Whilst I don't wholly subscribe to Eldad's ascetic ruling for counting the countries visited I do feel a bit bad counting a country when I've only been to one place, especially those bigger countries, and by bigger I don't mean size or population, I mean cultural influence.
My only experience of Austria was best part of fifteen years ago when I went to Vienna as part of an Eastern Europe trip. I spent the whole of the trip being a bit appalled at how expensive it was and spent more money in two days there than in the other two weeks. But fifteen years later and away from the grand buildings of the capital that would all be different, right?
Jeepers creepers Salzburg was expensive. It's not even the Euro exchange rate. I had the same breakfast I had last week in a swanky Parisien patisserie and it cost more than double. How comes people talk about Paris and London being expensive when these Alpine cities... Shiver.
Anyway. Salzburg is really pretty with all its cliffy views. But you knew that, right? You've seen Sound of Music. What you probably didn't know is that as soon as you leave the designated tourist zone and the year-round Christmas markets it becomes a ghost town. Absolutely silent.
All the guide things I'd read had said to make sure you see the Glockenspiel in the main square doing its thing at 6pm. I would humbly suggest not bothering. It isn't the clock in the town square in Prague. It's not even the clock in the Salar Jung Museum.
