Vienna to Munich

Our favorite breakfast (fruhstuck) place, the Opera Cafe, opens later on Sunday and we wanted to be on the road by that time so we ordered room service breakfast in the hotel and will renew our acquaintance with the OC sometime in the not too distant future. This way we could get on the road by 10 a.m for the drive to Munich. A room in the Admiral was waiting for us. 435 Km or approximately 285 miles lay between, but it would all be rolling hills or mountain views along the way and silky smooth (though speed-limited in Austria) Autobahns were waiting.

We took our Continental breakfast out onto the sunny terrace high above Mahlerstrasse. Just as we had Vienna after Bayreuth to take the sting out of parting, now we had Munich to take the sting out of leaving Vienna behind. We know we will be back there.

We would take our leave of one of our favorite hotels, the Grand Hotel Vienna....

The car was brought from the garage and the luggage loaded aboard. Carol set the Navigation to Kohlstrasse, Munchen and we were off.

Another beautiful drive. Carol doesn't like taking photos through car windshields and I have both hands on the wheel so I can't either but we passed through some scenic countryside once we had climbed up out of Vienna.

We stop several times. We use the super-clean bathrooms and tip the person responsible 50 cents. We grab a cup of always good espresso and I get a chance to take a stroll and have a cigarette before getting back into the car to eat up a few more miles.

We were lucky to find a rest stop called Mondsee while still in Austria . The timing was right for more coffee and a smoke and a stretch of the legs for me.

Carol takes a photo as we park at Mondsee rest-stop. You can get gas (benzine), visit a cleaner bathroom than you are used to when driving, eat a fine meal that doesn't come in a bag, walk in a garden, gaze at some mountains and then get back in your car refreshed.

The license plate tells me that the car is registered in Aschaffenberg (AB). All the German cars have identifiers such as this. They all start with the letter D for Deutschesland.

More miles to go before we would be welcomed in Germany by a lack of speed limit signs (hooray!) and the Jaguar could rejoice. Big fast comfortable car.

Being Sunday there were plenty of drivers out and about and being August, plenty of orange cones defining roadworks in progress  but we roll with the punches. We pass by our beloved Salzburg and know we are getting close to Germany. Before long we are in the southern outskirts of Munich and smiling big happy smiles as we know what awaits....

The Admiral and a car at rest and a driver ready for some German beer!