Watch out Paris, Vienna is about to edge you out

I said before that Paris was probably my favorite city in the world, but Vienna is close on its heels. This was my second time to Vienna and I think it's one of the most beautiful cities I've been to. It's very compact and easy to get around with a lot of great sights, shopping and restaurants. It had exceptionally beautiful, elaborate Christmas decorations which added to an already gorgeous city.

Vienna

From Augsburg we headed to Passau, Germany for one night, then the Austrian wine country for one night, then on to Vienna. Other than having my wallet stolen there, we LOVED Vienna. Luc's highlights were the butterfly pavilion and watching the beautiful Lipizzaner stallions exercise. Jack got bored after about 10 minutes of the horses, but Luc was enthralled for almost an hour and a half.

Hallstatt, Austria

After three days in Vienna we headed to the small town of Hallstatt, Austria in the Salzkammergut Lake District. It's a tiny town of about 1000 and three thousand years ago this area was the salt-mining capital of Europe. It was very peaceful and extremely scenic. The most interesting thing in Hallstatt for me was their Bone Chapel. Quoting from Rick Steves, "Land is limited - so limited that in the church cemetery, bones received only 12 years of peaceful subterranean darkness before making way for the newly dead. The result is a fascinating chapel (Beinhaus) of decorated bones. Each of the more than 600 skulls is lovingly named, dated, and decorated with ivy and rose motifs. This practice was stopped in the 1960s, about the time the Catholic Church began permitting cremation." The newest skull is from 1983 and the woman specified that she wanted her bones placed in the chapel.

Salzburg, Austria

After relaxing for a day in Hallstatt, we were on to Salzburg. Like all the other Austrian cities we'd visited, Salzburg did not disappoint. There aren't a ton of sightseeing priorities in Salzburg, but it's a great town to walk around in and relax at all their outdoor cafes. Their church has a beautiful dome, and there is an amazing view from the fortress above the town. It is the birthplace of Mozart and a pilgrimage for Sound of Music fans. I've never seen the movie, so that wasn't a priority for us. Luc was obsessed with making the "statues" move by putting money in their hats and I loved the Easter egg store by our hotel with thousands of painted eggs for every occasion. Of course, I had to pick up a few eggs as Christmas ornaments.