Alpine Trio from Chord Tour part 2
Salzburg + Kelstein (Eagle's Nest)
When we woke up in the morning, we found that the cyclone had caught up with us. It was raining, and low clouds indicated that it would end soon. Therefore, equipped with jackets, umbrellas and raincoats, we doomed to a sightseeing tour (it started at 8-30, ended at 10-45). Our guide was Eugene Humennikov, a nice calm guy, conducted tours with dignity, was attentive and responsive to all. The list of visited monuments is standard: St. Sebastian's Church with a cemetery where Paracelsus and members of the Mozart family are buried, Mirabelle Park, two houses of the Mozart family, Residenzplatz with a fountain, Domplatz with the cathedral, St. Peter's Monastery, st.
Even the terrible weather did not prevent Salzburg to enchant us. This is a nice, cozy and very nice old town, to which, I hope, we will return many times.
And the main thing in it, of course, is not the theme of Mozart, which is here on all sides.
The main thing is the atmosphere! ))) A sense of relaxation and measured flow of time. On Getreidegasse you can spend an hour looking at all sorts of signs - it's works of advertising art, and puzzles. At the end of Getreidegasse is the ancient church of Blaziuskirche, overgrown with ivy. Although the houses on Getreidegas seem very narrow, they are not small because they go deep, many have courtyards, some of which are passable. Don't miss them! Courtyards have a unique atmosphere: each in its own way a work of art - columns, balustrades, pergolas, steep and narrow stairs, flowers in the arcades (plus the ability to hide from the rain). One of these passages suddenly led us to the wide embankment of the river Saltsy, which is rightly called the natural beauty of the city.
The current in the river is so strong that sometimes it seems like a horizontal waterfall.
Another courtyard led to the University of Platz, which is actually a market with a variety of delicacies.
From here two steps from the Alter Markt with beautiful baroque houses, but suddenly we saw a funny and ugly smallest house in Salzburg, which is only 1.42 m wide. According to legend, the house was built by a poor young man for the love of a rich girl. The girl's father promised to give the boy his daughter for a wife only if he had his own house with access to the market. However, the father did not say what size the house should be!
From the small Alter Mark we came to a spacious, majestic Residence Square. Still, the old and new (with a clock tower) Residence of the Archbishops and the Cathedral of Salzburg (in German simply Dom) overlook this square.
We will definitely visit the residence someday, there is an interesting museum there. The square is decorated with a baroque fountain - horses in it, as if alive.
Here you can see live horses - at least a dozen carriages are waiting for passengers. Inside the cathedral is just huge, majestic, strict, restrained decoration. In my opinion, the beauty of the decoration is far from the next church we visited - the church of the current Benedictine monastery of St. Petra, located at the foot of Mount Menhsberg. In the narrow space between the rock and the side wall of the church is a tiny oldest city cemetery with Romanesque and Gothic chapels, fences and wrought iron monuments. It really made a very bright impression on me - elegant, soothing, like a work of art.
Next to the cemetery are the catacombs carved into the steep wall of the mountain, where the hermits of the early Christian era lived, even before the founding of the monastery.
That's how I remembered Salzburg.
Honestly, this is not the impression of the first, but mostly the second day, well, what can be seen from under an umbrella or raincoat hood. It is good that the next day there was an opportunity to walk through the most interesting places again.
And then in the rain we went to board the bus, water was running in sneakers and everything seemed incredible. There was even an idea not to go to the elective in the Eagle's Nest, which we will see there in these clouds, but the money has already been paid. To my question, Mariana answered: "No, you can't refuse, places have already been booked" (what places on the mountain or what? ), Ie no one will return the money.
In the future, I conclude that such electives, depending on the vagaries of the weather, you need to pay for 1-2 days, when you are completely confident in the weather.
Around 12:00 we left for Berchtesgaden, it is only 30 km, but already in Germany.
Along the way, Eugene told about the history of the Eagle's Nest, the Nazis and the attitude of Austrians and Germans so far in the history of countries.
The mood began to improve at the first stop - it became a schnapps factory Grassl. At first we were briefly told about the production of this drink using the healing root of yarrow, nothing new, Ukrainians already know how to make moonshine. Then we were taken to the shop - tasting room, where we tasted 5 types of drinks that are produced here: just 40-degree schnapps, the same strength spicy tincture of 30 herbs and spices (excellent !! )!
), 38-degree pear tincture, 23-degree liqueur with red orange and 20-degree nut-egg-milk liqueur (yum-yum !! ). In fact, the range of tinctures and liqueurs is much larger, they are presented in three packages: "samples" of 20 ml for 1 euro and bottles of 0.35 liters (about 7-9 euros depending on the drink) and 0.7 liters (9-15 euros)).
At home they regretted that they bought few drinks, and then it seemed that it would be difficult to carry… As everywhere in Bavaria, everything was theatrical, national costumes, beautiful packaging, I liked it. Nearby is a log house with antique tools, utensils, furniture and a mill wheel, which is powered by water from the river Berchtesgaden. Local sausages and smoked meats are sold here, but expensive.
The second point is the Eagle's Nest. Ordinary sightseeing buses do not go there, you need to change to a powerful "MAN".
At that time, the torrential rain changed to frost, but the temperature dropped to 14 degrees, because we had already climbed quite high in the mountains, you could jump to low clouds. The road on a steep serpentine took 15 minutes, visibility outside the window 15-20 meters, on the way the audio guide told us about the features of the road and its construction. The temperature on the upper bus stop was already 12 degrees.
We almost ran away from the cold through the gloomy tunnel, climbing in a mirror brass elevator - and we are near the goal at an altitude of 1834 m. Forcing ourselves to go outside, we make sure that a miracle did not happen - we are in a thick rain cloud and strong wind, temperature 8. Extreme! Instead of spending an hour at the top, the frozen people ask Eugene to go down as soon as possible, hot chocolate at a local restaurant does not help. This is such a bad trip.
To his consolation, the man said: "Nothing, we were more fortunate, because we still saw the Alps! »
We arrived at the beautiful Lake Koenigsee around 16-00. The rain was over, Eugene told us about the walking trails and the observation deck Mahlerwinkel, set a departure time for 17-15. We reached the observation deck in 10 minutes, the views from there are really great, but in fact the trail along the lake continues, then you can go to its shore.
Of course, we could not miss this opportunity. The photos turned out great. The lake looks harsh, its steep shores are half hidden by clouds - a real fjord. Far in the fog is barely visible church of St. Bartholomew, a pleasure boat takes a few tourists (by the way, boats there work only on electric motors, no diesel).
The most annoying thing is that by 17-00 the weather began to improve, the clouds rose rapidly, the sun began to see through, and at 17-15 from the clouds it seemed, Eagle's Nest. Although from below we could see it! In conclusion, I will say this - even bad weather did not prevent us from getting the most out of this elective, the main thing - do not be sad and do not focus on unpleasant moments. Berchtesgaden National Park is a real gem, despite the large tourist flow, which has preserved its purity, naturalness, even wildness. Be sure to visit him!
By the time we got back to Salzburg (at 18-00), it was completely clear. The children stayed at the hotel, and my husband and I went to the Augustinian Brewery in Munich. It is quite a large establishment with three halls and a beer garden. Interesting self-service system.
First, the beer is paid for at the checkout, then it is poured from large barrels (beer mugs can be washed in a special fountain). At different times of the year several beers are made and sold here, in summer - Merzenbir, March beer, a liter costs 5.80, a half-liter 3.90. Various snacks (salads, meat, pastries) are sold separately on the other side of the halls. Our group was led to a small separate hall, a barrel of beer was brought, and a tap was killed. Dinner was organized as a buffet: baked potatoes in foil, grilled ribs, cabbage salad, traditional white radish, cut into a spiral, a couple of sauces, pastries.
There was enough food for everyone, and beer was still left, it was a pity with me for nothing))). I'm not a big beer expert, but definitely beer is tastier in Munich!
In general, I liked it, you could visit the beer hall on your own, on the map given by Eugene, its location is marked, save (some did), but it was fun with the band. My husband and I decided to walk back to the hotel, it was a very pleasant walk in the evening empty Salzburg (although drinking beer was a concern for some, it's good that the WC was explored in the afternoon))))), but the umbrella was not taken for nothing.
Salzburg "self-propelled")))
The morning was good weather. On this day, an organized part of the group went to the electives "Salt Mines" and "Helbrunn", and we decided at home to spend this day on their own. At first they wanted to buy a Salzburg card (25 euros for adults and 12 euros for children.
50, it could be bought directly at the hotel reception), which really makes it cheaper to visit a large number of Salzburg attractions.
But, calmly weighing our capabilities and desires, we decided to do without it. I did not want to gallop from museum to museum, I wanted a leisurely walk. And then Mariana announces that the band will leave the city not at 17-00, as in the tour program, but at 16-00. Tourists who planned their own time were dissatisfied, but it was useless to argue.
So, at 9-15 we left the hotel, to the bus stop №25 on Mozart-Platz go 10 minutes. The bus arrived exactly on schedule (it runs at intervals of 10-15 minutes), the trip also took 15 minutes. At 10-00 we were already in Helbrunn. Excursions to the part of the park with fountains come every 15 minutes, we bought a ticket for 10-30 (the cost of an adult ticket is 9.50, we bought a family ticket for all for 24 euros).
Time before the tour was spent in a souvenir shop, chose a small harmonica with the tune of Mozart))).
The guide spoke in German and English, we did not all understand, but it is not necessary.
Funny fountains amused everyone, no one really went dry. Exquisite grottoes, sculptures, mechanisms - and in different places hidden tiny tubes, the streams of which are skillfully controlled by a guide. Ingenious and insidious - that's how I would describe the work of old masters. I was especially impressed by the puppet theater, controlled only by the power of water, and the trick with a flying crown. 45 minutes of the tour flew by unnoticed. Then we wandered around the park, decided not to go to the zoo, and visit the museum in the castle. The tour with the Russian audio guide took 20 minutes, interesting. But most of all we were impressed by the small music hall with excellent acoustics.
On this day, a children's choir was on a tour of the museum, groups of boys took turns singing church hymns in this hall in several voices - an unforgettable experience!
At 12-30 we returned to the city and headed to the symbol of Salzburg, the mighty fortress of Hohensalzburg, founded in the 11th century, which dominates the city majestically. It is the largest fully preserved fortress in Central Europe, with an area of about 3.000 square meters. The family ticket, which included a funicular ride and a tour of everything inside the fortress, cost 24 euros. First we went on a tour with an audio guide (in Russian), during which we learned about the history of the fortress. Then we climbed the Rekturm Tower, which offers a stunning view of the surroundings, looked into the nook where the organ is "Salzburg Bull", which is 500 years old.
Then they continued the tour on their own: they saw a collection of historical weapons and furniture, visited the prince's apartment (impressed by a room with gilded Gothic carvings, silk wallpaper and a ceramic tile stove in 1502).
It was interesting to see the recently discovered fragments of the original building, just walk around the courtyards of the fortress, everything there still breathes antiquity (by the way, even with the plan of passages is easy to get lost).
When we went down in two hours, the weather deteriorated rapidly, a cold wind blew (it turned out that at this time in Helbrunn our group was covered by a downpour). As I said, we hurried again through places we liked, again bought delicious sausages at the market, reached Mirabel Park. It was not possible to walk in it again, it was already so cold that I wanted not to take pictures, but to get on the bus as soon as possible and turn on the heating!
According to tourists, the excursion to the salt mines was interesting and fun, they really liked to go on the fifth point of the wooden slides))).
At 16-00 we regretfully left Salzburg, 330 km ahead of Vienna, or rather the city of Klosterneuburg, where the hotel is located.
Tell nothing, the road is familiar, the mood is unimportant, all the fun in this trip has already happened, approaching home. On the way, for the first time, the GPS failed, leading us not to the bridge over the Danube, but to the ferry, but the drivers quickly orientated. We arrived at the hotel around 21-30. Hotel "Park Inn" 4 * (minibar, hair dryer, TV, air conditioning off, cool modern interior, everything new, the most comfortable mattresses for the whole trip, shower). From our room you could see a local landmark - the August Monastery, founded in the 12th century, on the other side - the park and the Danube.
In the morning at breakfast there was an unpleasant delay in serving food, as if the kitchen did not expect everyone to come to breakfast until 7-00. We had to wait, and the time, you know, was approaching, leaving the hotel at 8-00.
http:// www. klosterneuburg. a-austria. com / uk / park-inn-vienna-klosterneuburg-bei-wien
Vienna + Tokay
Sightseeing tour of Vienna began at 8-40, ended at 10-40, then free time until 13-30.
Yana's guide had a great time, a standard set of objects for the first acquaintance with the city.
Surprisingly, in this tour (as far as I can judge, and in many other tours of the Chord) Vienna is a transit city! This is not Innsbruck, which would probably take five hours. Of course, Vienna is worth a separate trip. Vienna needs to walk on its own, inhale its aromas and enjoy the charm of this beauty, and not follow the guide in a crowd of 40 people. You can know nothing about these beautiful houses, just look at them and admire.
Vienna impressed with its scale, majesty of buildings, fountains, sculptures, lots of bronze and gilding. It is not surprising that this is the purpose for which the emperors built their city.
Another thing that surprised me was that modern Vienna is devoid of arrogance (I had such a prejudiced opinion), but it has a sense of self-worth that is felt everywhere - in Viennese architecture, in Viennese comfort, in Viennese people. Quote (author unknown): "Vienna is beautiful not so much in beauty as in the absence of ugliness. " I completely agree!
In our free time we had little time. First we visited the Stephans House: gothic vaults, sharply tending upwards, bizarre stone carvings, not very elegant, but very beautiful and solemn. Of course, climbed the tower of the cathedral, you guessed it, to the South on 343 steps, the North with an elevator is a very easy way for us))) (cost 3.50, children - 1 euro).
And there is a closed room at a height of 67 m, you can only look outside through quite dirty windows. Species, frankly, not very disappointed.
Then, on the advice of a guide, we visited St. Peter's Church, which stands in a small alley. Inconspicuous on the outside, inside it simply impresses with the luxury of baroque! A magnificent dome with a fresco, gilded stucco, sculptures, balconies, coats of arms, organ, a magnificent main altar, and in the side altars - the relics of two martyrs. The first temple on this site was built 16 centuries ago!
The rest of the time I had to spend prosaically buying products and the latest souvenirs for friends and colleagues.
We continue to move east, to the homeland. The next point of our route of the city of Talia in the Tokay region is 490 km long. We arrive there at 20-40. After the greeting, we are immediately given glasses, explained that we will try two varieties of wine in the cellars, then three more during dinner.
The owner confidently leads the group through the intricate passages of ancient wine cellars, some tunnels of 400 years.
In some places the ceiling is quite low, you have to bow. On the walls and ceiling is specific mold and slime, the floor is quite slippery, and on the floor rows of barrels of wine. Looking closely, you can see that the bottoms of the tubs are carved, and the drawings are different. Drinking wine in such a place is cool! Then, in order not to get lost in the labyrinth of cellars, we try not to lag behind the escort, we come to the dining hall. Here we are fed a very tasty island ()) goulash soup (and we missed soups! ).
As you know, only white wines are produced in the Tokay region. Unfortunately, the names of the wines are not remembered, again the Hungarian language is difficult. We tasted semi-sweet wines of 2.3 and 4 years of aging, dry wine and the famous wine with the addition of raisins, sweet, with the aroma of dried fruit. I liked all the wines, even dry.
Then, as usual, we were offered to buy these wines. The cheapest two-year-old wine cost 3 euros per bottle 0.
75 or 5 euros for a 2-liter plastic. Three-year - 5 euros for 0.75 liters. A four-year-old - 6 euros for an elegant thin bottle with a capacity of 0.25 liters, and wine with raisins - seems to be 10 euros. Doubts about plastic containers, but the wine turned out to be just that, light, a little sweet, my friends and I celebrated our arrival home. By the way, there were no "side effects" after tasting or at home after drinking this wine. Only again regretted that little was brought))).
After a nice evening we drive 50 km to Miskolc, to the hotel "Park" 2 *. Well, to say the least, the unpleasant contrast with other tour hotels, furniture and plumbing almost expired, but the refrigerator and TV were, no hair dryer, shower, quiet. http:// www. parkhotel-miskolc. eu / lang /
Breakfast was the same, instead of butter - margarine! , waiters like sleepy flies, had to wait for coffee for 15 minutes.
Speaking of breakfast, a group of tourists from Poland distinguished themselves.
Absolutely without shame in front of everyone, they wrapped sandwiches, poured coffee into thermoses. The drivers then said that after our departure, the waiters swore at the leader of their group and forced everyone to give food. Our group did not allow itself anything like this in any hotel, yet the explanatory work is yielding results.
Baths Miskolc-Topolce
The baths in Miskolc are definitely worth a look, but find out exactly how long you will be there. At first we were promised 2 hours, then 1.5 hours, after everyone handed over the money, it turned out that we would have only 45 minutes of clean time in the baths.
That day Mariana and the drivers were in a hurry to get home.
They can be understood, Mariana had a toothache, she, poor thing, did not lose consciousness from the pain, and the drivers from Lviv had to go home to Vinnytsia, so they wanted to be the first at customs. The schedule for that day was solid for us.
At 8-20 we left the hotel and walked to the swimming pool (there are no buses). At 8-35 we were already standing in front of the closed ticket offices to be the first. Doesn't that remind you of anything? - Homeland is close! The box office opened at exactly 9, at 9-10 we went inside. Anyone who has been there knows the strange locker room system and awkward lockers, which require 100 forints. While we were sorting things out, while we were changing, we were in the water at 9-30. And at 10-30 we were on the street again, dressed and with dried hair. So it turned out that we stayed in the baths for only 45 minutes. This is very little! There was only enough time to look back, avoid everything, relax and unwind.
Especially since some water effects, waves or massage in the jacuzzi, are included at a certain time according to the schedule written in "understandable" Hungarian. In a word, we really liked the baths, but the organization of the elective is bad, not in favor of tourists!
We left home at 11:00.470 km remain to Lviv, 185 km to the customs in Zakhon. We really turned out to be the first bus at customs and passed them both in 1.5 hours. We dropped off several tourists at the train station in Chop, where we saw the first stray dogs in 12 days. It was raining outside the window, the girls at the distribution in the cafe "Okay", which they liked so much, were rude. After the arranged mountain rivers in Europe, the disheveled Stryi with twisted trees, car tires and more damn things was shocked. There were native pits and hills on the road. Sadly.
We arrived in Lviv at 21-20, the temperature outside is 12 degrees, almost like in the Eagle's Nest))).
Drivers solemnly report that the bus has traveled 5.527 km. Farewell smiles, hurried words… Is it over? THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO EVERYONE! WE WERE AN EXCELLENT TEAM!
Instead of an epilogue
Thanks to everyone who read these lines.
I tried to tell in detail about our trip, but if necessary, I will answer questions.
In our opinion, the Alpine Trio tour is a well-thought-out and organized product (I have already expressed my opinion on some points). Everything was, as per the notes, no special hitches. The schedule of each day in the tour is justified, only the information on the site and in the informalists need to be brought into line with reality. It is important that, despite the high saturation of electives, tourists have the opportunity to plan their own time.
We did not go shopping, did not buy many souvenirs, only the minimum necessary.
And dinner and lunch in a cafe just did not work - then moving, then late return to the hotel, had dinner in the room. Almost half of the food stocks were also brought home.
The tour did not seem long and tiring to us, on the contrary, we would not give up a few more days.
A shorter trip would not give the opportunity to enjoy the trip, did not have time to arrive - it's time to go. We endured long journeys easily, good roads are not stressful, but night crossings are probably not for us, a good night's rest in such tours is a must, otherwise it will be difficult to maintain the day's pace.
The children really enjoyed the trip. Despite the fears, the younger behaved very decently, was not capricious at breakfasts, got up normally in the morning. Of course, he did not like sightseeing tours, but for the sake of adults he was patient and did not interfere. To the question: What did you like the most? "Answers: " When we walked alone. "
As they say, the baby's mouth… We ourselves were more pleased with the self-indulgence than organized tours. It is always more interesting to follow your own route in your own rhythm. And how interesting it is to prepare for them, how much new you will learn along the way!
We liked the tour so much that we would gladly go again. Successful selection of hotels gives you the opportunity to see many more interesting, most beautiful places in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. But there are other cities and countries. I would very much like to go to Scandinavia, and maybe to Croatia… One thing we know for sure, this is the first, but not the last trip!
