Destination: Milan
Today is Milan! Right now I'm at work, it's 9:30am, but at 2:30pm I'll leave for the day to go catch the bus to Stansted at Victoria. I'm all packed, my Heys X case has definitely come in handy and had held up well so far. Although now that it's getting colder I have to be a bit more creative in my packing. Anyway! Our flight is with Ryanair at 6:45pm and we should arrive in Milan at Linate airport at 9:50pm. From there we're taking a shuttle bus for 2 or 3 euro to Stazione Centrale and then we walk from there to our hotel (The Best Hotel - ha ha, a budget hotel that I'm pretty sure doesn't live up to it's name), according to map it's about 5 minutes away. From what I read about the area we're staying in there are a few restaurants and cafes around so that's good - we can go check them out this evening if we're not too tired. Tomorrow, it's up bright and early, because we're going to Cenacolo Vinciano - site of the Santa Maria Della Grazie convent to view The Last Supper in all it's deteriorating splendour - which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Then to the Duomo - pictured. And that's all I can tell you right now because after that we're pretty much playing it by air. Back on Sunday! Ciao!
Still posting pics
A hill in Salzburg
View from the Montschberg Museum
Statue at Schloss Mirabell
River view
Inside the cable-car rail on the way up the Hohensalzburg Fortress
Geitredegasse - shop-lined street
Our finger food at Carpe Diem - they really meant it
Across the river
One perspective of the city
Some Salzburg photos
Not really the best selection of pictures but I had a few minutes to load some up using the dodgy connection accessed at home. More to come.
Arrival at the Salzburg airport
Our flight was a half hour early and it took us about 20 minutes to get our bags and out of the airport. This was our first time flying with Ryanair. I wasn't sure what to expect but the plane was pretty roomy and the seats were comfortable. It didn't hurt that it wasn't packed so there wasn't that stuffy feeling when there's so many bodies crammed in.
Mozart's residence at Markatplatz 8 (or 9)This is the outside of Mozart's residence, we weren't allowed to take pics inside. There was alot of Mozart over the weekend so I can't really tell you specifically what I learned here - but basically it was information about where he lived and there were some pianos and old letters from his father. :)
Schloss Mirabell (palace)
Grounds at Schloss Mirabell
Note
Hiya, a few pics have been posted below - will put up more soon!
Salzburg
Our second trip outside the UK and I'd say our first real one exploring another city. It's a bit funny that it's called a city since it's not really that large. Alstsadt (Old Town) is the historic centre of the city where we spent most of our time and it's also a preserved Unesco heritage site. Everything is kept immaculate; it's rare to see litter on the ground. It was about a 10-15 minute walk from our hotel to Alstadt.
So this is what we did:
Thursday night - arrived Salzburg airport, breezed through the passport control and got a new stamp. Caught the bus to Hauptbahnof (bus station) and walked the wrong way to the hotel. Realized it about 10 minutes later and managed to figure out the street signs in gothic writing to make it to the Hotel Mercure Kapuzinerberg on Sterneckstrasse. Looked for food and went to McDonald's for our first meal in Austria.
Friday - breakfast in the hotel. Bought the 48 hour Salzburg card from reception and this allowed us to get into most sights for free and use the bus. We walked down to Mirabellplatz on the north side of the Salzach river. Walked the grounds of Mirabell Schloss (palace) and the gardens - not much to see inside, the grounds are the highlight and they're really lovely. Went to Marketplatz and checked out Mozart's residence.
After that we found one of the bridges and crossed the river. Then down a quaint street, well all the steets were quaint, lined with various shops from Claire's to Louis Vuitton. Next stop was the Monschberglift to the Museum of Modern Art Monchsberg . Besides seeing some cool pieces we got some great views of the city. Stopped at Carpe Diem for refreshments and finger food. Then to Mozart's birthplace on Geitreidegasse and a couple of shops. In the evening we made our way back to the hotel to relax and managed to watch Goldeneye in German.
Satrurday - breakfast. Crossed the river and passed the Mausoleum where Mozart's father, Leopold is buried.
View of the Hohensalzburg Fortress from the bridge
Then to what was my favourite site, the Hohensalzburg Fortress. This is central Europe's largest, completely preserved fortress dating from the 11th century. To get there you have to take a cable car up the Monschberg - a quick 10 second ride. Did a tour of the fortress and saw amazing panoramic views of the city on the top.
View of the mountains from the Hohensalzburg Fortress
Then to the Marionette Museum and saw a few cute puppets, or creepy depending on how look at them. Also the Fortress Museum/Carolino Augusteum which was a history of war, weapons, and everyday life, including the state rooms that were (once) elaborately decorated. The fortress was built in the 11th century and over the next hundreds of years it was added to and improved upon by the Archbishops that lived there throughout the ages. Back down the cable car and we stopped a little cafe (Cafe Imbisse) and had a hotdog and fries. Then down to Residenzplatz where we checked out the massive Salzburg Cathedral where we lit a candle each and then walked around. It was gorgeous, destroyed somewhat in the war but restored to it's deserving magnificence - I walked all around it staring at the ceiling. We were going to go the Residenz gallery and state rooms but they were closed that day. So off to the Panorama Museum to see paintings of various city views from the 19th century.
The last place hit was the main building of the Salzburger Museum Carolino Augusteum on Mozartplatz. Since it's the 250th Anniversary of Mozart's birthday there was a large exhibition on called Viva! Mozart. After this we went back across the river and went to Sacher Cafe and I had a slice of the world famous Sacher Torte with coffee. Then we walked around and found a little coffee bar called Cappuccino and sat there for a while. For dinner we ended up getting sausages from a street vendor. Back to the hotel, packed, slept and left early the next morning to come back.
And that was Salzburg. I enjoyed it and 2 full days is enough time to see what the city has to offer. The people were all very nice and like I said before they all spoke English. I would have liked if they spoke in German sometimes though, I was all ready to use my phrase book! The trip to Salzburg had moments full of awe for me - when I'd stop and realize, hey I'm in Salzburg, I'm in Austria - and that's such a wonderful feeling. I could do this for a while yet.
Back from Salzburg!
Guten tag! We got back from Salzburg, Austria this afternoon and it was a very successful trip!
So much walking - so many mountains, hills, the Aldstadt (Old Town) and Mozart-ed out until we just couldn't take anymore! Although I got a little German vocab guide we didn't have to use it too much except to decipher various menus and signs - the people all spoke English and were so friendly and helpful. I'll write more about it later - we did alot of sightseeing, too much to write about right now, and I took over 200 pictures - no worries, I won't post them all. :) Here's one for now!
Supa
Well, here he is. This is the often mentioned Supa who attends Oxford University doing his PhD. Here he is in Oxford on our recent trip up there with Nella. Although I hate watching movies with him, he's always great fun.
Nella
Here's a pic of Nella hiding not-so-well behind a bush in the gardens at Kensington Palace.
We had a fun day here, learning about the lifestyles of the British monarchy over the last few centuries and taking silly pictures. I have one of her running away from a friendly squirrel that tried to make friends with N by crawling up beside her on the bench she was sitting on - maybe I'll post that one day.
6 months and 2 days
I have to say I'm quite enjoying this living abroad and travelling thing so far. It's been 6 months now and I don't have much to complain about, nothing really. I've got a ton of pics I need to load that I plan to do on the weekend or maybe tonight. I know it's a Friday night but I AM SKINT, I love that word, meaning broke, well not really it's just next week is Salzburg so I'm saving my dosh for that trip. Oh, did I not write that before? So upcoming trips include:
Salzburg, Austria - Nov 9-12 - the land of Mozart, and The Sound of Music. HD & I are going to investigate whether or not the hills really are alive. Hallo, ich nein RedCat. (I think.)
Milan, Italy - Nov 29 - Dec 3 - fashion, Catholicism, decadence. Two things planned so far is a viewing of Leonardo's The Last Supper at the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie and Absolut Ice Bar Milan - an establishment in ice that is kept at -5 C or something like that.
Malta - Jan 11-15 - I haven't done a lot of reading up on Malta yet but it's an ancient island and has been involved in many major historical events. The plan so far is to travel around the island and hop over to Gozo, the smaller sister island.
That's about it right now - I'm still at work and just waiting for it to be 5:30pm.
Today is Milan! Right now I'm at work, it's 9:30am, but at 2:30pm I'll leave for the day to go catch the bus to Stansted at Victoria. I'm all packed, my Heys X case has definitely come in handy and had held up well so far. Although now that it's getting colder I have to be a bit more creative in my packing. Anyway! Our flight is with Ryanair at 6:45pm and we should arrive in Milan at Linate airport at 9:50pm. From there we're taking a shuttle bus for 2 or 3 euro to Stazione Centrale and then we walk from there to our hotel (The Best Hotel - ha ha, a budget hotel that I'm pretty sure doesn't live up to it's name), according to map it's about 5 minutes away. From what I read about the area we're staying in there are a few restaurants and cafes around so that's good - we can go check them out this evening if we're not too tired. Tomorrow, it's up bright and early, because we're going to Cenacolo Vinciano - site of the Santa Maria Della Grazie convent to view The Last Supper in all it's deteriorating splendour - which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Then to the Duomo - pictured. And that's all I can tell you right now because after that we're pretty much playing it by air. Back on Sunday! Ciao!
