Hallstatt is about two hours away from Salzburg. If you seen pictures, then you know you have to go. There are a couple of way you can go, but I decided to do the bus/train option. I took bus 150 to Bad Ischl, then a train from Bad Ischl to Hallstatt station, and finally a ferry across the lake to the Hallstatt. It is just as perfect as you see in pictures. I went at the end of August which a perfect time to go. There were many places that I had to myself. Once again go early and once the ferry docks walk fast to beat the crowds to get these views. Make sure you have some cash handy if you want to eat at the restaurants. You really must sit outside and have lunch to enjoy the views. Another reason why I love solo traveling. I was able to zip around this town and take all the sites in at my pace. I got to get my pictures just right and I even met another solo female traveler who I had lunch with. It was a perfect day! Do not pass up the chance to see this magical town.
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The hills are alive….with the sound of music. I mean you just have to sing it upon your arrival into Salzburg. One of the main reasons why I choose Austria as my first solo trip, was because of my favorite movie of all time. I simply just had to visit this beautiful city. It surely did not disappoint. Just take a look! My dreams were fulfilled when I took a tour to see the locations from the Sound of Music. As a super fan I was a bit disappointed that we could not get out and see every location. The picture above is now a hotel. I guess they do not want a ton of tourist daily on their property. Which is fine, because I loved the far away view. But, I was sad that we could not go to the Abby. They like to keep it private. I get that but stopping outside the gates would have been cool. We also rode by the entrance to the Von Trapp house. Come on! No picture here either. One of the biggest things I wanted to achieve with this tour, was to twirl on the same mountain as Julie Andrews. You guessed it! Could not do that either as that was shot in a different location that was hours away from Salzburg. Although I saw some incredible sights I was very disappointed with all the things I did not get to see. So if this is on your list as well just be forewarned. Ok now back to the beauty and highlights of that day. This is the lake view that is nearby the church where the Von Trapps got married. It was absolutely stunning! Although I was disappointed by all the things I did not see, there would be no way that I could all of it done by myself. You could rent a car and try, but the tour is just easier. Something is better than nothing right? I of course enjoyed everything I did get to do. If you have any questions. Just let me know :)
Have I mentioned already that I cannot sleep on planes? Of course I have tried everything, but my body does not want to play along. Unless I am laying down, it’s completely silent or ambient noise, and completely dark my body is not having it! So I had already been up since the crack of dawn, on arrival it is day time in Vienna. I like to stay on timetable of wherever I arrive. So no sleeping for me. Time to find my hostel, drop my stuff off, and start exploring. No time to waste. Now...probably my biggest fear about solo traveling was finding my way around. I have only used public transportation once before by myself. I’ve lived in Dallas my whole life and couldn’t get around without a gps. So to go to another country where they speak another language and try and navigate was my biggest fear. I tried to come well prepared. The directions were pretty thorough on the site to get to the hostel. Which I wrote down on paper so I wouldn’t have to check my phone so often. Not trying to get my stuff stolen because people sense I was lost. I thought I was set up for success. So off the plane and straight to the underground tram system I go. I go to the automated ticket kiosk and just like that I’m lost! NOOOOOOO!!!! How can this be!?!?! Long story short- the stop I was looking for was not the main ending stop. It was a stop along the way. All I could see were the main stop names. As my heart started to sink I looked around. Everyone is of course busy on their normal every day commute. I don’t see an attendant anywhere. Then I see a girl with a huge backpack on her back. Tourist! Perhaps she speaks English. She does! She obviously has taken public transportation before too, but she finds my stop so quick it was embarrassing. But, I don’t care! I am just so thankful to now be on my way. Moral of the story. Never be afraid to ask for help :) Which since I am directionally challenged I had to do again upon exiting the train. But, I finally made it to my destination. Phew. ***Quick recap*** I have NEVER ever wanted to stay in a hostel. I associated them with bed bugs and everything dirty. In previous travels I either had hotel or airbnb stays with prior friends. Welp...when you are no longer friends and you have to do for yourself, you have to make sacrifices. So to stay in budget and perhaps meet other like-minded people hostel it was. Now of course there are some really nice hostels out there now that I have taken the time to look. I am so glad that I did. Upon entering my hostel I met a girl named Jessica. She was the only one there at the moment. We got to chatting and soon enough we were making our way toward the city center together. She wanted to go to a museum that I did not have interest in so we parted ways once we got there, but exchanged numbers so we could meet up and do dinner later. Day one was off to a great start. Now I’m a sucker for historic buildings and of course Europe has a ton. It’s just magical to be able to walk around and take it all in at your own pace. Even if I was dead tired. My first stop was to the Natural History Museum. This is always my museum of choice. I think I have a thing for dinosaur bones lol. I was in there for a couple of hours. There is just so much to see and learn. But, by this point I had been up over 24 hours. I was literally falling asleep while standing and reading. I have never had that happened before. You know when you nod off and you jerk yourself back awake. But, I was standing! Has this ever happened to anyone else!? It was a crazy sensation to me. I tried to find a quite area with a bench that I could perhaps take a 5 min power nap. Yea...not gonna happen. By this time the museum was getting ready to close. So I somehow caught a second wind and tried to power through all the rooms. I get a message from Jessica that she is finished and what time I wanted to get dinner. I blazed through and off to dinner we went. Where I had one of the national dishes of boiled beef. It was the blandest thing I have ever tasted. Sorry if you loved it. It came with a apple horseradish that gave it a bit of flavor. But, not enough to recommend you try it. Unless, you are like me and have to try everything. For the culture.
I had a wonderful and insightful conversation with Jessica. She invited me to go to a vineyard the next day with a local girl who she met through a group on Facebook. How could I say no to that?! I must say that Vienna at night was really peaceful. Not a lot of people or traffic. We had the streets mostly to ourselves. It was wonderful! I highly recommend going at the end of August. Stay tuned for day two :) My Second Day was filled with great adventure. I will combine day two and three with a 5 things you must do while in Vienna. 1. First up you definitely have to make your way to the vineyards. It provides you with absolutely stunning views. It is a very refreshing escape from the city center. The day we went the actual vineyards were closed, but we found a cute restaurant nearby named Alter Bach-Henglthat that sold local wine. 2. If I had to choose my number one highlight from Vienna it would be Wien Sacher Hotel. This hotel transports you back to a time gone by. I have never seen a hotel like this in my life. Every room has a different color theme. The red restaurant was a vision to see! I would give anything to actually stay at this property, but unfortunately at the moment it was out of the budget. If you do make it I highly recommend getting the sea bass at the red restaurant (Restaurant Rote Bar). The flavor pairings were exquisite! This hotel is at the top of my hotel bucket list for sure. It will be my goal to come back and actual stay and eat at every restaurant. 3. I absolutely love apple pie. It is my favorite dessert. If you come to Vienna you have to try their apple strudel. I had it a few times in my stay. I would have to recommend Cafe Sperl as my favorite place to for strudel. I was on my way back for the night when I passed the Cafe. I just had to stop in because of the old world charm. I also had the place to myself which was great for taking the moment all in. 4. Natural History Museum. I am pretty sure a natural museum will always make my lists. It is my favorite museum to go to. I am certain it has to do with dinosaurs. So fascinating! But, also the is just stunningly beautiful inside. I stayed for hours even though I was walking around on fumes. You will not be disappointed. 5. Lastly, I would recommend the Schönbrunn Palace. Do start early. I went right at opening time of 8am. I stayed till 1pm! That should tell you that there is too much too see. This palace is incredible, but the grounds are magnificent. There is so much to explore, but you need the right shoes. My feet were killing me! That was the only reason why I left when I did. I am a little sad that I did not see everything, but what I did see was amazing. I totally loved my time in Vienna. It was the right amount of everything for my first solo trip. The city was so easy to navigate and that was one of my biggest fears. The food was not my favorite I have ever had, but you can definitely find something to your liking. I do love how fresh and reasonably priced the food was. The weather was also very warm in enjoyable at the end of August. The perfect time to go if you ask me. And do ask. If you want to know anything about my time in Vienna please let me know.
You don’t have to go far or out of the country to travel. You also do not need weeks. You can go to three cities in one day. How? Start early. My original plan was to visit downtown Reno and Lake Tahoe. We arrived bright and super early into Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Got our rental car and were on our way to downtown. Now my original thought of downtown Reno was that it would be pretty similar to downtown Las Vegas. Boy, was I wrong. There is nothing to downtown. It is like a ghost town. We stumbled into a pawnshop to see if we were missing anything. The owner was local and looked at us dumbfounded when we asked if we were missing anything while downtown. We were so disappointed. He did suggest that we head over to Virginia City. He described it as a working ghost town. That’s all he had to say. I love discovering old towns. Hey if you haven’t noticed I am into eras gone by. All was not lost. I did get to twirl in the middle of the street to get a picture in front of the downtown sigh. Onward! Now Virginia City is only about 40 mins away from downtown Reno. But, watch out for those look outs on the way there. You have to stop! You’ll get views like this… We even got to see wild horses. It was magical! Moral of the story...Never pass a viewpoint:-) In fact, never pass up any opportunity in life. Wisdom of the day lol Alight we finally arrive at Virginia City and it is the cutest. You are just dying to see a duel in the middle of the street. It was nice just strolling the wooden walkways. Be careful strolling by the many candy stores. One store offered us a sample and we left with like a 5 pound bag of candy. Suckers...lol The best part were the the churches. Definitely the gems of this city. We probably took everything in less than an hour. It was worth the stopover. Now for an hour drive to the Jewel of the Sierras. This was the first view. Magnificent! The light was just perfect. Now since we are last minute people we were not able to get a cabin on the lake. Now this is my goal in life. I have to see this beauty in the summer as well. In fact, I could make this a yearly tradition. That does sound nice! I hope you enjoyed our day trip around Reno. I do hope you can spend weeks in exotic locales, but don’t wait for that moment. Take a weekend trip. Heck a lot can be accomplished in just one day. I am a person that is all about experiences. It doesn’t have to the Taj Mahal. Just discover something new. If you have any questions let me know! Good Day.
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AuthorTraveling makes my heart happy. My mission is to use words and pictures to inspire you to get out there and take in the beauty of our world. Archives
December 2019
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