Good evening and welcome aboard

I took this photo at Vienna International Airport in Vienna, Austria. My flight from Frankfurt Germany to Milan, Italy was a connecting flight and I changed planes in Vienna. My seat of the second flight OS517 (VIE - MXP) was a window seat. I was looking forward to view beautiful Vienna from above, but at that moment Vienna was wrapped in a fog and I couldn't see the night view. By the way, Austrian Airlines was elegant. All passengers were welcome with classical music . Music is not my forte, but I'm sure the music was classical music.

Make one's connection simply and rapidly

I took this photo in a cubicle of a women's loo in Vienna International Airport. I was on the way from Frankfurt, Germany to Milan, Italy via Vienna, Austria. Before I flew to Vienna International Airport, one of my concerns was that I would miss my connecting flight, but it was all much ado about nothing. I was relieved that how everything was streamlined, making it much less of a hassle to change planes. Each information screen was easy to understand, each sign board was user-friendly. I only had 40 minutes to make my connection: OS132 -> OS517, but I had enough time to drop by the loo. As a result, I only needed 8 minutes to make my connection.

That's music to my ears

I took this photo in front of a souvenir shop nearby Mozart's birthplace at Getreidegasse 9, Salzburg, Austria. I've been to a couple of beautiful cities in Austria; Vienna, Salzburg. In my humble opinion, Vienna had more like historical atmosphere with a lot of magnificent buildings. On the other side, Salzburg was much more relaxing  city on the banks of Salzach River. One of the must-see places in Salzburg is the birthplace of world-famous Mozart. It seemed like his life-size doll enjoyed playing the piano in front of the souvenir shop. That's music to my ears.

A fascinating poster pillar in Vienna, Austria

The photo shows a large poster pillars in Vienna, Austria. The poster pillars are also known as advertising column and are used for advertising exactly like the photo shows. I took this photo somewhere about a three to four-minute walk from Heroes' Square (a.k.a. Heldenplatz) in front of the Hofburg Palace. Heldenplatz is a famous square in front of the Hofburg Palace and the Hofburg Palace was the winter residence of the House of Habsburg (a.k.a. House of Austria). Nowadays, the place is the official residence of the President of Austria. I mean it was one of the most beautiful locations of stunning Vienna, Austria. I guessed sometimes it would be hard to put up many posters mixed up together without ruining the historical picturesque scenery, but the poster pillar looked fascinating. Well done, Vienna, well done.

Nature calls

I took this photo in Vienna, Austria. I began the day by a guided walking tour and after other than that took my own course. Someone told me that Vienna is a City of Music. Unfortunately music is not my forte, but I was able to enjoy listen to music in Vienna because of a pay toilet. Generally, going to a pay toilet is not on the itinerary, so I came across the underground pay toilet which is called Opera Toilet. When I paid, the toilet started to play big music just for me. This might sound weird, but the pay toilet is what I remember the most of Vienna.

When driving along Süd Autobahn to Viennna

I took this photo from the coach window while I was heading to Vienna, Austria from Venice, Italy. I viewed lots and lots of such post-card pretty sceneries during the drive and took photos of them without knowing where exactly I was. This morning, I Google mapped for a while and managed to got out whereabouts I took this photo. According to the map, there's a route called Süd Autobahn A2 which runs toward Vienna, Austria from the border of Italy. The motorway runs along an alpine lake named the Wörthersee, so I was probably be there. It was such a picturesque place just like the photo shows.

Get sidetracked

The photo shows a part of Vienna, Austria. I took this photo on the massive walking street. It was a very beautiful street lined with a lot of shops and a wide variety of eateries. A lot of people were walking around, loitering around, window-shopping, enjoying a shopping spree and then some. I think the way to enjoy this kind of massive streets differs from person to person. I was just taking a stroll around and took some pictures. Also, I was looking for a place for lunch. When I got sidetracked, I found an internet cafe. Back then I was waiting an e-mail about my round-trip of Germany. When I checked my e-mails at an internet cafe somewhere close to the place where the photo shows, finally I received the one that I waited for a month or so. I asked the shopman to print out the attached document files. It took only a few seconds. In and out.

There's no time like now

This is my another pic of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. During my 53-day trip around Europe, I visited Vienna from Venice Italy by coach and spent a couple of nights there, then headed to Munich, Germany via Mauthausen Concentration Camp. I took this picture on my second day in Venice, the beautiful capital of Austria, Central Europe. It left a lasting impression on me, so at the end of my trip, I planned an additional one-day train trip to Salzburg, Austria from Munich, Germany. It wasn't on the itinerary at the beginning, but I thought there was no time like now.

Heldenplatz

The photo shows Heroes' Square (a.k.a. Heldenplatz) with the statue of Archduke Charles in Vienna, Austria. Heldenplatz is a large square in front of the Hofburg Palace. The Hofburg Palace was the winter residence of the House of Habsburg (a.k.a. House of Austria), but nowadays this place is the official residence of the President of Austria. Come to think of it, some short while later of visiting Heldenplatz, I visited Heroes' Square (Hungarian: Hősök tere) in Budapest, Hungary. I posted a picture of Hungarian Heroes' Square on February 13, 2011.

Schönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn Palace is where most tourists visiting Vienna, Austria go to at least once. A very stunning Unesco World Heritage Site. I personally believe that Schönbrunn Palace is a symbol of wealth and glory of the House of Habsburg. It's a humongous architecture and has 1400 rooms in it. When I heard about the quantity of rooms, my jaw hit the ground. The photo shows just a tiny part of the entrance court of Schönbrunn Palace. The palace is huge and its garden is wide, so I should have taken a panoramic photograph as well.

Kudos goes to things whatever you want to give

The photo shows one of the famous buildings in Vienna, Austria; The Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper). I'd say this one of the beautiful buildings of stunning Vienna city, I'd also say it can be epitome of beautiful Austria. I don't know much about music, opera and such, so for me just kudos went to the building. I don't know why architectures in Vienna, Austria were such eye-catching and impressive. Almost all buildings I've seen in Vienna were just gorgeous, high-quality and never looked tacky, I must admit.

Trijunction of Austria with Italy and Slovenia

I took this picture in Arnoldstein, Austria. The city is known as the trijunction of Austria with Italy and Slovenia. On the road to Vienna, Austria from Venice, Italy, our coach stopped by a service area for lunch. At there, I had a Goulash soup with Knödel and after the lunch I bought a can of Red Bull and took this picture from the parking lot of the service area. By the way Red Bull is a world-famous energy drink sold by an Austrian company, but I think it's originally from Thailand. From what I remember, the company created a new design for European markets.

A rain shower and a folding umbrella

The photo shows a view of Salzburg, Austria. Is on-street parking common there? I don't know, but when I was walking down the street there were cars parked on the side of the street nearby the beautiful buildings. Anyway, Salzburg was very nice relaxing city in Austria. While I was exploring the beautiful city, I got caught in a shower, but it was actually for a short time and I had a folding umbrella so it was alright. Come to think of it, after the rain shower I spent some time on the bench along the Salzach river until my folding umbrella dried.

Just like in a movie

The photo shows a beautiful view of Vienna, Austria. I took this picture during my exploring of this city. I don't know much about music, I don't know much about art, so I didn't know much about Vienna and Austria, but when I was there I was just so impressed this like beautiful buildings and streets and its scenery. Vienna was so stunning and eye-catching. I'd say Vienna city itself was an art just like in a movie or a photo album or something like that. I spent for a long time to walk around this beautiful city.

Keep going, Keep going

When I was in Salzburg, Austria I found stairs leading to somewhere. I really love to explore this kind of places to get to somewhere unknown. I always think that I wish I could walk all streets in the world to see a lot of things with my own eyes. I know it's impossible, but I wanna do as much as possible for the rest of my time on earth. By the way, when I was in Israel, I met an elderly attractive Caucasian lady. She had a cane and walked with a limp. Before I talked to her I thought that she looked a little too hard to visit Masada or the Dead Sea, but it was my wrong guess. She was quite an optimistic energetic lady and also she had a great sense of humor. A very nice fun person. I just can't forget one of her phrases. She said "Keep going. I drink Johnnie Walker to walk." I gotcha, you. Keep going. Keep going. Thank goodness I was really happy to see her.

How about Salzburg?

Salzburg, Austria is known as the birth place of a great famous musician Mozart. This is a view of Salzburg and the Salzach river. Before I visited this beautiful city, I was teetering between Innsbruck and Salzburg. I listened to some opinions from a Dutch tour guide, tourists from the UK., the States, and such. Someone recommended to me to see Salzburg, on the other hand, someone really loved Innsbruck. Back then I was in Munich, Germany and I had only one day to visit another place. I was thinking about it, and more I thought about it, then finally chose to visit Salzburg because of Mozart.

Have nothing to lose

I found this eye-catching place in stunning Vienna, Austria. The Minoritenkirche (a.k.a. Italian National Church of Mary of the Snows). I don't know much about architecture, but I've heard that it's built in fabulous French Gothic style. It's kind of a worn out expression, but I'd say it's just so nice and beautiful. Like I said, I love to explore abroad without a map, and usually can do so. I don't know for many other people, but it's so much fun to find this like historical site during my adventure by coincidence. When I have time to get lost for a while, I love to do that. I have nothing to lose. It's more like a way to know what I want. Just my two cents. Of course I use a map after the exploring. I need to know where I am, then after that, I take a metro or a bus or something else to back to my hotel.

I often need a restroom break

The photo shows a part of Salzburg, Austria. It was a cozy stunning city. I had only one day in Salzburg, but I saw a lot of beautiful places, enjoyed lunch and dinner and beer, and looked around interesting souvenir shops. I went there from Munich, Germany as a one-day trip and I didn't have a map of Salzburg, but it was okay. It was a so much fun experience. By the way, I remember that I was able to find public restrooms easily in Austria. It was nice, because sometimes I had a problem of that in some other European countries.

Just in cace

I took this picture in Vienna, Austria. There were so many beautiful buildings look like this. I don't know what the name of this building, but I released the shutter button anyway. My hotel in Vienna was kinda gorgeous one, but it was a little far away from the heart of the city. The design of the hotel was very unique and some part of there looked like a gigantic Pyramid, I couldn't see the whole thing, though. The hotel was far away, but there was a huge shopping mall next to the hotel and it included a lot of places to eat and drink, so it wasn't inconvenient than I expected. I bought Turkish kebab two nights in a row at a stall like place in the shopping mall and the Kebab was so yummy. A staff member didn't speak English, so I used a language translator to talk to. I bought the translator in Thailand for just in case. It had 24 languages and all combinations between them.

I'm kicking myself

I took this picture somewhere in Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, but to be honest I don't remember where it was. It was a huge place and I had a long day. I took pictures like one after another. Time went by, time went by, then right now, I'm confusing what this is. Yep, I'm kicking myself, but hindsight is better than foresight. I think it happens. Sometimes I took pictures of something that I don't know the name or history or something like that, but I thought it was really nice at the moment. I love European statues.