As I write this, I’m looking out the window at fir trees and villas dusted with white. It is snowing outside and forecast to continue snowing for the rest of today and tomorrow. We are in Bad Gastein, Austria.
Matt arrived home on Saturday after a long day of travel from San Francisco. After a quick repacking of the suitcases and a short rest we were off again to catch another flight to start on our vacation. We flew into Bratislava, Slovakia and stayed overnight there before carrying on by train into Austria.
We were only in Bratislava overnight but managed to see a little of the Old Town there in the evening. There was a big Christmas market being held in the main square, packed with locals socialising and drinking warm spiced wine. From the little we saw, Bratislava seemed like a cool city. The pedestrianised Old Town area is very pretty and the food was yummy and very cheap! The results of recent growth and investment were easy to see with lots of new roads and buildings around.
The next day we spent travelling the Austrian train system. From Bratislava first thing in the morning we went to Vienna, made a short stop for breakfast there and then onwards to Villach and then Bad Gastein. The train trip took all day – we arrived in Bad Gastein in time for dinner. It was a very nice train trip with some beautiful scenery along the way. Lots of small villages nestled among the hills and a gradual increase in snow as the train wound its way further upwards, into the mountains. When we stepped off the train in Bad Gastein we were greeted by snowflakes! 🙂
Bad Gastein is a snow resort village that hugs the side of the mountain, stretched up and down on some steep streets. People come here mostly to ski or board and also for its unique spa treatment – soak in the thermal waters and soak in some Radon! It is very picturesque here with the fir trees and villas all covered with snow.
We unfortunately haven’t been snow boarding yet as we were waiting for a day with a bit less snow falling and a bit of sunshine. We spent a day in Salzburg on Tuesday – lots of baroque architecture and Christmas markets lining the streets. Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart and also where ‘The Sound of Music’ is from. I loved searching the Christmas Markets and admiring the hand painted ornaments.
On Wednesday we made a last minute decision to catch a train to Munich for another day trip. After a mad dash up hill to the train station we caught the train and were on the way. Unfortunately Matt came down with an upset stomach along the way and by the time we got to Munich we spent only a couple of hours before going home again. Not a very happy day for Matt! So, we’re taking it easy today and hoping for some good weather tomorrow so we can go snow boarding.
On Saturday we’re off to Vienna (via train again) with an overnight stop there to see some of the sights before we fly home. We’ll update with some photos and more info on the rest of our trip in a few days once we get home and back to decent internet connectivity.
Comment from Mark Brown on 2007-12-14
Great to hear you’re enjoying Austria in the winter – hope you both get some some boarding in before you leave! 🙂
Comment from Mark Brown on 2007-12-14
sorry meant to be snow boarding!!
Comment from Brownie on 2007-12-14
Bah! Go anyway. You never wait for it to stop snowing!