Vienna, Day 1-Nov. 8
Amanda and I spent 2 days at my house with my family in Helsingor before leaving Copenhagen for Vienna. We left at 10:20am and arrived in Wien at 12:25pm. We then took 2 trains to the hostel, which was a Wombats hostel near the main train station. It was such a nice hostel. We checked in around 2:30 and got settled in our rooms then went out for a walk around the city. We saw the library, some museums, and some gorgeous buildings at night with all the lights. Then we got hungry and got delicious albeit expensive pizza then went to bed so we'd be ready for our busy day.
Vienna, Day 2 - Nov. 9
We woke up at 8am after a somewhat restless night, as there were many people out and about and coming in and out of our room. We had a nice breakfast of bread, cheese, fruit and coffee at the hostel. From there we took a train and walked to Belvedere Palace, which houses a huge collection of art, including Gustav Klimt's The Kiss, one of my favorites. After we saw the paintings, we walked around the grounds and took photos. Then we walked to Vienna's famous cathedral, St. Stephensdom and went inside and shopped a bit in the area nearby. We wanted to go to Hofburg Palace, the imperial palace in Vienna, but it cost money so we didn't go in. We walked by the famous Opera house and took the appropriate photos, then went to a little place near the hostel for schnitzel! Before we left for our train to Salzburg, we had to go grocery shopping to get food for the rest of our trip, in case there was no breakfast provided, or to serve as a substitute for other meals. Our train left Vienna at 6:44pm.
Salzburg, Day 3 - Nov. 10
We checked in late to our hostel (JUFA Salzburg - a great place) the night before, which is always confusing, but again we had a nice person who helped us. That morning we woke up and had the best breakfast at the hostel to date, then took the bus to the stop for our Sound of Music Tour! Amanda said this was the best decision we had ever made and I tend to agree with her. We visited Mirabell Palace (Do Re Mi), Leopoldskron (Lake in the back of the Von Trapp house), Hellbrunn (gazebo/ actual house), Lakes and Mountains District ( Untersberg, Wolfgangsee, Mondsee and the wedding church--where we ate apple strudel also). It was an amazing experience! After that finished, we walked around Salzburg and saw more of the sights, including the Mozart bridge (Do Re Mi), Nonnberg Abbey and the cemetery where the family hides from the Nazis. We also saw people setting up for the Christmas markets which were unfortunately going to open a week after we left. We ate pretzel sandwiches and walked/took a bus back to the hostel. I loved walking around the city and seeing the mountains. I fell in love with Salzburg and I'd go back in a heartbeat.
Innsbruck, Day 4 - Nov 11
We woke up and had breakfast then caught the 8:50 train from Salzburg to Innsbruck. We could see some amazing views of the mountains and hills of Austria from the train. Austria is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been I think. We got to Innsbruck at 11am and started off by walking around the town. Actually, that was what our day essentially was. We saw the Golden Roof, completed as a royal residence in the 1450's. There are so many cute streets and we walked up and down them all, being constantly amazed by the giant snow-covered mountains surrounding us. We went to the Imperial Palace and gardens and relaxed while we watched some old men play chess. At about 3pm we stopped for some Italian food for lunch/dinner, and it was expensive (but comparable to other prices we saw) but delicious! We visited St. Jacob's Church and took some photos near the river and mountains. Overall, I took WAY too many photos of the Bavarian Alps, but I really couldn't help it because they were amazing. Our train to Munich left at 6:36 and we arrived at our Wombats hostel around 8:30pm to find that Amanda and I weren't in the same room. But it was okay, as we were right next door.
Munich, Day 5 - Nov 12
We woke up and had breakfast. It was a strange morning, as I had to wait ages to use the restroom and change and the like, and Amanda and I were in different rooms, but again it was fine. I read the Kite Runner while we waited for our "free" walking tour to begin at 1. We took our tour and it was so great! Our tour guide was a little insane, but obviously passionate and highly knowledgeable about Munich and Bavaria. We visited the Glockenspiel, Hofbrauhaus and the site of the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, among many other sites. We even got a full lunch of bratwurst and soda for €5, and it was sooo good. It was "free" but everyone was expected to give a tip which varies in amount based on the city and how well you think they did. At that point I was out of money so I gave a €5, though in Munich, since it is a wealthy city, the cost of living is high and I should have given more like €10. After wandering around a bit on our own we came back to the hostel to wait for our night train to Berlin. However, it was only 6:30, and our tour guide walked in and saw us all bored and asked us up to the bar to hang out with him and a few others from our tour. So, we ended up talking to 3 guys from Liverpool for like 3 hours. They were Neil, Phil, and Dom, and we had some interesting discussions about US policy and music and lots of other things. Neil and I got along best, Phil was really cool, and Dom was quite drunk and belligerent, particularly about US healthcare. At 9:30 we headed to the train station and caught the nachtbahn to Berlin. I slept pretty well actually, considering.
Berlin, Day 6 - Nov. 13
We arrived in Berlin at 8:43am, dirty and hungry. We found the hostel and were offered breakfast since it was included! Then we asked if we could have access to the shower because there was no way I was walking around Berlin feeling that icky. We caught up with another "free" walking tour and saw the Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust memorial, Berlin Wall memorial and "Checkpoint Charlie" among other places.
Our guide was no Ozzy from Munich, but it was still good that we went on the tour. After that we got bratwurst again for dinner and headed back to the hostel where we talked to an Aussie guy and some Finnish girls in our room then we had an early night because we had to take a 45 minute train to the bus station for our bust back to CPH at 7:30am.
The whole trip was incredible and I thank everyone who made it possible! It was awesome, but I was so tired and so glad to be home in Helsingor! Next blog, Thanksgiving in Denmark!
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