We had a nice schnitzel and spätzle lunch, which we enjoyed leisurely with ice-cold drinks – lemonade for me, and Austrian beer for my husband. He grew up eating his mom's made-from-scratch schnitzels (slice of meat thinned by pounding with a meat tenderizer, breaded, and fried) and spätzle (egg noodles), so he is always on the lookout for these. And of course, he believes that the best beers come from Bavaria, Austria, and the Czech Republic (in that order). Some of my tour

We drove to Salzburg, Austria's fourth largest city and capital of the Federal State of Salzburg. The Old Town, with its world-famous Baroque architecture, is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps. It's also the birthplace of my favorite composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the setting for parts of the classic film, The Sound of Music . We walked along the Salzach River to see the beautiful Schloss Mirabell (Mirabell Castle), built by an Archbishop for his

We signed up for an after-dinner Tyrolean show, so right after our meal, our bus took us to Gasthaus Sandwirt am Inn owned by the Gundolf Family. They have been providing folk entertainment to Innsbruck visitors since 1967. Dinner was over by the time we arrived (the inn offers dinner and show packages but we bought tickets only for the show). At the performance hall, the chairs were already arranged to face the stage. We were served apple cider drinks and beer before and dur

We finally reached Innsbruck, but I was still awestruck from our spectacular Alpine drive where Mother Nature just hit me with her beauty. Innsbruck is the capital of the Federal State of Tyrol in western Austria. It is dubbed as the “largest ski resort in the Alps” and has twice hosted the Winter Olympic Games. It's such a charming city. We drove around the city for a bit before stopping at the Wilten Basilica (Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of the Four P

As we approached Tyrol, in the heart of the Austrian Alps, I felt like yodeling. We were headed to Innsbruck and our long drive was right smack in the Alpine region. When I was growing up in the Philippines, there was this instant milk product called “Alpine Milk” that was introduced in the market to compete with the more popular “Birch Tree Dutch Milk.” I have memories of my mom forcing me to drink "Birch Tree" milk every, single night before bedtime and I used to dread the