Vienna New Year's Concert

In 1939 was born a tradition that still fascinates the entire world, Vienna New Year's Concert. The concert takes place at first of January at noon in the Großer Saal, Musikverein. The beauty of the hall, ornate with gold leafs, is accentuated by the beautiful floral ornaments that are donated each year by the Italian city of Sanremo. The songs performed are chosen by the director. In 2012 the concert was directed by Mariss Jansons from Latvia and he has chosen some songs dedicated to his town Sankt Petersburg, including two pieces of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, famous Russian composer. The majority of the songs is composed by the family Strauss and includes waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, and marches. One of the most famous is Johann Strauss II's waltz The Blue Danube and the concerts ends with Johann Strauss I's Radetzky March, during which the audience claps along under the conductor's wry direction. The demand for tickets is so high that people have to preregister one year in advance in order to participate in the drawing of tickets for the following year. Some seats are preregistered by some Austrian families and passed down from generation to generation. Happy New Year!

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Wikipedia For more information, links, pictures and many more Wikipedia is the perfect site to be informed.

Official Site For visiting information (like fees and open days and times) use the official site.
Austria For travel information, the official site of the National Tourist Board, is the perfect location.

În 1939 s-a născut o tradiţie care a ajuns să fascineze întreaga lume, este vorba de concertul de anul nou de la Viena. Concertul are loc în 1 ianuarie la orele prânzului în Großer Saal, Musikverein. Frumuseţea sălii, numită şi de aur, este accentuată de aranjamentele florale donate în fiecare an de oraşul italian Sanremo. Dirijorul ales face selecţia muzicală, majoritatea pieselor fiind compuse de familia Strauss. În 2012 concertul a fost dirijat de letonul Mariss Jansons şi selecţia muzicală a cuprins inclusiv piese ce au legătură cu oraşul în care a devenit celebru, Sankt Petersburg, fiind şi două piese ale compozitorului rus Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Printre valsuri, polci, mazurci şi marşuri, sunt cântate cel mai adesea Dunărea Albastră (Johann Strauss II) şi Neue Pizzicato Polka (astfel numită pentru că instrumentele sunt ciupite). Totul se încheie cu celebrul Marş Radetzky compus de Johann Strauss tatăl; totul este interactiv prin participarea publicului care bate din palme la îndemnul dirijorului. Biletele la concert se atât de cerute încât se trage la sorţi cine are dreptul să le cumpere şi nici nu costă puţin, ajungând la câteva sute de euro. La mulţi ani!

Train Travel: Germany and Austria - useful tips

Traveling by train in Europe can be a lot more pleasant if you know a few tricks of the trade—particularly in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

European trains, including German Rail, are among the best in the world. Europe's fastest trains, the French TGV and Germany's ICE (InterCity Express), are technologically ahead of anything running on U.S. rails. The popular InterRegio express trains zoom across country borders, connecting major European cities. The normal, everyday InterCity (IC) and EuroCity (EC) trains crisscross Europe, offering convenient connections to cities inside and outside Germany.

For shorter journeys there are numerous trains ranging from local commuter runs to fairly fast D-Züge (through-trains) that are sometimes just as speedy as InterCity trains. The recently discontinued Eilzug will not be missed. Although eilen means "to hurry," an Eilzug wasn't really that fast. The regional trains are now designated: RB (RegionalBahn, stops everywhere), RE (RegionalExpress, faster, does not stop everywhere) and SE StadtExpress (semi-fast connections connecting cities to their outskirts), not available in all parts of Germany. Learning to read the train codes (RE, EC, IC, ICE, etc.) on German schedules can help you find the fastest train to your destination.

Since all big or medium-sized cities, as well as many smaller communities in German-speaking Europe have a train station (or two or three), train travel is convenient and efficient. The main train station ( Hauptbahnhof) is usually located in the center of town, from which commuter trains, taxis, streetcars, and buses can take the traveler straight to a final destination. The weakest link in this otherwise efficient chain is often the station ticket office, where it seems there are always too few ticket agents for too many passengers. Long lines and long waits are all too common.

Credit card problems

Although the "new" Deutsche Bahn AG has finally entered the 20th century by accepting credit cards, bearers of Visa, MasterCard, or American Express cards must be wary. Look for logos and/or a sign (sometimes handwritten) that mentions " Kreditkarten" or "credit cards." You can't just walk up to any ticket window and expect to use your card, even though that is common practice in most of the world. (The Austrian and Swiss railroads are a little better in this regard.) Recently, even in Frankfurt's busy main station, only a limited few ticket windows offered credit card acceptance. And don't assume you will be able to use a credit card to purchase train tickets at every one of the over 5,000 rail stations in Germany, although it has become more common. You should even ask in advance at a German travel agency to be sure they accept credit card payment for rail tickets.

First and second class

All European trains are divided into first and second class. Look for a large "1" or "2" painted on the car near the door. Some special trains (EC, IC, ICE, etc.) also have a surcharge or Zuschlag of six marks added to the price of the ticket, whether it is first or second class. If you have not paid the surcharge, the conductor will require payment (in cash) when checking your ticket. The surcharge for ICE trains varies, depending on the connection.

Special train passes

One big advantage of having a Eurailpass, Flexipass, Europass, or German Rail Pass, besides any cost savings, is you can avoid any ticket-buying hassles. You'll only have to confront a DB ticket window to make reservations if you want them. (This is advisable during peak travel periods in the summer or on popular trains.) But remember that these special tickets have to be bought in advance and may have restrictions. A Eurailpass, for example, may only be purchased in North America. Austria and Switzerland have their own rail pass offers. (See a travel agent for details on rail passes.)

Another good idea, if you will be using the train regularly over a period of time in Germany, is the BahnCard. It won't spare you the task of buying train tickets, but the BahnCard will give you a 50 percent reduction in the cost of any tickets you buy during a one-year period. (See the Deutsche Bahn Website for current pricing.) There are special lower cost versions of the BahnCard for students, teens, married couples, young children and families. The card is not valid for special reduced-priced tickets, and any supplementary charges have to be paid in full. But the BahnCard is valid on every day of the year, including holidays. The card is issued to you in your name, and is also a Visa credit or debit card.

Sorry - reserviert

When you are looking for a seat without having a reservation, notice the orange-colored reservation ( Reserviert) cards slipped into holders on the luggage racks above the seats. If you have a reservation, you're looking for your own card above your designated seat(s). If you don't have a reservation, you are looking for the cards so you can avoid sitting in a reserved seat. The card will tell you which segment of the train's route has been reserved for that seat. If you are getting off before or after the reserved segment, then you can sit there without worry. If you happen to be sitting in a reserved seat, the person entitled to that seat will ask you to relinquish it. When the conductor comes by to check tickets, he will verify the seat reservation if there is one.

Couchettes

Some rail enthusiasts have come to appreciate couchette travel, while others use it only as a last resort or never. Offered by almost all European railways, a couchette car ( Liegewagen) has compartments that have regular seats by day and sleeping bunks by night. Intended for longer journeys such as Paris to Frankfurt, Hamburg to Munich, etc., the couchette seats on each side of the compartment magically transform into four or six bunks. The porter drops off a blanket, a pillow, and a pocket-like sheet for each person. After some clever unfolding and the snapping of a few latches, the bunks are ready. There is no real privacy, and you probably won't know most of the people in the compartment. Your traveling companions may be male or female, young or old, and from any part of the world. Couchette travel is not for timid souls. It can be a fascinating adventure, a sleepless night, or both. You must make reservations for a Liegewagen, and there is an extra couchette charge (which is usually much less than staying in a hotel).

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This article in an extract from "When in Germany" by Hyde Flippo, a practical guide to German life, language, and culture.

Source: http://www.justlanded.com

Salzburg - Of Mozart and Music

Our plans to visit Austria has always been jinxed. Two years ago, I had planned Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruk and a new project landed on my lap . This time when we were planning our itiniery, Austria was a must do. Our orginal plan was to include Vienna along with Salzburg . A day trip to Salzburg from Munich and then we wanted to take an overnight train to Vienna and continue our journey to Italy from there ..However that was not meant to be . There were no connections available to Vienna and thereafter by train or by air on those specific days and so we had to be content with just Salzburg



It poured heavily on the day we had to leave for Salzburg . The weather report predicted a thunderstorm, but we could not let the weather jinx the plan again Salzburg had to happen .



The hills did come alive with the sound of music- but this was of rain and the wind which was howling . Our journey took alomost three hours.Two trains and a bus took us to the birthplace of Mozart where the historic film Sound of Music was shot . Awesome landscapes accompanied us, as we saw the first glimpse of snow capped Alps, only to be hidden by the ominous rain clouds . A bit of green , white and then gray -the colours tell the story of whats in store for us in Salzburg.


We landed in Salzburg station , too late for the Sound of Music tour. We were also advised not to wander too much as a storm was predicetd . So with umbrella in hand we decided to vist the Altstadt or the old town which is a World Heritage Site .





We went to the Residenz Square with its large baroque fountain and the Palace, the 17th century baroque cathedral where Mozart was baptised, the fortess Hohensalzburg ,a majestic castle atop a hill where some of the best views of Salzburg can be seen, the Nonnberg Abbey,immortalised by the Sound of Music film, Mozart Square and the house at no. 9 Getreidegasse , where Mozart had stayed .





These places were some of the locations where Sound of Music was shot, especially the square , the castle and the nunnery . We spent a long time in the Fortress which was one of the largest castles of the medieval times . The construction started in the 11th century and was the domain of the Archbishops . Stately and grand, we had to get there by cable car .





This citadel gives one of the best overviews of Salzburg. Its symbol is the lion , as you can see it holding a beetroot in its paws.Besides being used as a fort and a prison, it was also a residence of the powerful Archbishop . According to the official tourism site of Salzburg, it has managed to remain unconquered by the enemies- but history is always written by the victors !


Weather and time played spoil sport as we could not visit the other palaces and gardens that Salzburg is famous for . Even our pictures were very limited as we could shoot only when it was not raining . The winds were too strong as our umbrellas flew and we virtually felt that we were swept off our feet .The temperature was said to be around 5* C - there was a digital sign board near the station.But the Austrian jinx was broken as we shopped for souveniers and chocolates at Getreidegasse , where the iron sign boards of the shops add to the charm.



The torrential rain soon sent us packing into the warm confines of the railway station . As the train chugged back into Munich, we knew we were leaving behind two of the most beautiful countries in Europe , memories of which are kept alive through these posts


Coming up next - Italy - Venice and Rome