So this is much overdue but here it is as best as I can remember!
The snow storms in the Eastern US, their flight schedule was pushed back a day so the story starts on Friday February 12th. I got up and took the 8:04 train from Garmisch to Munich anticipating meeting Ben and Martha by the florist at around 9:30am. Well, there was some delays and phone issues, but they arrived and we went for some lunch at the Augustiner Haus and planned our route for the next few days. We had a hard time with the phone and language barrier, but with some remote assistance from "Travel Agent" Tom Ware we got a place to stay booked in Vienna and caught the train(which was quite a nice clean, smooth ride) to the Vienna Westbahnhof and made our way to the Schweizer Pension to drop off our bags. We then went down the street for some dinner and then back to the room for some rest.
Saturday we got up and following Rick Steve's book we got on the tram and did a little self guided tour around the ring loop. The weather wasn't the greatest and we were all a little cold so we made our way to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. We saw lots of coins, paintings, and an exhibit on Vermeer and the Art of Painting. We then visited the cafe at the museum and had a bite to eat before venturing out to walk around and figure out tour times and take some pictures around the city. We went to dinner at a place recommended by Rick Steves. We had yummy things that we shared, as usual, but for dessert Martha ordered some peach schnapps. It turns out that its made by a local man who is somewhat famous for his schnapps. Well, the guy recently died and fell into a vat of the schnapps, so what Martha had was probably some of the last.
Sunday morning we made our way to the State Opera House for the 10am tour in English. The Opera House had been closed for a few days because of a ball that was held there once a year and they explained how the main hall was set up for the ball as well as the intermission rooms, and the normal shows. After that we walked over to the Hofburg Palace and toured the Treasury and then walked up to the St Stephans Cathedral in the center of the old city. After a short rest in the room we went to another Rick Steves recommended cafe, the best in the city, just across from the Rathaus(city hall). We thoroughly enjoyed dinner, dessert, and warm drinks and then headed back to pack and get some sleep
Monday morning we got up early and made our way to the train station and took the train to Innsbruck. We arrived around lunch time and again Rick guided us to another wonderful meal at a place just next to the Golden Roof. After a few(ahem, dozen!) photos of the Golden Roof we made our way up the Stadtturm(Old City Watch Tower) for a beautiful view of the city and surroundings and then to the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum and Court Church with the tomb of Emperor Maximilian I. We then walked to the Triumphpforte(Triumphal Arch) for some more photos then some train station food and the train ride to Garmisch. Ben and Martha got checked in to their hotel near the Marienplatz and off to bed!
Pictures of their whole visit can be found at...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2089586&id=44801562&l=9e492122bf
No comments:
Post a Comment