Eurailpass II--1989
Austria

We went to a lot of trouble to see Vienna, but afterwards we wished that we had devoted our time there to places we enjoyed much more. We didn't like our room very much, and we found the whole city too "grand" and too monumental for our tastes. In most of the large European cities that we visit, we find a few small "villages" within the city that we enjoy; but we never had that feeling in Vienna. We enjoyed visiting some of the places, such as the Schonbrunn Palace, but overall Vienna was a disappointment. Someday, I'd like to return to see some of the art that we missed, but neither of us find ourselves in a real hurry to do so.  [Note:  We finally returned in 2004 and loved it!] Schonbrunn Palace
Hellbrunn's gardens Salzburg is much more to our taste. On this visit to Salzburg, we were able to visit the Hellbrunn Gardens, hoping to see the sprinklers that come on at random and wet down the visitors. But, so far, we haven't ever seen them running at all. We made our biggest error of all on the trip in our choice of accommodations; we decided to stay in Freilassing, right across the border in Germany, so we could be close to Salzburg and have an easy connection to Berchtesgaden by train. Forget Freilassing (although we did see an accordion concert by the accordion graduates at the local tech school!!). It's nothing but a big truck stop. Berchtesgaden is much more accessible by regional bus directly from Salzburg.
On each trip we learn a little bit more that makes the next trip more enjoyable. On this trip, the lesson about staying in the city center became deeply engraved as one of our Ten Commandments of Travel. In Salzburg, for example, on all subsequent trips, we have a rule that the accommodations must be within a five-minute walk of Mozart's birth house, located on the main street in the heart of the old city. Spend a little extra for accommodations in this part of town, and you'll thank yourself afterward.  Mozart's Geburtshaus
Hallstatt's central square The town square at Hallstatt looks like every great town square should. There are flowers and benches and lovely shops all around. During our few days in Hallstatt, this square was just one of the places we were able to sit back and relax and completely forget all the stresses of the jobs waiting for us at home. 

Germany - Switzerland
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