Winter wonderland

 "Sunday 1st December 2013"

So today was my last day in Zurich/winterrailing, and what a perfect end.

There was the most wonderful blue sky, and I took myself off into the surrounding countryside for the morning for a meander up to a viewpoint, where I could catch panoramic views across Zurich, and the Lake.

Walking to the top, I had to walk through woods, which were covered in snow.  It was like someone had painted the snow there, it was so thick, but soft and so pretty.  Like blobby icing sugar.

Local families had gone out for the day to go toboganning, which looked an insane amount of fun.

The views were worth it too.

I walked round the other side of the city in the early afternoon, exploring the lakeside, and the opera house, and discovering more Christmas markets.

I foolishly had left all my shopping till Zurich, and realised that the best place to shop had been Munich, lesson learnt.  Switzerland is beautiful, and when I win the lottery I'll retire there.

I love the country and will definitely be returning.

When I got to the airport I discovered something absolutely wonderful...a Lindor hot chocolate bar.
A hot chocolate bar...exists.

These places need to exist far more in the world - oh and I got free Lindor truffles with my hot chocolate.  Such a perfect ending to my winter trip. :)

Diamonds and cheese fondue

 "Saturday 30th November 2013"

Zurich glitters.

There are diamonds everywhere.  I asked to change the 50 note into smaller amounts, and was promptly told that that was standard payment note..wtf!  Who carries around a 50 in their wallet.

The Christmas tree in the centre of the station with its swarovski crystals just glittered.  So much wealth.  My camera was still being rubbish, so getting a picture of the tree in it's glory was a bit of a challenge, but with the markets in the station it still looked stunning.

I love small cities, it means you don't need to worry about public transport, and you can in theory walk everywhere, exploring the city with your map.
I did a walking tour, snapping photos as I went...all worked out fine, until my camera died of course.
There was a lovely winter sun on the river creating a wonderful light on the city.

In the evening I indulged in a cheese and tomato fondue.  Delicious, but so so heavy.  I did regret it afterwards.  I felt like I'd consumed an enormous amount.  Cheese and tomatoes in fondue together definitely work...must try at home.

I wish my settings on my camera caught all the Christmas lights better, because the city looked stunning by night...

Lovely relaxing day!

In the bleak midwinter

 "Friday 29th November 2013"

Today was in theory meant to be a day of shopping, and a day of visiting the parks before getting on my train to Zurich.
In summer, the parks would have been beautiful to walk around.
In winter, it was not really the pleasant anticipated meander, and I quickly froze, opting for a lengthy relaxation in the park cafe...a beautiful little spot which did this apple flavoured mulled wine.  Soooo good.

It was nice to catch my breath today, as it had been quite a frantic few weeks and so taking some time was definitely a necessity.

The journey to Zurich wasn't nearly as fun - perhaps because it was pitch black so I couldn't view the scenary, but also because there were delays on the route (yes even snow falling in the area causes delays in central Europe...take note England), and the trains weren't quite the luxury of SNCF.
Still I got there in the end, and had my usual fun and games of walking in the complete wrong direction and asking several people for directions to the hotel.

I'd booked to stay in a hotel in Zurich.  The hostels I'd researched were pretty expensive anyway, and I decided I deserved to splash out.  The hotel was very central, and the double bed was soooooo worth it.

A winter fairytale

 "Thursday 28th November 2013"

Early start today as I joined a tour to visit the castles outside of Munich.

Having managed to get there early I was able to grab myself a window seat, which was good as part of the tour was stunning views of the winter wonderland outside the window.

First stop was Linderhof and the palace gardens...here I was thankful that I had my boots on.

We were high up in the mountains, with heavy snowfall, and so everyone was very cautious not to trip over when walking up to the palace.
It's a small palace, with beautiful gardens and views all around.
Inside, the rooms are very ornate, with a final surprise where the King Ludwig designed an absolutely incredible scene, with mirrors all around, expanding the room, and allowing reflections to bounce of at every angle.

He was slightly bonkers, and I can totally see Wagner's interest and where their relationship grew.

My camera was beginning to suffer, the cold was killing the battery, and I was having to be very restrained on my photography, but in all this I managed to capture the most beautiful frozen lake reflection, which I am ever so proud of.

Back en route, and we visited Oberammergau, home to the passion plays.
This was a lovely snow coloured village, with some lovely Christmas shopping to be had - if only I had lots of money haha.
It was great to be able to visit...it did seem like many of the villagers were living in the 1600s though...certainly a bit of an ethereal feel to the village.

We then got back in the bus for the final leg Neuschwanstein Castle, and this was why I had saved my battery...in order to get a perfect picture of the castle in all it's glory.
This is the famous photo of a Disney castle, coming out of the mountains, and omg it was worth it.
The snow was so untouched all around, the castle, just how you would imagine in sleeping beauty or a Wagnerian opera.  It was simply...magical.

 

Munich, a mixed first day

 "Wednesday 27th November 2013"

So I found my way back to the station absolutely fine...as opposed to before, when I walked around the city for two hours.

The train journey was stunning...I'm so glad I did this this way.  Beautiful scenary all the way, with snow covered fields, just like icing sugar.

The hostel was right by the station as well, so this time, much easier to find (in the crisp winter sunshine).

I had arrived early for checkin but the hostel had free storage, and conveniently there was a free walking tour ready to leave.

Sounded good, meant that I could get my bearings, perhaps without getting lost.

Aaah, it all started off so well. The guide seemed intent on forcing us with his opinion in everything, that Bavarians ruled the world, and that the only way to live was his way.
Oh and that the divide post WW1 was as unequal as the apartheid region...yeh go for it, compare the post war treaty to ww1.

Germany wanting an empire lol...I wonder what he was spoonfed was his history exam.

I got fed up not far into the tour, especially with his constant need to lecture.
Having got to the bells at the Rathaus which were nowhere near as exciting as I'd hoped, I decided to do a runner and go it alone.  I told him, that I was a little happier going at my own pace.
I was mighty relieved as I covered so much more, and didn't keep finding myself getting incredibly annoyed with him.
Very good decision Kat.

Munich was very easy to navigate, so once I'd figured out my bearings on the map (indulging myself in a coffee shop naturally of course) I went to investigate a few of the churches, the beer gardens and some museums.  There was a fantastic museum, home to some ornate collections, which just went on and on, a bit like the British museum if I'm honest.
You could spend hours in there.

I also visited the opera house, although couldn't go inside which was a shame.

It was now getting dark, and feeling totally pleased with my photos and everything I'd achieved today I walked back through the Christmas markets to sample some of the German Gluhwein (which was definitely more alcoholic than the Austrian stuff), taking in the night air.

Tomorrow I was off to fairytale land

Blizzard

 "Tuesday 26th November 2013"

The morning was all a bit hectic, as I tried to work out where on earth Mozart's birthplace and living quarters were.
Both were museums, and I was very set on seeing both places before the end of my time in Salzburg.

Eventually I found the entrance to the museum, discovering it down yet another small alley (marked as a main road...I don't get this whole main road thing on the continent, these small streets would never class as roads in the UK).

It was really quite a fascinating building, but as ever I really didn't see the point in the headset, unless I had been doing a dissertation.  The collections were very well labelled, but with the headset you could have spent several hours, without I went at my own pace and learnt what I wanted.
The collections in both places (I eventually found the living quarters) were really quite interesting, and there's a huge collection of repetoire and music in the second place.

Totally worth it, and even more so if you have a particular interest in Mozart.

I then meandered back to the hostel ready for my afternoon tour to the hills.

It was really chucking it down with snow now...I then discovered I was the only one on the tour, which slightly concerned me as I was heading off (with a reputable company, but still...) into the mountains in the middle of a snowstorm.

Having spent an awkward 30 minutes making small talk (when I really wanted to sit back and enjoy the scenary) we then joined up with another group...and a second guide who took over for the interim.
We went out to visit the lake and forests, where part of the tour includes a pleasant outlook and view...no such view, and I'm slightly bemused the tour went ahead in such treacherous conditions. In England there is no way it would have been permitted...any snow, and nothing operates, but here we were braving the blizzard.

I was quite glad to be back inside the warmth of the minibus.

We then had a ridiculous amount of time to waste before making the journey back to Salzburg, for Christmas market shopping (I'm guessing this was built in, because other aspects were cut short..such is life), so I settled for ANOTHER hot chocolate.

Next day I was off to Munich...

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music

 "Monday 25th November 2013"

This was the only possible title I could give to this post.

Today, I went on a Sound of Music tour.  Despite Salzburg being the birthplace of a classical music legend (cough Mozart), Rodgers and Hammerstein get more credit these days in these parts with the city being Sound of Music crazy.  The movie was filmed in and around the city and so features, such as fountains in the palace gardens in the Do Re Me song are very memorable to tourists.

Filming for the house was done in several locations outside the main city, using the beautiful backdrop of a lake (notable for when the children and Maria fall into the water...perhaps a good job this didn't happen in these conditions).

Seeing the different locations was particularly fun, and it meant that I could also capture some additional shots in the wintery weather...I do love water photographs.

We didn't head up to the mountains, as it was a little too far away, but we got the jist of the movie, and even got our own singalong through the tour.

In the afternoon I went to visit some of the Maisonette puppet theatre and a few other theatres and landmarks which had been closed on the Sunday, leaving my visit to the Mozart houses till the following morning.

Dreaming of a Blue Christmas

 "Sunday 24th November 2013"

Today was cold.

And wet.

VERY wet.

I think I'd walked for like 15 minutes before I rewarded myself with my first hot chocolate break.
I clearly didn't really consider the implications of just how cold it was going to be, and I was wearing a lot of clothes.  Thank goodness I had brought my ski gloves with me, otherwise the hands would have fallen off..
Didn't make for great photography, although neither did the weather.

So today was what I usually do on my arrival day, a bit of a walk round the city to get my bearings, with some visitations to the sites.  I familiarise myself and then make a mental check of places I wanted to go back to.  Only problem was, with it being a Sunday nearly everything was closed, so I had to mentally check everywhere, and hope that when I returned it wouldn't still be raining.

I did deduce where the opera house was, found some pretty little shopping streets, which on a summer's day would have been stunning and you could have got lost in for ages.
I explored a few churches, trying for ages to find where Mozart's birthplace and living quarters were.
I eventually found the birthplace, but not the actual museum...my geography has definitely gone AWOL.

When I stumbled across the main centre outside the cathedral, I had definitely found the right place at the right time.  The Christmas markets, and a very delicious smell...Gluhwein, das ist sehr gut danke schon.
Just what I needed to warm myself up...yuuuummm.

The lights looked stunning against the overcast skies, which looked like they were about to bring...yeees SNOW!!!!!!!!!!

Winterrailing - a brief trip to Europe at Christmas

"Saturday 23rd November 2013"

Again, these are postdated posts, but thought it was worth keeping up the trend referring back to my brief hop across the continent.

I booked my Christmas spree across Europe, in an effort to get me in the Christmas spirit.
Christmas this year was going to be very different to the other years.

No traditional carol service, no usual family Christmas, as we were heading down to Frampton at a different point, and particularly without the tradition and order I felt like I needed an extra oomph to get things in the mood.

The route was simple - Fly into Salzburg for a festival of music, hop on the train to Munich for a winter fairytale with its castles and churches and finally catch a train to Zurich for the lake and scenary and of course some Christmas market shopping.
Beautiful.

My flight was conveniently very early in the morning from Gatwick, and aside from missing the bus I'd intended (because I wasn't packed), I managed to catch a taxi to Clapham, easily getting the train to Gatwick, and managing my usual pre-flight relaxation routine.

I arrived in Salzburg around mid morning, and it was cold...and POURING with rain.
The city of love and romance was definitely not the spot of beauty I had hoped to arrive gracefully in, dance around a fountain and burst out of the hills like Maria.
No, I felt altogether rather sodden and miserable, and whilst trying to remember anything of my GCSE German, I tried to get my things together and order a hot chocolate at the airport.

Getting to the bus station by the hostel was no problem at all...finding out the relatively simple instructions on what to do next was a lot more of a challenge.
It appears that I was unable to find the main exit out of the central Bahnhof, and consequently spent two hours in the rain with my luggage walking round Salzburg, trying to establish where on earth this hostel was.
I subsequently got directed in several wrong directions by locals who DEFINITELY knew where it was, only to resort to the GPS on my phone.  Thank God for GPS.

I was mighty relieved when I finally arrived there, if for the fact it was one of the warmest places I've ever stayed, and so clean...SO CLEAN.

I actually did naff all for the rest of the day, despite having every intention of going out to explore the city, it had taken me a while to warm up, and with the lure of the bar and hostel restaurant, the easy choice was to stay in, and errrrm watch the sound of music.
(Such a tourist...)

I was very productive, and planned out the rest of my stay.