Austria was the biggest surprise!

When I first booked the Europe portion of our trip, I had really no interest in visiting Austria. I just hadn't heard much about it. I knew that Vienna was here, but many people say that Vienna is boring, and I knew The Sound of Music was filmed SOMEWHERE in this part of the world, but that's about it.

What an absolutely pleasant surprise Austria was to me. Vienna was intriguing, filled with incredible architecture, culture, music, art, gardens, and it's QUIET for a large city, which really surprised me. The shopping is awesome with all the big high fashion names, and people are extremely friendly!

My guess is the people who thought Vienna was boring must have had all their senses dulled for the time they were there. When we went into the main Vienna Cathedral, there was a 30 person choir singing at the front of the church. It was impossible to be bored by the music and surrounding of this setting and I had chills and tears in my eyes lost in the moment.

There are a dozen different museums you can choose from to visit. We went to visit The Belvadere which houses the very famous 'The Kiss' by Gustav Klimt. Even if you didn't go inside this museum, the elaborate gardens that surrounded it was enough to inspire you. We went here with our friend Luis and enjoyed a couple bottles of wine in the gardens before we even went inside.

As a day excursion, six of us went Grape Grazing in the Austrian countryside. This was a full day of wine tours by bicycle! It turns out I am the cheapest drunk (big surprise) and I'm shocked I didn't fall off my bike at sometime during the day. Two other people did! I wore my little summer dress and loved cycling through the vineyards in the countryside feeling all girlie.

We were able to make a few extra stops to visit the castle ruins where Richard the LionHeart was kept prisoner for a few months , play some beach volleyball and go for a swim in the Danu River (which was VERY cold). We even did do some homemade jam, liquor and mustard tastings along the way.

We are currently in a town about three hours away from Vienna called Salzberg, which we are leaving today. This is the town that Motzart was born in and The Sound of Music was filmed. They have a channel on TV here that plays The Sound of Music perpetually so you can identify places in town you just visited that Maria and the Von Trap children played in.

The town itself is my favorite town I have been in yet. Quaint, peaceful, interesting and extremely pretty. The mountains, hills and river that surround it are breathtaking.

Yesterday Iain and I went to visit the world's largest ice caves, which are only an hour away from Salzburg. We spent about an hour inside the Austrian Alps and were amazed by the 42 kilometers of ice caverns. This literally was the world's largest ice palace.

Unfortunately since it was pitch black inside and the only lighting was from our little lanterns, I have only a couple of good pictures to show for it, and they are close-ups. You will have to see it in person to believe what we saw.

Overall, I give Austria my highest rating. It had both my favorite city and favorite town so far on this trip, two great excursions (Grape Grazing and the ice caves) and the countryside is without peer. It's a' must do' for anyone visiting Europe and I am SO happy we came here.