do you like to super hard core party?

Salzburg, Austria

I can not recommend a more beautiful route into Salzburg than the train from Bled (that being said the only other way I came was a sleazy jet flight). The trip through the mountains is gorgeous and i am starting to think that train travel is how Europe is supposed to be done. Luckily enough we were clever pants and booked seats as the train was full and everyone had stacks of luggage but we sat there smugly with our seat reservations which had cost fiver extra each. Obviously the other big plus is getting further into the city than you get into with a plane.

Salzburg is another one of those typically beautiful European cities with a nice river & bridges (yes i like bridges) and a castle (surprise surprise) as well as being shut outside normal trading hours (am sure London has ruined me with this, I wouldn't even expect it coming from Perth). I went to Salzburg with 3 things in mind- east as much food as possible, do the sound of music things and super hard core party- its arguable if i actually did that.

Food wise i stuffed myself full of the usual- bratwurst, frankfurter, schnitzel, bratwurst, pretzel, bratwurst, hot chocolate (is that a food?), bratwurst... you get the idea. i have to say though the best meal ie ate so much i felt sick & happy, was in a brauhause i found just up past the FUN-icular up to the castle. You see my fellow travellers had turned on me and all become infected in what is officially known as The Elvish Terrorist Flu Pandemic of 2011which forced me to wander in the cold all on my tod but 2 awesome things were the result of this 1 was discovering all the salzburgians in the town square listening to an orchestra play and waltzing (yes i waltzed a little by myself) and the 2nd was the brauhause which i would never have found on my own. the brauhause was one of those ones where they like to ignore foreigners and get grumpy with them when they want such trivial things such as  more beer or the bill- for some reason these ones are always the best.

Being a good traveller i dragged myself out for the sound of music tour which actually is a good tour & the prices are nowhere near as jacked up as I think they would be in England were running them. PS if you didn't know the von trapps were real people! who would have thought!

Coming into austia i was convinced that like our friends the germans the austrians would be a fan of the super hard core partying, and i have to say, i was excited. New Years eve kicks off around 4 pm when they start firing the canons and then leads into fire works carnage. and when i say carnage i mean carnage- the spectators do try to compete with the official firework program

Travel tip 1: when hearing canons firing in a western European city do not scream a little and try to hide- you will just look stupid. for all ho do not watch or read the news (like me) THERE IS CURRENTLY NO WAR IN WESTERN EUROPE
Travel tip 2: do not expect austrians to be at  the new years celebrations in salzburg- they all bugger off else where and leave the city to the italians.

if you read any travel book you'll hear them slating the italians in salzburg for new years but i have to say i found it hilarious and most exciting of all was finding a German in the queue for champagne and asking him about super hard core partying to which he responded "YEAH i like to super hard core party!!!! but my girlfriend doesn't so I'm not really allowed to"

Travel tip 3: when going up to the castle (which you inevitably will, even if you try not) do not bother waiting in the long queue for the 'free guided tour' i have expert witnesses reporting that it is not worth it- i personally did not bother and made up my own stories and found ways to take slightly obscene photos wherever possible (the real way to do a castle)

High point: managing to get a table at Augustine brauhaus/ brewery after trekking up there 2 days earlier to find it closed for the holidays but most importantly of all getting a mystery sausage with ,melted cheese in it! YEAH I love mystery meet

Travel tip 4: when going into a brauhaus watch the locals to see how it works there's nothing they love more than watching us foreigners walking up to the guy with the beer and smugly say "drie bier bitte" only to discover that you need to go see the other guy and pay , then get your steins and then go to the beer guy

Low point: Being in the toy museum and dressing up in the costumes, playing with toys & taking photos and realising its not as fun alone ... and you look like a weirdo