Austria

After one three-hour train and one two-hour train, Derek and I arrived in Salzburg, Austria. It was 11:00 PM. We checked into our Airbnb, which once again did not have AC. I seriously fudged up by not checking to see if our Airbnbs had AC. We woke up early on Wednesday to catch a bus, train and ferry to reach the scenic town of Hallstatt. 

Hallstatt

​Yes. We had to take a one hour and a half bus, a 20-minute train and then a 15-minute ferry in order to get from Salzburg to Hallstatt. All of this traveling and I had a lovely cold that a certain someone who I won’t mention gave to me. I tried to not let it hamper my time in Austria because this country from what we have seen is one of the most beautiful places I have been. I had an inkling that I would love Austria before we visited, but now it’s confirmed. 

When we arrived in Hallstatt, we immediately found a place to dip our toes in the water. If there is water nearby you can bet Derek and I are trying to find a way to be in it or next to it, especially in 90-degree weather. Derek was desperate to go in, but we didn’t have our suits so he took off his shirt and rolled up his shorts and went as far in as possible. The lake was a bit chilly for my liking, but I won’t deny how amazing it felt under the hot sun. The town of Hallstatt is super tiny so we did a bit of exploring and also enjoyed some homemade ice cream.
 
And then we took the ferry, train and bus back to Salzburg just in the nick of time. As soon as we got back into our Airbnb it started to rain. Not just rain. Torrential downpour with…I’ll say hurricane force winds, but don’t quote me. I was feeling super crappy so I told Derek I was skipping dinner and going to bed. I took a Nyquil and was lulled to sleep by the thunder and rain. 

Salzburg

​The next morning we slept in a bit, which we both needed. We spent Thursday, August 9, walking around Salzburg, eating some apple strudel and enjoying the colorful gardens of Mirabell Palace. We didn’t have a lot of time in Salzburg, but we were able to walk around a majority of the city and enjoy how peaceful it was. I know most of Europe is on vacation in August, but there weren’t even many tourists.
 

Vienna

We arrived in Vienna around 10 PM and checked into our Airbnb, which actually did have working lightbulbs in the bathroom, even though we couldn’t figure out how to turn them on until the morning we left. Friday was an absolutely perfect day weather wise. It was sunny in the morning and early afternoon and then the rest of the day was cloudy and windy with some rain in the evening. I know clouds, wind and rain doesn’t sound amazing, but it was. It was probably the first day we weren’t drenched in sweat and we were loving it.
 
Besides the pleasant weather, we loved Vienna. There were endless elaborate buildings in the center of the city. The streets were clean, the parks were green and the people were friendly. We spent the day walking through the center with an hour or so break in a garden called Burggarten followed by a visit to the Butterfly House. There was no sole highlight of the day as I thoroughly enjoyed each street and I would love to return in the future for a longer trip. There are quite a few palaces I’d love to visit.
 
We left Vienna on Saturday morning and headed to Athens, Greece to meet my friends, Emily, Mark and Kevin!