{"id":980,"date":"2014-01-01T23:53:08","date_gmt":"2014-01-02T07:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/excellentadventure.ca\/?p=980"},"modified":"2024-08-05T17:14:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T00:14:41","slug":"barb-and-badens-christmas-adventure-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/?p=980","title":{"rendered":"Barb and Baden’s Excellent Christmas Adventure – Final"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSC_3522.jpg\"<\/p>\n

\n

Before I forget, I\u2019ve been uploading my Germany and Austria photos to my photo web site. If you want to see them you can click on this link<\/a>. Once there, you can click on any photo to enlarge on your screen.<\/p>\n

\n

Departure and Arrival<\/b><\/p>\n

Our friends brought us to the train station at Wiesbaden this morning for us to catch our train down to our first of two destinations in Austria. In truth, our train ride will be ending on the German side of the border in the town of Freilassing<\/a> where we will pickup our second rental car and drive to the Austrian town of Sankt Wolfgang<\/a> (which would be known as St. Wolfgang<\/i> in English).<\/p>\n

Sidebar: We ended up renting a VW Passat in Freilassing and while the car is decent enough to drive, I can\u2019t stress enough how horrible the navigation systems are in Volkswagens. In the two days since we\u2019ve gotten this car we\u2019ve had several close calls as the navigation does a really bad job of giving you enough information to stay on the route you want.<\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n

The navigation challenges aside, I\u2019ve been extremely impressed with the natural beauty of the part of Austria that we\u2019ve seen so far. The lakes and the mountains side by side are spectacular. About the only thing that we could possibly ask for would be some snow on the ground to make the whole landscape just like a postcard. There is a little bit of snow on the mountains but there\u2019s visible bare ground around the snow and the forecast doesn\u2019t show much snow in any place that we will be before we leave for home.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_3510.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Good Slide<\/b><\/p>\n

Barb was telling me that ever since Christmas was over we started to hear this expression from people in stores and restaurants: guten rutsch.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

\"201312301229.jpg\"<\/p>\n

The literal translation of this is \u201cgood slide\u201d but what it really refers to is a way to give a goodbye to someone who you\u2019ve just met and wish them a happy transition or good slide<\/i> into the new year. The closest thing in English that I can use is that is analogous to guten rutsch is \u201chappy new year\u201d. It\u2019s just one of those unique German-speaking expressions that once you know about it you start waiting to hear it at this time of year.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_3536.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Speed (part 2)<\/b><\/p>\n

Since arriving in Austria on Friday we\u2019ve driven around the countryside to various destinations over the past few days. GPS complaints aside, I\u2019ve got to say that I don\u2019t have anywhere near the driving satisfaction of driving in Austria than when we were in Germany. First, the major highways that we have driven on seem to have a limit of 130 km\/hr. Granted this is much better than in Canada but when you\u2019ve driven way<\/span> above 130 (legally) in the past few weeks you just can\u2019t feel that the highways here in Austria are giving the same driving enjoyment.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_3540.jpg\"<\/p>\n

While we were in St. Wolfgang, we wanted to take advantage of having the car and explored a bit of the surrounding area. Within a one hour\u2019s drive from our hotel we visited many picturesque spots such as Hallstatt<\/a> and Berchtesgaden<\/a> (which is just over the border in Bavaria). Unfortunately, for many of these visits, the weather was not on our side and it was either very cloudy or raining so what would have been spectacular views of towns with imposing mountains in the background were often obscured. Of course it\u2019s always good to come home with just the memories of the places that we visit but for me, getting the photographs along<\/span> with the memories is always important.<\/p>\n

By the time Monday, the 30th came around we packed up again and prepared to head to our final destination of this trip: Vienna. The next few days in Wien (pronounced veen<\/i>, the way the city name is known locally) would be really special as we will be spending new years in this city. Of course, new years<\/i> is known as Sylvester<\/a> here, named after St. Sylvester.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_3584.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Vienna, at Last<\/b><\/p>\n

We arrived in Vienna the day before new year\u2019s eve and it was already totally nuts here. The taxi ride from the train station probably took 2-3 times as long as it normally would have any other time of the year due to the traffic and sheer number of people walking cross intersections. The area around our hotel which is located in the heart of the central part of the city and there are numerous pedestrian only streets near us – all of which had hundreds of thousands<\/b> of people on them. It appeared that our great idea to go to Vienna for new years was shared with lots of people.<\/p>\n

At first it was disheartening that there were so many people on the streets as it meant that virtually any cafe or restaurant you wanted to go to had a lineup out the door.<\/p>\n

We eventually got somewhat used to the crowds and walked around many of the neighbourhoods around our hotel and discovered many, many stages that had been setup in preparation for the next day\u2019s new year\u2019s eve celebrations. In addition to the stages, most of the streets were decorated with elaborate decorations and lights. Overall, despite the crowds everyone seemed to be in a good mood knowing that being in this incredibly unique city to celebrate new years couldn\u2019t possible be bad.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0642.jpg\"<\/p>\n

The City of Music<\/b><\/p>\n

One of the first things that it took getting used to was the beauty of the architecture. Within a 15 minute walk from our hotel (under normal circumstances, not the day before new year\u2019s eve) I would pass by a dozen or more incredibly beautiful buildings, often lit up at night which allowed fantastic photos to be taken. I\u2019ve been to many cites around the world where there are great photo opportunities but I\u2019ve never seen a place that has so many in such close proximity.<\/p>\n

If I haven\u2019t told you before Barb does most of the trip planning for our adventures and one of the biggest challenges for spending new year\u2019s eve in Vienna was how to experience this city of music in some memorable way. Of course there were no shortage of events to choose from but many of them were outrageously expensive and more importantly most events required a dress code that neither of us were prepared to pack. Barb really came though in booking us for a classical concert actually in Mozart\u2019s house<\/a> in Vienna. It was a quartet known as the Mozart Ensemble and they played for just over an hour, playing compositions from Mozart, Strauss and others. Part of the music experience had to be the room in which they performed. Known as the Sala Terrena (photo above) the room not only had beautiful paintings on the walls and ceiling but also had excellent acoustics and allowed you to experience the music to it\u2019s fullest effect. The whole evening was really magical.<\/p>\n

We had a late dinner and spend the remainder of the night walking around and as much as possible trying to enjoy the music of the different areas before settling in at the stage right beside out hotel where a live band was playing. The crowds that were out on new year\u2019s eve were simply unimaginable. Walking along the major walking streets in the city centre was near impossible and we tried to stay to the side streets just to get around.<\/p>\n

When midnight finally arrived, fireworks were set off throughout the city. Soon afterwards, Strauss\u2019 famous waltz An der sch\u00f6nen blauen Donau<\/i> (English: Blue Danube Waltz) is played and many people begin waltzing\u00a0in the new year. In our case we did our best attempt at waltzing but luckily most people were probably drunk at this point and didn\u2019t notice how bad we were. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"DSC_3613.jpg\"<\/p>\n

And Finally \u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

We made it a late morning on the 1st after our late night out the evening before. From our hotel window we saw that crews had dismantled much of the stage that was down in the street and after walking around the city much of the signs of the new year\u2019s eve celebration were already gone. Certainly the numbers of people on the streets last night were easily 1\/10th what it was the night before. For the first time in many days the sun was out and Barb and I just did some walking around the city, taking some additional photos but more just enjoying the more relaxed environment.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019m writing this last section, it\u2019s Thursday and tomorrow morning we\u2019ll be leaving and will be back in Vancouver by Friday afternoon. We\u2019ve covered a lot of ground during the past three weeks of this Christmas Adventure and I\u2019m usually looking forward to getting home after being on the road for this long.<\/p>\n

Barb and I will be taking home so many memories. Of course we will always remember new year\u2019s in Vienna. But without a doubt the most memorable part of this trip will be the days that we spent with friends in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. There\u2019s one undisputed truth that Barb and I have learned over the years and that is there is nothing better than spending time with friends when travelling and we both feel really fortunate to have such good friends in a country that we both love so much.<\/p>\n

I hope that you\u2019ve enjoyed travelling along with us on this Excellent Christmas Adventure and I suspect that it\u2019s going to be a long time before we travel again at Christmas. We already have our next destination picked out and I think that travel planning will have to start again fairly soon after we get home. With all of this recent cold weather travelling I think that Barb and I will want to see some warmer destinations in 2014.<\/p>\n

All the best to everyone in the new year and see you on our next adventure.<\/p>\n

Photos from this trip have been uploaded to my photo website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Baden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I forget, I\u2019ve been uploading my Germany and Austria photos to my photo web site. If you want to see them you can click on this link. Once there, you can click on any photo to enlarge on your screen. Departure and Arrival Our friends brought us to the train station at Wiesbaden this morning for us to catch our train down to our first of two destinations in Austria. In truth, our train ride will be ending on the German side of the border in the town of Freilassing where we will pickup our second rental car and drive to the Austrian town of Sankt Wolfgang (which would be known as St. Wolfgang in English). Sidebar: We ended up renting a VW Passat in Freilassing and while the car is decent enough to drive, I can\u2019t stress enough how horrible the navigation systems are in Volkswagens. In the two days since we\u2019ve gotten this car we\u2019ve had several close calls as the navigation does a really bad job of giving you enough information to stay on the route you want. \u00a0 The navigation challenges aside, I\u2019ve been extremely impressed with the natural beauty of the part of Austria that we\u2019ve seen so far. The lakes and the mountains side by side are spectacular. About the only thing that we could possibly ask for would be some snow on the ground to make the whole landscape just like a postcard. There is a little bit of snow on the mountains but there\u2019s visible bare ground around the snow and the forecast doesn\u2019t show much snow in any place that we will be before we leave for home. Good Slide Barb was telling me that ever since Christmas was over we started to hear this expression from people in stores and restaurants: guten rutsch. The literal translation of this is \u201cgood slide\u201d but what it really refers to is a way to give a goodbye to someone who you\u2019ve just met and wish them a happy transition or good slide into the new year. The closest thing in English that I can use is that is analogous to guten rutsch is \u201chappy new year\u201d. It\u2019s just one of those unique German-speaking expressions that once you know about it you start waiting to hear it at this time of year. Speed (part 2) Since arriving in Austria on Friday we\u2019ve driven around the countryside to various destinations over the past few days. GPS complaints aside, I\u2019ve got to say that I don\u2019t have anywhere near the driving satisfaction of driving in Austria than when we were in Germany. First, the major highways that we have driven on seem to have a limit of 130 km\/hr. Granted this is much better than in Canada but when you\u2019ve driven way above 130 (legally) in the past few weeks you just can\u2019t feel that the highways here in Austria are giving the same driving enjoyment. While we were in St. Wolfgang, we wanted to take advantage of having the car and explored a bit of the surrounding area. Within a one hour\u2019s drive from our hotel we visited many picturesque spots such as Hallstatt and Berchtesgaden (which is just over the border in Bavaria). Unfortunately, for many of these visits, the weather was not on our side and it was either very cloudy or raining so what would have been spectacular views of towns with imposing mountains in the background were often obscured. Of course it\u2019s always good to come home with just the memories of the places that we visit but for me, getting the photographs along with the memories is always important. By the time Monday, the 30th came around we packed up again and prepared to head to our final destination of this trip: Vienna. The next few days in Wien (pronounced veen, the way the city name is known locally) would be really special as we will be spending new years in this city. Of course, new years is known as Sylvester here, named after St. Sylvester. Vienna, at Last We arrived in Vienna the day before new year\u2019s eve and it was already totally nuts here. The taxi ride from the train station probably took 2-3 times as long as it normally would have any other time of the year due to the traffic and sheer number of people walking cross intersections. The area around our hotel which is located in the heart of the central part of the city and there are numerous pedestrian only streets near us – all of which had hundreds of thousands of people on them. It appeared that our great idea to go to Vienna for new years was shared with lots of people. At first it was disheartening that there were so many people on the streets as it meant that virtually any cafe or restaurant you wanted to go to had a lineup out the door. We eventually got somewhat used to the crowds and walked around many of the neighbourhoods around our hotel and discovered many, many stages that had been setup in preparation for the next day\u2019s new year\u2019s eve celebrations. In addition to the stages, most of the streets were decorated with elaborate decorations and lights. Overall, despite the crowds everyone seemed to be in a good mood knowing that being in this incredibly unique city to celebrate new years couldn\u2019t possible be bad. The City of Music One of the first things that it took getting used to was the beauty of the architecture. Within a 15 minute walk from our hotel (under normal circumstances, not the day before new year\u2019s eve) I would pass by a dozen or more incredibly beautiful buildings, often lit up at night which allowed fantastic photos to be taken. I\u2019ve been to many cites around the world where there are great photo opportunities but I\u2019ve never seen a place that has so many in such close proximity. If I haven\u2019t told you before Barb does most of the trip planning for our adventures and one of the biggest challenges for spending new year\u2019s eve in Vienna was how to experience this city of music in some memorable way. Of course there were no shortage of events to choose from but many of them were outrageously expensive and more importantly most events required a dress code that neither of us were prepared to pack. Barb really came though in booking us for a classical concert actually in Mozart\u2019s house in Vienna. It was a quartet known as the Mozart Ensemble and they played for just over an hour, playing compositions from Mozart, Strauss and others. Part of the music experience had to be the room in which they performed. Known as the Sala Terrena (photo above) the room not only had beautiful paintings on the walls and ceiling but also had excellent acoustics and allowed you to experience the music to it\u2019s fullest effect. The whole evening was really magical. We had a late dinner and spend the remainder of the night walking around and as much as possible trying to enjoy the music of the different areas before settling in at the stage right beside out hotel where a live band was playing. The crowds that were out on new year\u2019s eve were simply unimaginable. Walking along the major walking streets in the city centre was near impossible and we tried to stay to the side streets just to get around. When midnight finally arrived, fireworks were set off throughout the city. Soon afterwards, Strauss\u2019 famous waltz An der sch\u00f6nen blauen Donau (English: Blue Danube Waltz) is played and many people begin waltzing\u00a0in the new year. In our case we did our best attempt at waltzing but luckily most people were probably drunk at this point and didn\u2019t notice how bad we were. \ud83d\ude42 And Finally \u2026 We made it a late morning on the 1st after our late night out the evening before. From our hotel window we saw that crews had dismantled much of the stage that was down in the street and after walking around the city much of the signs of the new year\u2019s eve celebration were already gone. Certainly the numbers of people on the streets last night were easily 1\/10th what it was the night before. For the first time in many days the sun was out and Barb and I just did some walking around the city, taking some additional photos but more just enjoying the more relaxed environment. As I\u2019m writing this last section, it\u2019s Thursday and tomorrow morning we\u2019ll be leaving and will be back in Vancouver by Friday afternoon. We\u2019ve covered a lot of ground during the past three weeks of this Christmas Adventure and I\u2019m usually looking forward to getting home after being on the road for this long. Barb and I will be taking home so many memories. Of course we will always remember new year\u2019s in Vienna. But without a doubt the most memorable part of this trip will be the days that we spent with friends in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. There\u2019s one undisputed truth that Barb and I have learned over the years and that is there is nothing better than spending time with friends when travelling and we both feel really fortunate to have such good friends in a country that we both love so much. I hope that you\u2019ve enjoyed travelling along with us on this Excellent Christmas Adventure and I suspect that it\u2019s going to be a long time before we travel again at Christmas. We already have our next destination picked out and I think that travel planning will have to start again fairly soon after we get home. With all of this recent cold weather travelling I think that Barb and I will want to see some warmer destinations in 2014. All the best to everyone in the new year and see you on our next adventure. Photos from this trip have been uploaded to my photo website here.   Baden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-austria","category-germany"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}