Tuesday, December 6, 2016: St. Florian Abbey, Travel to Salzburg, St. Peter's Christkindlmarkt
Today we say goodbye to Vienna. We pack our bags and leave them in the hotel lobby at the prescribed time and have breakfast in the hotel. Everything is loaded by the appointed time and we make one last "guided drive" through the heart of Vienna and take the A1 toward Linz.
I know. Exciting.
We do get one of our special Road Scholar treats this morning. We stop at the St. Florian Abbey near Linz, to this day still an Augustine monastery, renowned for its Baroque architecture and its close association with composer Anton Bruckner.
We get a special, private concert from the amazing Bruckner church organ. We not only hear the organ, we can feel it.
We have lunch in the restaurant in the Abbey
where the Austrian tradition of napkin folding is upheld.
Unfortunately, they have adopted American-sized portions of veggie lasagne. I had no chance to even put a dent in this.
Beverly in Abbey courtyard.
After emerging from the Danube valley, the Alps become larger and nearer. This is The Sound of Music Country and our guide puts the audio soundtrack on the bus sound system. The hills come alive ...
We arrive at our hotel in Salzburg and expect a mad house at check in / luggage retrieval time and find none of that. Our hotel room keys are handed out in about one minute and by the second minute we are in our room.
Notice the "Mozart ball" on the bed.
We have wine in the hotel bar with our friends, the Lanes.
Again, great napkin folding at dinner
of dumpling soup, beef roll and curd cheese strudel.
After dinner while my traveling companions decide to take time off in their rooms, I navigate the local public transportation system to the Christkindlmarkt by St. Peter's Cathedral for picture taking under the lights.
A choir performs on the steps of St. Peter's Cathedral.
Some of the goods on sale at the market.
And finally I leave you with night shots from around old town Salzburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its Baroque architecture and its famous son, Mozart.
Guten Nacht.
I know. Exciting.
We do get one of our special Road Scholar treats this morning. We stop at the St. Florian Abbey near Linz, to this day still an Augustine monastery, renowned for its Baroque architecture and its close association with composer Anton Bruckner.
We get a special, private concert from the amazing Bruckner church organ. We not only hear the organ, we can feel it.
We have lunch in the restaurant in the Abbey
where the Austrian tradition of napkin folding is upheld.
Unfortunately, they have adopted American-sized portions of veggie lasagne. I had no chance to even put a dent in this.
Beverly in Abbey courtyard.
After emerging from the Danube valley, the Alps become larger and nearer. This is The Sound of Music Country and our guide puts the audio soundtrack on the bus sound system. The hills come alive ...
We arrive at our hotel in Salzburg and expect a mad house at check in / luggage retrieval time and find none of that. Our hotel room keys are handed out in about one minute and by the second minute we are in our room.
Notice the "Mozart ball" on the bed.
We have wine in the hotel bar with our friends, the Lanes.
Again, great napkin folding at dinner
of dumpling soup, beef roll and curd cheese strudel.
After dinner while my traveling companions decide to take time off in their rooms, I navigate the local public transportation system to the Christkindlmarkt by St. Peter's Cathedral for picture taking under the lights.
A choir performs on the steps of St. Peter's Cathedral.
Some of the goods on sale at the market.
And finally I leave you with night shots from around old town Salzburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its Baroque architecture and its famous son, Mozart.
Guten Nacht.
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