Cafes, Wine Taverns and Thermal Baths in Austria

The next stop on our European journey was Vienna, Austria. This was our third country in central Europe, and yet as we moved from one of these places to the next, the connections between them were readily apparent. Sure, the languages were different and the cultures varied, but the train rides were relatively short, the architecture was similar, and the food was comparable. Prague, Krakow and Vienna, in fact, were all a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When you experience this up close, it makes sense why the Czechs and the Poles, in particular, chafed at their half-century of domination by the Soviet Union in the 20th century. This is truly the heart of Central Europe, rather than the Eastern Europe that many of grew up hearing about during the Cold War.

Lisa and I had an especially good time in Vienna. As in the rest of Europe, we didn’t have the unusual and distinctive encounters that we had in the non-Western world, but we still did our best to collect cultural experiences. We made some of the usual stops (the Hofburg Palace, the Cathedral, the Old Town), but we also tried to go beyond the typical tourist sites. Since Vienna is one of the birthplaces of the European café, we spent an afternoon in a Viennese coffeehouse. We also spent an evening in a wine tavern, drinking locally produced wine in a house that Beethoven once lived in. Another day, we spent several hours at a thermal bath, an experience that is particularly popular in central Europe.

Entering a local wine tavern in the Beethovenhaus...



















On the way from Vienna to Munich, we spent a day in Salzburg, Austria. Nestled in the foothills of the Alps, the charmingly quaint home of Mozart and the Sound of Music is an interesting place to visit. The downside, though, is that it’s been discovered. And discovered and discovered. If you want to experience the Disney version of Austria, this is the place to go. I think it was more over-run by tourists than any other European city I’ve ever been to. Worthwhile to see, but we were glad that most of our time had been spent in Vienna.

Do, re, mi... one of Salzburg's Sound of Music sights...