 to go back to the edge of town and then connected with tram 1 to take us into town.

The next tourist stop was the Town Tower which offers good 360 degree views of the city and mountains. Unknown to us until we were on top, it was also opposite our hotel. It was getting dark when we entered the Dom church so it was a little hard to see what the church is famous for. A little disappointing not to see it in its glory but we made ourselves feel a bit better by buying us a belated gift at the (still open) Christmas markets.

Rob had read some good things about a city close to Innsbruck called Hall in Tirol so rather than stay in Innsbruck all night and knowing our luck with public transport could only get better, we caught the bus to have a look at its old town. It amazed us how beautiful the city was and the fact that it had no tourists despite being only 15kms down the road. We could only think that this would have been what Innsbruck had been like pre-tourist. Very beautiful and impressive! We were hoping to have dinner in Hall in Tirol but nothing we found sparked an interest so we caught the bus back to Innsbruck for dinner at a Thai restaurant close to home.

Day 9: Friday 29 December 2006 - INNSBRUCK to ZURICH

Lou had been dreaming about crystals ever since she realised that Swarovski was founded in Austria. It actually started in the small town of Wattens just out of Innsbruck. It was another early start for the 9.00am bus to Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds). The tour has some amazing crystals on display and inside the crystal globe was awesome. Sort of like a being inside a ginormously-stupdendously-humungously-big kaleidoscope. The gift shop was pretty amazing too - it's at the end of the tour and we think it actually takes up more floor space than the actual tour. Purchases were made; it was back to the main train station in Innsbruck for our trip to Zurich, Switzerland. The views on the trip were stunning even if we didn't have window seats.

Four hours later we arrived in Zurich and checked out its old town and walked along the river. No chance of fondue for us as the restaurant we were hoping for was fully booked for the next year or two so we settled for some decent Mexican for dinner.

Day 10: Saturday 30 December 2006 - ZURICH

We started the day with a walk along the main shopping street, the Bahnhofstrasse. This town honestly just oozes money. Kind of glad / lucky that most of the stores hadn't opened yet or we could have been seriously in credit card trouble.

There are three main churches on the tourist trail in Zurich - Fraumunster (with its stained glass windows), St Peterskirche (Europe's largest clock face) and Grossmunster (dual tower). We got our hit of spiral stairs in the Grossmunster by climbing one of the towers for views of Zurich and its lake. After viewing the lake from a distance we decided to take a walk down there and check it out. The lake has swans everywhere and looks quite elegant.

A quick (delicious, awesome kebab) lunch and then onto the bus for the "Zurich and Surrounds" tour. Highlights of this tour included viewing FIFA's headquarters, mansions of really rich people (including Tina Turner), and some more of the old town. We also took a cable car ride to view the imposing mountains and a boat ride across Lake Zurich.

We were a little disappointed the previous night not to have had fondue for dinner so straight after the tour concluded we bee-lined it to the other restaurant recommended to us. Fortunately for us it was early and as long as we ate within a two hour time limit we were accommodated. Lou had never had fondue before and though Rob had; this one surpassed any expectations. It was probably one of the finest meals we had all trip. The cheese was just perfect and so tasty. Much to Rob's annoyance, Lou's couldn't stop saying "I can't believe how good this is". The bread and potatoes to dip were also just so yummy! Great meal, good bottle of wine to go with the cheese; we were in food eating heaven.

We walked off dinner with a trip to the town lookout. The city is so pretty during the day and at night looked so majestic.

Day 11: Sunday 31 December 2006 - ZURICH to LONDON

An early flight meant getting up and heading straight to the airport. After check in we noticed an observation tower. Not expecting much we thought, what the hell, we have time to kill. Anyway, something must have been missing in translation as the observation 'deck' is more like the observation city! It had restaurants, trampolines, kid's playgrounds, old helicopters and planes, great views of the runway, and in summer you can buy tickets to be shuttled around the airport tarmac on a sightseeing tour! It was pretty awesome to be able to check this all out, especially given the high security at airports these days. Then the big nasty plane took us back home to a rainy London!

Overall we had a great trip. We both agreed that Salzburg was our favourite place of the four cities we visited. Although it was pretty full on doing everything we wanted to; we achieved it all and had an awesome time doing it.

The whole trip now comes with a Rob and Lou's Highly Recommended Stamp Of Approval For Being Bonza Good Time TM!