St Wolfgang

Look look!

The bus took us to St Wolfgang where we spent some time walking about and taking pictures ( me) and spending money.(me again) It had stopped raining at this stage which was nice. But the roads were still wet and some of them were slippery. I had quite a time walking ( fast ) down some narrow lanes. Had to rush to avoid being left behind by the ferry.

Where is St Wolfgang you may well ask. It's in central Austria. ( Yes we did a fair bit of travelling thanks to the lovely tour which allowed us to see many interesting sights in our limited time). St Wolfgang was part of the tour package. The "Sound of Music" tour would have been nice. But there really wasn't enough time.


*interesting to note, the spelling "Doktor" is similar to the Malay spelling

Are you a soap person?

Found at St Wolfgang

I've decided to blog in an non-chronological manner. So I'll be putting up pictures from my album at random and talking around them. Here's such a picture. Aren't these duckies adorable? I kinda regret not buying at least 2 of them. 

Where is St Wolfgang you may well ask...It is in central Austria. Quite a journey by bus all the way from Munich. But the scenery as we approach the smaller villages were amazing. Exactly like a story book or a mini series where you see the villagers walking down the lane. 

I don't think St Wolfgang is famous for soap. (Haha) It is however famous for the White Horse Inn. ( Hotel Weißes Rössl) which is the name of a musical comedy about the head waiter being desperately in love with the owner of the inn. Sounds like a perfect thing to watch on a rainy Saturday morning. Remind me to try and buy the DVD sometime in the year. 

Posing in front of the White Horse Inn

Schönbrunn Palace

The tube station where I got off

 As a tourist, you feel compelled ( at least I did ) to go down the list of tourisy things to do. And this was on my list. " Visit palace". It rained and rained at a steady flow. So that over-priced umbrella ( if you convert to RM ...40 ringgit for a normal plain blue brolly ) was put to good use. There was a bit of wind. So some of the pictures were tilted at an angle, as I tried to take a picture AND hold onto my umbrella to prevent it from being blown away.

You are meant to validate your ticket here

The tube station ticket validation puts a lot of faith in human nature. You can easily cheat the system and travel free. That'll be wrong of course but you will agree it is possible and I'm sure many have been tempted and succumbed. We had a free pass throughout the duration of the congress. Very generous and very handy.

Adverstisement for concert at Schonbrunn Palace

 I now wish I had gone for a concert here. But the thought of it being late at night and having to walk all the way to the tube station and get wet wasn't very appealing to me. Still, a good reason to return to Austria for a proper holiday.

The gardens ( part of it )

 The gardens were lovely. This was the first of my attempted panoramic view from my camera. I've chosen only one shot to post. The flowers were so red and unreal. Imagine looking out of your window and seeing this as your back garden. These royals....they had it good. No wonder the french aristocrats were beheaded. Imagine living in such opulence whilst your people struggle for their next meal. Their apartments really do look out to this. ( When we toured inside I peeked outside and saw this very view)

The front of the palace as you enter

 It was wet and I was cold. And dying to head to some dry place to be warmed up. The castle's history and audio tour was nice. There was a room where the bed was. So small, he either liked a cosy feeling or people back then were shorter. I'm still trying to figure out why. They were also big on designs on the wall right up to the ceiling and on the ceiling as well. A mix of diferent motifs and colours. I think some of the interior designers would disagree with their colour schemes. Tsk tsk!