Vienna after 5 years

 After waiting 5 years, which when you say it, doesn't sound long, I have finally visited Vienna. It far exceeded expectations. It may have been the exceptional weather we had for the first two days, but the city was so beautiful. One could say it looks a lot like other European cities but this one had it's own little quirks and half the city wasn't bombed out so there were a lot of historical building that looked well kept. Berlin still has bullet holes and disfigurement in buildings, but that adds character to that city. I digress, we hit the ground running by seeing a crypt where there were 4 mummies inside. One of the cooler experiences I've had. The Viennese have a funny relationship with death and the humor they use in their advertisements, drawings, and construction work are rather dark, but that's how I like my humor so it works out. Every where I turned there seemed to be huge, ornate buildings all around. My favorite by far was the Natural History Museum, and the fact that the building in all its ornateness was intended to be just that. The time in Vienna flew by and I went to Salzburg the weekend of the trip to Austria. The ride to Salzburg was overcrowded and stressful. I have never experienced a train ride like that before. Once we made it to Salzburg it made it better. It snowed while we were there which was both magical and frustrating. I wanted to see the mountains so badly, but the snow was beautiful as well. The castle at the top of the hill was a bit disappointing. I think they dod what a lot of museums and historical sights have done during the pandemic and reconstructed and remodeled the interior to have white plaster walls and information plaques with minimal decor or art as it was back in the day. We went to another crypt but it wasn't as good as the one Dr. Wasser showed us, which he said would happen. Now I'm on a lookout for an even better crypt to be able to one up him.