AWESOME AUSTRIA!

Austria ..... Home of Schnitzel!

And enormous serves of beer! .... Granted, these are only menu's. But Austrians do love their beer! All the serving vessels are enormous! You would be in heaven if you were a beer drinker .... unfortunately none of us are! lol

Museum in Vienna

Inside the palace where I attended a classical concert (which was fantastic)

Another fine example of Austrian architecture

The church in Mondsee where the Baron and Maria married in "The Sound of Music"

Mondsee village .... very cute and quaint!

On the way to Mondsee ... a beautiful lake in the Austrian alps district!

A typical example of Austrian housing .... very alpine and very cute!

Lake and gardens used in the filming of "The sound of music" in Salzburg

" The hills are alive with the sound of music!" .... admittedly this was nowhere near the original filming site for the movie! But doesn't it just want to make you run through the hills singing while picking flowers? lol

First stop in Austria .... Salzburg! Birth place of Mozart and where the "Sound of Music" was filmed. What a gorgeous spot! A few of the girls on the tour (and a few dragged along husbands) went on a "Sounds of Music" tour which was hysterical! Picture a bus full of tourists singing "Do Re Mi", "My favourite things" and "Edeilweiss" at the top of their lungs and re enacting scenes while on location (all done stone cold sober I might add!) lol

On the way to Vienna we visited an old concentration camp 'Mauthausen' where 100,000 people had died .... No photos were taken by us, as it was really a place for contemplation. I must say it was very disturbing. My wish is that all the people that suffered there at the hands of the nazi's wherever they may be .... have found some sort of peace. It certainly makes you appreciate how fortunate we all are to live how we do now.

Vienna was beautiful! Made even more wonderful by an All Blacks win on our first morning in town! The die hard kiwi's (me included) plus irish Jen (token kiwi) found an Aussie Bar and were there for the 9.30am kick off ..... Now normally I would be seeking help if I was in a bar at this hour of the morning .... but it was for a legitimate reason! lol

We are now venturing over the Austrian border to Hungary!