Mittwoch, 26. März 2008

A friendly e-Mail for TourMyCountry.com

Dear Benedikt,

I would like to thank you for your excellent online guide to Vienna. I recently inherited a sum of money and plan to use it to purchase a flat in Vienna, so your guide to all the districts is particularly useful, before I go to Vienna (probably in April) to check out the city for myself.

Your site is the sort of information tourist needs. You can learn about museums and cathedrals from anyone and anywhere, but yours is the only guide I have found that "tells it as it is."

Vielen Dank!

XXX

Dienstag, 4. März 2008

Question & Answer, again

A rather amusing conversation I recently had with somebody asking for Mozartkugeln:

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QUESTION:

Dear Salzburg information center,
We would like to ask you for kindly help in follow case. We looking for a contact to ORIGINAL Mozartkugeln company, which makes your very delicate and luxury kugeln of Mozart.

Could you be so kind and send us contat to manufactory, which makes this products? Any person in charge, e-mail and phone no. of them?

Thank you very much
Best regards,

XXX



MY ANSWER:

Hi there,

My website is not the official tourist information centre, but I can help you - the original Mozartkugel was invented by the confectionier Fürst and sold in various Cafes of Fürst in Salzburg: http://www.original-mozartkugel.com/

The term "Original Salzburger Mozartkugel" is also used by Mirabell Mozartkugel - they are cheaper, also locally made, but not the originals.

Best wishes,

Benedikt


QUESTION 2:

Dear Benedikt,

I´m so sorry, regarding mistake about your web page :(. Hope you´ll accept me appologize. About your informations, i know about mirabell mozart, but as you wrote it isn´t original mozart kugeln, that´s why i want to conctat furst original mozartkugeln manufactory – do you have any contact to them?

I try to wrote to e-mail addresse, what i found at http://www.original-mozartkugel.com/
But it´s only any shop, not manufactory :(

XXX



MY ANSWER 2:

Hi XXX

No worries! Fürst is the original one - they have their traditional Cafe at Alter Markt Square in Salzburg and a few selling spots in various locations of Salzburg. You can order or contact the Cafe online through their website: http://www.original-mozartkugel.com/

The website is available in English. Best wishes,

Benedikt


QUESTION 3:

Dear Benedikt,

Thank you for your kindly help. I wrote e-mail to that Cafe Mozart. So now i´ll wait for any answer.
If everythink will go good, this month i´ll go to Salzburg. Could you give me some feed back about any cheaper hotels where i can sleep? :)

Talk to you soon,

XXX



MY ANSWER 3:

Try Hotel Amadeus or Hotel Goldene Ente - they are both very central and reasonably priced.

Best,

Benedikt

Montag, 25. Februar 2008

Austria Travel Link Directory: The Baby is out!

Alright, took longer than I had expected (I had hired somebody for the php programming a year ago, but he quite after a while), but here it is: The glorious link directory of TourMyCountry.com, up and running and ready to accept contributions!

Austria Travel Links: The TourMyCountry Directory



Bars & Entertainment

Websites by Region

Hiking & Summer Sports

Hotels & Accommodation

Music & Culture

Public Institutions

Restaurants & Dining

Sightseeing

Skiing & Wintersports

Transportation & Travel

Travel Practicalities

Vienna

Wellness & Spa

Mittwoch, 20. Februar 2008

Districts of Vienna: A Guide for each "Bezirk" of Austria's Capital

Ladies and Gentlemen,

News are about to be released...the link directory of TourMyCountry.com is almost finished and there are only a few bugs left that need to be fixed.

Meanwhile, I would like to draw your attention to a new section on the website: A guide for each individual district of Vienna.


Districts of Vienna Guide

District Overview - 1st (Innere Stadt) - 2nd (Leopoldstadt) - 3rd (Landstraße) - 4th (Wieden) - 5th (Margarethen)- 6th (Mariahilf) - 7th (Neubau) - 8th (Josefstadt) - 9th (Alsergrund) - 10th (Favoriten) - 11th (Simmering) - 12th (Meidling) - 13th (Hietzing) - 14th (Penzing) - 15th (Fünfhaus) - 16th (Ottakring) - 17th (Hernals) - 18th (Währing) - 19th (Döbling) - 20th (Brigittenau) - 21st (Floridsdorf) - 22nd (Donaustadt) - 23rd (Liesing)

I hope the guides provide some useful information and will be gratful for every advice on how to improve them! Best,

Benedikt

Mittwoch, 6. Februar 2008

Austria Travel Link Directory: Soon 2 b up & running!

The promised link directory is starting to look functional - it is still buggish and somewhat crude, but I am really excited about it. It is not linked to yet from anywhere else, so this is something like a preview to share my excitement:

TourMyCountry - Austria Travel Link Directory

I hope to finish it soon with decent categories and everything. Until then,

Benedikt

Dienstag, 5. Februar 2008

Q&A: Trains Salzburg-Bischofshofen for Ski Jumping

It is anther round of "Question & Answer" - here we go:

QUESTION

Hi there! I am planning to come to Austria next January for the Ski Jumping 4Hills event at Bischofshofen, but am struggling to find accommodation inthe town. So I have decided to try Salzburg, is this a good base forgetting to Bischofshofen? I plan to come on 03/01/2009 the Saturday, spend a couple of dayssightseeing in Salzburg then go to the Ski Jumping on the Monday andTuesday. Are the trains cheap and frequent from Salzburg to go toBischofshofen and back each day? Sorry for so many questions but I am quite excited about coming toAustria and would appreciate any help or advice.

Your website by the way is a great read, keep up the good work.
My best regards, XXX, Penzance, England


ANSWER:

Hi XXX, Thank you for your message. I think Salzburg will make a good base for your stay, both for Bischofshofen and because the city itself offers plenty of things to see and do. Trains run frequently, and there might be a bus service in addition to them (trains are faster, though). The tourist information centre will know details, there is one at the main station (you will get there if you take a city bus from the airport). I am sure there are several trains a day - the Austrian National Railway's website, by the way, is: www.oebb.at Have fun in Salzburg / Bischofshofen! Benedikt

Montag, 28. Januar 2008

Question & Answer - Part 2: More on Salzburg

Now here is an interesting one:

QUESTION:

Hi. I'm XXX from the Philippines. I've been collecting caricatures from all the places I've been to and I will be going to Salzburg this coming April. I just wanted to ask if you would know where I could find the caricature artists on the street. if so, where should I be looking for them. Thank you very much. Sincerely, XXX

ANSWER:

Hello XXX, There are caricature artists around the cathedral in the city centre - mostly on the Domplatz and under the arches between Domplatz and the surrounding squares. I think they are there all year round, although I have to admit that I have never paid much attention to them. I hope you have a good time in Salzburg and get a great caricature! Best wishes, Benedikt

AND THE GRATEFUL REPLY:

Hello Benedikt! Thank you very much for your honest and detailed reply. I will surely enjoy my trip. Thanks a lot! XXX