Thread by @nelson

This Twitter thread is for the rest of my photos and tourist postcard notes on our trip through Austria. Wien, Innsbruck, Salzburg, and more! Enjoy.

We've been in Vienna a few days, some photos in this other thread.

https://twitter.com/nelson/status/1576573799255769092

Vienna has its famous Pestsäule, a monument of thanks for deliverance from the Plague. It's hideously ugly, as is its little brother in Baden.

Some more shots of Baden, a perfectly ordinary propserous small Austrian town (and suburb of Vienna). This is typical Europe for me.

At zur Alten Press in Graz, regional Steiermark specialties. Table of 14 next to us and they are so polite and quiet. In the US the boys would be screaming "shots".

One surprise about Graz is what a late night town it is. Restaurants and bars open until midnight, 2 am. Vienna felt over at 9pm. Perks of a student town I guess. (Photo unrelated).

It's fall, which means game and mushrooms. Lunch is Steinpilzen breaded and fried until soft, almost oyster texture. With a simple salad dressed with pumpkin seed oil.

Some Graz tourist snaps, mostly from the Schlossberg.

And some from the museum out at Schloss Eggenberg.
Graz is a very pleasant livable town. Lots of cafes, quieter streets, good transit and bike infrastructure.

It's fall, so it's winemaking season. Which means it's federweisser season, or as they call it in Austria, Sturm. Lightly fermented grape juice, still quite sweet. In Styria it is Schilcher Sturm, a rosé. It's kind of awful TBH.

Pumpkin seed oil turns out to be a big deal in Graz and the Styria region in general. It's really good. Nutty, like walnut oil, but milder. And quite complex, more like olive oil in variations and quality grades.

Today we visited the Gurktal, a tidy alpine valley with a huge 12th century pilgrimage church (St Hemma). Also delicious Nudeln.

Today we toured the Wörthersee, where Austria goes for sun and warmish swimming. Not so much in October, a lot closed for the season. But still lovely. Photos include the Klagenfurt Dragon (Lindwurm).

We also went high up the Pyramidenkogel Tower for the amazing view and to watch kids riding down the 200 foot slide. Our hotel room is across the lake in the last picture, under the red line.

Success! We are at 2369m at the Pasterze Glacier along the Großglockner Alpine Road. Lovely day for it.

View from our room in Zell am See. Really lucky with October weather so far.

Unfortunately Zell am See is mostly shut down in October, the break between summer and winter tourist seasons. Not much to do, so we went to this museum of funky old European cars. Some fun tiny things from the 50s in particular.

Hab' gefunden!

Happily the tourist boat that makes a little trip around the lake was running. Sit relaxed with a beer and watch the houses glide by.

Stopped in Hopfgarten I'm Brixental for a coffee and a look at some saints bones. Pfarrkirche St. Jakob und St. Leonhard.

Today we are in Innsbruck. Some snaps there, also last of Hopfgarten.

After a demanding morning of strolling through the folk culture museum, time for some French wine and cheese at the Markthalle.

Some shots from the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum.

And the Hofkirche, featuring some saucy D&D campaign material.

We visited Schloss Tratzberg near Innsbruck. Beautifully restored, privately owned castle with mostly 16th c. Renaissance decoration and some Gothic construction. Some ceilings and other room scale shots here.

Also some details of hardware and furniture. Most delicate marquetry I've ever seen in the last two photos. The features are little slips of wood 1-2 cm square.

Salzburg is so *vertical*. The old town is where the river is sandwiched between two improbable rocks, steep hills on either side. And 4-5 story buildings all in a line on a narrow long street.

And some Salzburg graphic arts.

Excellent if slightly overwhelming fine dining at Pfefferschiff in Salzburg. Elegant food and excellent service. Seemed particularly Austrian in its details, like using onion or pumpkin in various parts of dishes.

More Salzburg today. Funicular up to the fortress, also the Residenz. The museums are oddly empty of objects: I think a lot must have been lost to Napoleon in 1803 and the subsequent political uncertainty.

Salzburg is the city of music and it's not all Mozart. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Arrived Hallstatt. Kind of overwhelmed with how touristy it is but then again this is the view from our hotel room so you can understand why.

One new thing for us has been these hummingbirds, which actually are moths. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbi…

Important updates on the view from our Hallstatt hotel.

Hallstatt is kind of a tourist hell, regretting spending two nights here TBH. But it is beautiful.

One last update on the Hallstatt view, as we pack up for Linz.

Linz sure makes a bad first impression. A bridge over the Danube separates our hotel from the city center. A six lane highway.

Linz is nicer from up above, the Pöstlingberg. Still trying to get the town though. Compared to the rest of Austria it seems more modern and industrial.

My favorite Linz site so far is the Neuer Dom, built 1860-1920. Remarkable newer stained glass, including these generative art-like 1995 pieces by Karl Martin Harmann. Nice to see new work in a grand cathedral context.

Reposting this tweet to thread it.

https://twitter.com/nelson/status/1583444137411739649

Some tourist snaps from Dürnstein in the famous Wachau wine region. We also visited Melk Abbey but they won't let you photo the creepy Catholic skeleton relics I liked.

Staying at the Hotel Sacher for our last night. It is as fabulous as you might expect. Our bathroom has a bronze sculpture in the niche above the paper. Off to get a slice of chocolate cake.

Our last day in Austria, a quick stay in Vienna. Capped it off with a visit to the small but excellent archaeological exhibits at the Natural History Museum. Good way to put our Hallstatt visit in context. Bring back Bronze Age jewelry!