Salzburg

Our first experience in Austria was the incredible view of the mountains that can be seen from the train on the couple of hour trip from the border up to Salzburg. Our second was the crazy taxi driver that was about 500m into the trip to our hotel when he spotted some people giving away free milk drinks, slammed on the brakes, apologised, ran over to them (meter still running), grabbed two cartons of the milk things, threw them in the boot and continued the journey. Upon arrival to the Bloberger Hof hotel, he asked us if we drank milk, then thrust four of the drinks in our hands (presumably as compensation) and sent us on our way.

The Bloberger Hof, amusing name and all, deserves a special mention as it was a fantastic place to stay. When we arrived we were informed that we were in the honeymoon suite. The lady then inquired as to whether we were on our honeymoon, and I think the look on my face would have immediately told her that this was not the case. Nevertheless, it was a very comfotable, large room, equipped with all the necessities of an Austrian hotel: Balcony with amazing view of the Alps, ye olde minibar with bier and schnapps, four post bed with large mirror on the ceiling, everything you could want really.

On our first day out in Salzburg the weather was rainy one minute, rainier the next, but it didn't worry these two brave adventurers, equipped with weather proof jackets, and passes that gave us access to every indoor attraction in the city. So, we started by waiting for the Glockenspeil (spelling?) to sound, signifying to all that it was 11.07am (cmon Austria, a bit of German efficiency please), before heading up to the huge fortress that overlooks the city.

The castle was an amazing series of structures. It is one of the largest surviving castles in Europe, and inside was pretty much exactly like "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" on Xbox, except Nazis with Sten machine guns weren't hiding around every corner, and they probably didn't have a giant robot Hitler in the basement. Still, it was very impressive, providing excellent views of the surrounding landscape, and containing a number of museums in its many rooms.

Other highlights of the day included visiting Mozart's birthplace, ducking over the river to Mozart's house, seeing Mozart's statue, listening to some of Mozart's music, learning a bit more about Mozart's life, eating Mozart's (chocolate) balls, and having pork weinerschnitzel for dinner, which was one of Mozart's favourite dishes.