Vienna was where I got up to, so...We stayed about 8 miles from Vienna, but we were right on the train track, so we got the train in. Really nice trains, Austrian trains are. Lovely things. Oh, while i'm talking of trains, saw this, may me laugh a bit. Don't know if Whit reads this thing or not.
There is loads and loads to see and it is a very beautiful city. Austria on the whole was absolutely top notch. A country that has it all I would say. Here are some of the buildings...
It was pretty cold here, so we both went to H&M and bought some hats. You may have already seen these, if not, they will be popping up in some photos. I also bought a coat as someone seems to wear mine all the time because she didn't bring one!
They have a lot of horseys in Vienna, and are famous for the Lippanzer (I think that’s how you spell it) horses which are brown at birth then change colour to white. They use them in the Spanish riding school, and after hearing really interesting things, thought it best to go. We went to see them at what they called "morning exercise with music" and basically it wasn't that great. Unless you like paying EUR 12 to see horses being trotted, it was OK, but too expensive. In the evening shows they do some crazy dance moves with them and I thought that we would see this, but we didn't. This is them...
Here's just some other horseys...
Having a lot of horseys therefore means a lot of horse poo here and there. That isn't a problem at all. But come on pigeons. What are you playing at?!
Mental note. Never kiss a pigeon!
Here is one of me with some high flying big shots in Austria.
We did have a couple of drinks in Austria too which was pretty good stuff...
It also must have been fashion week too, because we saw this outfit which I think screams classy!
Also, to keep you on the edge of your seats, there have been a few funny signs spotted and photographed in Austria, so these can be your treat for reading through this thing...
Oh, last one in Vienna now. Becky rather took a shine to what I can only imagine is one of their M.P's..
From Vienna, we then headed west slightly towards Salzburg, but the couple that we met in Budapest said that they went to Lake Attersee and thought that it was beautiful, so as we were literally driving past it, we stopped here for a bite to eat and a little leg stretch. It was very lovely.
We got to Salzburg, and the site was probably one of the most expensive we have stayed at even in the off peak, so we made the most of being here and went into Salzburg straight away. We were 3 miles away and had a brilliant bike path all along the river to get us into the city. Austria didn't let us down with Salzburg. It was another quality city. It was much smaller than Vienna, but totally unique. It seemed that nothing was there, but behind the first row of buildings everything was then set back and had a really nice atmosphere. There was some massive festival thing on with a big old beer tent which wasn't planned by us, so we made use of this. We decided that our dinner tonight would consist of junk food and beer. It started with a giant pretzel/strudel thing...
After this we thought that climbing up to the castle would then deserve us more junk food. This was the fellow we wanted to get too...
We got to the top and had some brilliant views over the city...
So. We got to the bottom and hit the beer tent. It was pretty awesome and very unexpected. We sat here for a while, drank beer and ate Sauerkraut with sausages, which is awesome stuff. Here is the beer lady. We asked for a photo and she went to take one of us. We said "no one of you," she said "me???" we said "yes, you?"
Good old Helda!
This is what the beer tent looked like. The ooompa looopa band got everyone singing along and standing on the tables by the end. It was very good.
After enough beer, we then went via a chocolate pretzel shop but decided that I had to have my photo taken with this little dame...
A 100 mile drive took us too...
Munich, Oktoberfest! After all the stupid sized beer throughout Europe, we get here and my lord of all tankards...
They're bloody massive. Anyway, they are...
Nice Jugs! Sorry Becky! This was literally one of the craziest things i have ever seen. The amount of people is ridiculous. The bands are brilliant. The food is awesome. After 3.30pm I have no idea how you are supposed to go if you haven't reserved a seat as everywhere we went was absolutely packed. We had enough time to get about 3 litres of beer inside us then stumble around. There is also something probably quite similar to that of Michael Jacksons Garden in the area round there...
Here are some photos of us drinking and generally at the Beer Fest...
So. Oktoberfest in Munich was officially our last night out. We were heading on our way home and made the 500 mile drive from Munich getting to the Hook of Holland an hour before we set sail. It was a bit close at one point when I had to get under the van various times to sort out the same problem as last time, but this time it was made worse because I think that it was the local spot where all the trams urinate and didn't have a fresh smell about it! I think I was in the "get the van fixed" zone that I managed to be distracted by how foul it really was! We are both now back in England. The most surprising of all is that we have got back to England without one single call to Mr Breakdown Man, so I think it is time to whoop and cheer for the good old battle axe that has been sporting his orange and white coat all around Europe...Mike! Bravo.
Right, as a treat for reading through this post and all the others, the grand finale will be these...(I just hope I haven't made it too big a build up for it)
