And So Begins the Regaling of Our Christmas Adventure

Our Salzburg holiday began the morning of the 23rd of December, leaving Bratislava we traveled by train to Vienna, switching stations via the Underground and then boarding another train bound for Salzburg. The weather progressively improved as we made our way east towards our destination. The sun revealing more and more of the beauty of the Austrian countryside and various towns the rails passed through. Something spied from the window of the train while passing through a few towns were brightly wrapped presents hanging from trees, the decorations were so festive. There was a steady rise in elevation during the train journey, passing through many tunnels and experiencing the common sensation of having our ears pop. Closer to Salzburg we began to notice a bit of snow, which made it seem more like Christmas than ever. The mountains came into view, which were more beautiful than words can describe. The train pulled into the Salzburg station and the anticipation and excitement although contained till this point began to bubble over!!! We found a very amiable and knowledgeable cab driver, who entertained us with information about our hotel and the city itself. Very soon into the ride we began the ascent towards our mountain retreat, The Romantik Hotel Gersberg Alm (for the English version of the website click on the English tab in the upper right hand corner). As mentioned in a previous post, we couldn't have been more delighted with our accommodations. The journey towards the Gersberg Alm revealed more of Salzburg, situated in a valley, surrounded by mountains, it was breath taking. The laneway leading up to the inn is tree lined and provides access to hiking trails that run throughout the area. The inn’s façade is something out of a fairytale, so welcoming and enchanting, and the staff were so friendly. Walking out onto the balcony of our room, this was the view from our room, we were thrilled!

We unpacked and went outside for a walk and a glimpse of our surroundings before nightfall. Wow, there was snow, enough to make things pretty, there was a crispness to the air that was so invigorating and calming at the same time. That first night we enjoyed a sumptuous meal in the hotel restaurant and then called it a night. We drifted off to sleep, tired from the day’s travels and looking forward to the next day’s discoveries and the fact that it would be Christmas Eve.

Find new Salzburg photographs at our Flickr account (permanent link above on the right).

More information about Salzburg can be found here.

Enjoy the journey!!!

'To the complaint, 'There are no people in these photographs,' I respond, 'There are always two people: the photographer and the viewer.'
~Ansel Adams

Till Next Week

I am going to save sharing our thoughts and impressions of our Salzburg holiday until next week. For now enjoy the photos we have uploaded to Flickr, there are a few new ones today.

Wishing everyone a terrific weekend!!!
Enjoy the journey!!!

Salzburg

As promised we have a few photographs to share with you today. You will find eight photographs taken during our holiday in Salzburg, with more to come, as well as various Bratislava photos many of you have already seen in the various scrapblogs (see links on the right). I will provide a link (see below and to the right) which will take you to our account with Flickr! a wonderful site designed for storing, sharing and organizing your photographs. I will be working on a scrapblog of Salzburg but for now please enjoy the photos.

Here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aturtleandadragon/"

Salzburg was amazing. Scott and I fell in love with the area. We were so fortunate with our hotel selection; we weren't directly in the city but up one of the mountains. A description of the hotel found on a travel site puts it this way: The Romantik Hotel Gersberg Alm offers a rare combination of a world famous city and easy access to pure nature. The guests [live] above the rooftops of Salzburg just far enough away from the noise of the traffic and bustle, but close enough to the magic of the city. The views from the hotel down into the city and of the surrounding mountains were breathtaking!

Perspective

A tad under the weather today so this post will be a bit on the short side. The photo on the right is a shot of the overhead branches of a tree covered in frost. It was taken early one crisp morning last week while on holiday, such refreshing and invigorating weather. Tomorrow there will be photographs from Salzburg to enjoy. Till then, take care and savour the moments...


P.S. For those of you with wee ones in your lives (and those of you who remain young at heart) the following link might be of interest, coloured bubbles!!

The New Year...

Salzburg, Austria is a magical and gloriously beautiful place. Scott and I will share our photographs and thoughts of Salzburg over the next couple of weeks. It was a fantastic holiday!!! The mountains were phenomenally gorgeous and the following quote by Leonardo da Vinci aptly expresses this sentiment:

Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does Nature, because in her inventions, nothing is lacking and nothing is superfluous.


The month of January holds such promise, a clean slate before each of us. Enjoy the journey!!!!


The future is called "perhaps," which is the only possible thing to call the future. And the only important thing is not to allow that to scare you.
~Tennessee Williams