Visiting the Vienna Woods

While in Vienna, we took a tour operated by Vienna Sightseeing Tours that’s called Vienna Woods.  This was a most interesting tour just outside of Vienna.  So on this tour, we visit an old hunting lodge, an abbey, and the largest subterranean lake in Europe.

In route to the old Mayerling hunting lodge, which is now a chapel, we passed through the picturesque and culturally rich Baden.  The hunting lodge is dedicated to the Crown Prince Rudolph and Baronesse Vetsera.  There’s a lot of history about these two … like how did they die.  Was it suicide or murder.

The Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz was absolutely incredible and well worth the visit.  The abbey dates back to 1133.  If history appeals to you, you want to visit the abbey.  Like so much of the historical sites of Austria, the abbey helps connect the history between Austria and Hungary.

After the abbey, we make our way to the Seegrotte, the largest subterranean lake in Europe.  This subterranean lake is like a massive air conditioner and it too has a rich history, particularly, it’s use by the Germans, during World War II, to build machinery for the war effort.

The Seegrotte ends our tour and on our way back to Vienna, we get a treat and drive by an old Hapsburg castle.

Fortunately, for this tour we had an excellent tour guide.

Best Dining Experience in Vienna

Whenever we travel, we always eat local food.  We even do this when we travel within the United States.  So, no restaurant chains for us … except Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but that’s a story for another day.

While in Vienna the the summer of 2008, as usual we eat at a variety of places, “mom and pop” owned restaurants to 4 star gourmet.  One may think that the 4 star restaurants are always the best food, but this has not always been our experience; however, they tend to have the best service though.

As for Vienna, this is a must “eat at” restaurant — Mörwald im Ambassador.  This restaurant is definitely one of the high end restaurants and is located in the Hotel Ambassador.  Not only is the food to die for, but the service is excellent … even by pampered American standards.  You have a captain and co-captain ensuring that your dining experience is excellent.  The food is Viennese, but not necessarily traditional.  You can either order the 3 or 5 course dinner or order a la carte.  My foie gras was excellent … and grilled.  I have never had foie gras grilled.

While not inexpensive, the meal and the experience will be worth it.  As an aside, don’t forget to make reservations.  We were smart enough to do this, but also wear a business coat/jacket if you are a gent.  I was not smart enough to do this.  I felt a little under-dressed.

Enjoy your dinner …

Tour operators in Vienna

While on holiday in Vienna July 2008, we took a couple of tours, a city tour that included Schonbrunn Palace and a tour to the “Vienna Woods.”  Both tours were provided by Vienna Sightseeing Tours, but there were some differences between the two in terms of how personable the tour felt.

One thing that we liked about Vienna Sightseeing Tours is that the retrieved us from our hotel and took us to the company’s bus terminal where the tours departed.  The city tour with Schonbrunn Palace was supposed to be 3.5 hours, but the tour did not last that long and felt rushed and there was unbelievable traffic.  I thought that we would periodically make stops at some of the sites like most other city tours that we have taken.  Perhaps, the traffic was the reason why we did not make any stops or perhaps, we did not make any stops because we were on a large motor coach.

Our first stop … and final stop … was Schonbrunn Palace in which a guided tour of the palace was included.  The Palace really provides insight into how the monachy lived and puts history into context.  The one problem … all the people from our large motor coach had to crowd around our one little tour guide and try to listen while other visitors are trying to pass by.  The bottom line, this tour had too many people, especially for the Palace visit.  At the end of the Palace tour, which was also the end of the tour, we had 10 minutes to visit the gardens … we opted not to take the motor coach back to the city center, so we could have time to visit the garden.  10 minutes would not have been enough time.

In summary, even though the city part of the tour was more or less pointing out what this building is and how old it is, the tour did help orient us to the city … later during our stay in Vienna, we revisited the interesting sites we wanted to see.  Schonbrunn was definitely worth a visit … just make sure you get to visit the gardens, which also include a small zoo.  Also, have lunch at the cafe … the food is good.

My day trip to Salzburg

One of the things we like to do when we travel, especially internationally, is to take day trips outside the major city that we are visiting.  While Salzburg is a travel destination itself, when we were in Vienna, we visited the city for the day.  We took a train too … when in Europe travel the European way.

Salzburg was absolutely wonderful and it absolutely added to our memorable holiday.  Unlike German and other Austrian cities, Salzburg was largely spared large scale destruction.  Thank goodness, the city has building dating to the fourteenth century, not to mention that it is the birthplace of Mozart.

Prior to arriving I had arranged a city tour with Salzburg Sightseeing Tours, which was a good choice.  We learned and saw so much on this tour.  We also learned that the tour could have been called the Sound of Music and Hapsburg tour.  The tour was very good with a good mix of coach and walking.  Interestingly, the tour operator offers a “Sound of Music” tour, but we thought could there be more.  For a while we thought that we were on the “Sound of Music” as our tour guide repeated mentioned that “this building/palace/castle was in the movie.

Visiting all the site that belonged to the Hapsburg makes me want to be one.

In addition to the “Sound of Music” and Hapsburg presence, Salzburg is abundant with beautiful gardens and statues.  And if you visit Salzburg, you have to visit the churches and monastery and the castle.  While we were only there one day, it’s probably a two day visit if you just want to sample what the city has to offer … which is much.

Touring Austria with tour operators

While in Austria during the summer of 2008, I took a couple of tours, as I have been doing the past several years.  I find that organized tours, while they can be a little confining, you learn so much more about the place that you are visiting than you would on your own … as least typically you would.  Usually tours are guided by local folk who love their culture and history, some are trained in these disciplines … and of course, some are just lousy.

Usually, I arrange my tours through Expedia, sometimes Travelocity, because I assume and hope that these companies have vetted the companies providing the tours.  Another source that I have tapped is TravelBound.  Often they offer even richer and greater variety of tours than Expedia and Travelocity.  Additionally, many of the tours that you find on Expedia and Travelocity are also found on TravelBound.

The one problem with TravelBound is that only travel agents can book tours.  Fortunately, I have a local travel agency that I can call and ask them to book tours for me.  Works every time.  So far so good with the tours that I have selected through their site.  The descriptions tend to be quite accurate.

Vienna, Austria … pictures and words aren’t enough!

Vienna, Austria is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited.  Along with all that beauty, you have culture and history.  As an aside, don’t refer to Austrians as Germans.  I didn’t do it, but that would be bad!

While in Vienna, we took a city tour … in part to learn a little history, but also to get oriented to the city.  This is a typical strategy of ours so that we can return to some of the place we rushed through during the tour.

Like many European cities, Vienna is a very walkable city.  We stayed at the edge of the city at K+K Palais which is a European chain of boutique hotels and had no trouble getting to all the site, either by walking or taking the very reliable public transportation.  By the way, K+K Palais is definitely a great hotel.  They are on my list of places to stay.

Back to Vienna though.  One of the most beautiful aspects of the city are it parks.  They seem to be everywhere.  I think they probably contribute to all the “lovers” we saw expressing public affection for one another.  The city is also incredible clean.

In addition to the beautiful parks, you have historic buildings like cathedrals and the Opera House.  You can actually tour the Opera House.  It’s a must do in my opinion even if you don’t like opera, which I don’t.  Schönbrunn Palace should also be on your list and if you take a tour … walk or take the metro back so you can have lunch, explore the gardens and zoo, and visit the fountain.

In fact, the city is so aestetically pleasing that we walked miles without realizing it.  Picture and words don’t do justice …

Dining in Montreal … I love French food

Despite the bad attitudes that I encountered on my last visit to Montreal, the food was excellent.

My first night in Montreal, I stayed in Downtown, I visited Chez Alexandre, a French Bistro on 1454 Peel St. and the food was incredible.  The foie gras is among the best that I ever have had.  Sorry PETA.  Along with the excellent food, the atmosphere is familiar like an upscale neighborhood restaurant without the pretense.  The house wine is good and pairs well with the duck.  Like many restaurants in Europe and Montreal, Chez Alexandre offers inside and outside dining and sometimes blends the two by opening it’s large sliding French doors to the outside.  Highly recommended for good food and atmosphere; service, however, is only average.

Le Grill Bistro is located in Old Montreal at 183 Saint-Paul St, near Jacques-Cartier Square.  This restaurant offers inside and patio dining, as well as live music … the musicians want a tip.  The inside seating is small and unimpressive, but the food more than compensate for this shortcoming and the live music minimizes the stodgy fill of the inside dining.  The menu is quite extensive and the chef is not afraid to experiment and jazz up traditional dishes.  Unlike other dining experiences in Montreal, Le Grill seems to understand the importance of service.  Highly recommended for the food and the service.  Just remember, this restaurant is in Old Montreal and there’s a premium for eating in this area.

Bistro L’Arqmate is another excellent French restaurant in downtown Montreal.  In fact, it is at 1410 Peel St, a few block from Chez Alexandre.  While the food here is good, not as good as Chez Alexandre, the dining experience is somewhat eclectic and modern.  There are three levels at this bistro and I believe the best seating is on the third level where you can look down onto the bar and other patrons.  Here too, the house wine is a fine selection.  The French know their wines.  Good food, but better atmosphere.  Service needs a lot of work.

In spite of bad attitudes, rudeness, sarcasm, and perhaps some French nationalism, the food and wine was a treat!