Austria

First proper trip of the year took us to Austria as we wanted SNOW. I love snow :) and if it's going to be cold it might as well have snow as well otherwise what's the point? Only snow makes the cold tolerable :D

We based ourselves in Linz, which is halfway between Vienna and Salzburg. An hour each way. Aaaaand don't be a muppet like Mr. Special and pay an extortionate amount for train tickets! There are two rail companies ÖBB and Westbahn. And yes we did our research and knew how much the fare was supposed to be... In theory. In reality we walked to the train station found the ticket desk (they gave us a yellow tulip as it was Valentines day! So cute :)) and paid A LOT of money... Mr. Special did question it and the answer he got was that it was an online company with no ticket desks and they do not know how we could buy those tickets... oook... So we had an hour for the train, the other company had two trains in that time and after the first one had been. Mr. Special went to the office to try and get a refund and get tickets to the other train. I was waiting outside and found an information board that said we could buy the tickets from the train or through an app on our phone. Easy breezy. Then he came back and said they were happy to give him a refund. :)

You think he took it?????? OMG he didn't because the man didn't know how to buy tickets to the other train and you get a fine if you board the train without a ticket. So he got scared and blerped... What a weirdo...

So anyway we did finally get to Salzburg - the town of the Sound of the Music: 

First up Mirabell Palace. Unfortunately inside is only a magnificent staircase and a hall where they have concerts at night. I was hoping for multiple rooms etc.

The way to the old town took us over a bridge with locks attached to its railings.

After walking about around town finding out that Mozart's birth place is now a Spar, finding a good Austrian place to eat (schnitzel obvs) we made our way to the top of town to the Hohensalzburg Castle. 

View from the roof, you could only get there with an audioguide tour and a group... We happened to get a school group on our tour... Fun... and the first part of the tour focused too long on the artwork in the first room... But the rest of it was much better (and quicker).

Back down there was a man at the top of the world.

Next day we knew better and got the cheap train tickets to Vienna. We actually bought them on the train and he said we'd get them even cheaper if buying from a Tabac :D

A photo diary from our day: it was all great all good and all cold :D

Third day took us to the little town of Hallstatt. Easily the highlight of the trip! How can you not fall in love with this little gem?

To get there we had to take a little boat trip across the lake €5 return trip. While there we just wandered around, took in the lovely views, got lost on the maze of streets halfway up a mountain range. My perfect day :)

What's up kitty cat?

Views for days man!

One of the biggest sights is the Skywalk viewing platform that you have to take a (rather expensive) funicular to. There are salt mines up there as well but unfortunately they were closed for the off season. When we got there we found ourselves in a big cloud, obvs not the best time to be on a viewing platform on top of the town.

After an extensive photo shoot and fighting for the best spot with another couple (plus a few others but they only took one or two photos and then left :D) we looked around and voila the cloud had cleared! :) Now that's what I'm talking about! :)

Last visit in the town was the infamous bone house. Due to the fact that the cemetery is quite small and room is an issue there was a time when bones were dug up after 10 years of being buried, painted and decorated and put on display. There are about 1200 skulls in this little room.

The morning of our last day we went to the Alice in Wonderland exhibition which was strange as promised. It started with a virtual reality device and then after took us through a church with every room decorated.

Ttyl ;)

Jazzz...

Llandudno

I was lucky enough to have another long weekend in the beginning of the year and this time we decided to go to Llandudno. It is a seaside resort town up in North Wales where Mr. Special used to frequent with his parents when he was a kid. So while I was discovering the town he was rediscovering it.

The drive up to North Wales is always so scenic and pretty :)

We stayed at a fancy Spa hotel in Deganwy and were lucky enough to have an evening meal included. So went all out :D started with crab and prawns. hmmm... it wasn't bad :D but don't think I'd have it again :D The crab tastes fishy :D Mr. Special always hates it when I try something different than my usual taste (I don't venture too far though) because most of the time I don't like it :D

The inner courtyard reminds me of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills :D

The relaxing room before or after a treatment

The day we picked to go exploring was unfortunately windy so couldn't enjoy the long pier or the seafront which is very similar to Aber :D

Love this hotel, it looks like strange dark events are occurring in there .

One of the attractions of Llandudno is the Great Orme. It is a mini mountain with lots of sheep (we are in Wales) and great views to the town. It also has a mine that you can visit but we were there out of season so it was unfortunately closed. So we just had the pleasure of walking around :) (in lots of sheep poo - didn't realise that until we were back at the hotel).

Why did the sheep cross the road?

The town itself I think looked like in a time capsule. It had a nice feeling to it, apart from the cold wind. Can definitely see why it's a tourist hotspot during the summer. There are quite a few Alice in Wonderland statues dotted around the town and there was supposed to be an App to find the trail or something but we couldn't get the app working :( so we just wondered around aimlessly looking through the wonderful sweet and bric a brac shops. Saw the prettiest Wetherspoons in Britain (imo so far :D ) but decided to have lunch in an american style place. And yes again I tried something out of my comfort zone (pulled pork) and didn't really love it :D It was their own barbecue sauce that wasn't to my taste :D But they defo made up for it by offering popcorn as a snack while you wait for your food. 

On our way back we went past the Conwy water gardens for the Dutch Pancake House. We have been there a few years back and the pancakes were ahmazing.... lots of different (savoruy) flavours that you have to look really hard to find in Britain for some reason :( and it was closed for the winter :( :( :( :(  so sad... but! We decided to look around on the grounds a little bit more and discovered the freaking Water Gardens! Last time we toured the fish and pond shop thinking that was it but oh no :D They have otters and Capibaras behind the building on the short nature trail. How did we miss it last time??? (there are signs).

What's up duck?

The coolest haircut ever?

And back homebound :)