Off to Salzburg!

December 21, 2012 –

** Oh boy.  Am I ever mad!!!  I just spent the last four hours working on this post- thinking that I had saved it- when….POOF!  It vanished into thin air.  AAAAAAArrrrrggggggh!!!!!!!!**

Okay…getting back to the important stuff:

sniff, sniff…

It's time to leave Opa …and leave Veitsch.  We need to make our way across Steiermark and Salzburg.  We'll overnight in downtown Salzburg tonight.  

First stop…coffee!  And we know just where to get some…in Kindberg.  There are lots of konditorei there so I'm sure we'll find one that can make us a cup of coffee to go.

Kindberg:

Kindberg's Mai Baum (May Tree) in the background.

Yes…we were right!  This place is open: 

With treats and coffee we're ready to roar down the road.  

Well, maybe not roar…as we've encountered some wintery road conditions. I think we'll have to slow down a bit: 

It's snowing!!! Finally!!!! Look at all that lovely snow! (somewhere in Ennstal)

Hmmmm…it's about lunch time and we're not too far away from St. Johann am Pongau.  How about we stop here for a bite to eat at our old stomping grounds???  We know a great pizza place in one of the hotels (Alpenland).

St. Johann: 

This beautiful ski resort brings back a flood of memories for both Mark and me. We've spent a lot of time here. Ah, the memories! I remember when Annika was just barely a year old we hiked all over those mountains (she in my baby backpack). My, how times have changed!!!

 Waiting for our favorite pizza….The girls are drinking one of my favorite Austrian drinks- Almdudler.  You can only find it in Austria!!!  It's kind of like ginger ale but with a few herbs thrown in.  :-)

Mark and I got to share this beauty…spinach, ham and sheep milk cheese. mmmmmmmm….. Oh boy! Does this ever bring back memories!

Annika doing what she loves best…doodling.

 Ah, St. Johann was so nice but sadly we have to move on.  It's so gorgeous here though!  Annika kept saying over and over again that the snow flakes falling were HUGE.  And indeed…there were large snow flakes falling.  

Time to head to Salzburg…we've got less than an hour driving time.  Then we have to make our way through the heart of the old town to get to our hotel.  We'll be staying at a place called Hotel Bristol.

I'm really enjoying the navigation system this BMW came with.  While I don't care for turn-by-turn directions I love seeing the map.  Although, what am I worried about?  I think we could do this drive in our sleep- we've done it many, many times (years ago).  Every time we do this drive we get worried for nothing!  It's really quite simple driving into the heart of Salzburg….so simple that we're here! 

We're all checked in!  Ugh.  And it's raining!!!!  That's not winter weather!  (funny, on the other side of the mountain pass it was snowing.  On this side there's only rain.  darn!)

Check out our interconnecting rooms:

Grown-up room

 One word to describe them…posh.  This really feels and looks like a luxury hotel.  It's so beautiful!!!

Girls' room

Oooo….and check out the bathroom: 

Gorgeous bathroom! Love the contrast of the black and white marble. It has just the right amenities without being over-the-top obnoxious. (heated towel rack!)

Check out some of the goodies on our side table: 

Ava, don't even think about grabbing our goodies!!!! I know that you have your own goodies in your room!!! (goodies consisted of oranges, vanille kipferl, cookies and nuts)

I think we're going to get changed up and go check out the Christmas market.  I just looked at the clock and we still have time to run over and see it tonight.  Want to come???

(I think we'd better ask at the front desk if they have umbrellas for us to use.  It's really pouring!!!  What happened to winter?)

PS.  It looks like I lost my cream colored, cable knit hat in St. Johann.  Darn it!!!