Chris Dawkes' blog: Arrival in Austria ahead of White's pre-season tour

After stepping off the plane at Salzburg airport what struck me immediately was not the stunning mountains that shrouded the terminal, but the intense heat.

The thermometer read 35 degrees but you could easily have added another 10 to that as I was still dressed for the British Summer rather than one on the continent.

After collecting the hire car and driving the 10km (I'll never be comfortable with the metric system) to the hotel I was soon picked up by my tour guide Marcus. A Red Bull Salzburg fan. Being the inquisitive journalist I am I set about inquiring as to his thoughts on the corporate buy out of his local club. Red Bull have been rumoured for some time to be a prospective purchaser of Leeds United.

He couldn't have been more positive about their involvement. One sip might not literally give you wings but his club has soared since their takeover - according to Marcus.

From then he was in full tourist guide mode. Our first stop were the Mirabell Gardens - famous as the location where Maria and the Vonn Trapp children sing Do Re Mi. There were numerous other Sound of Music locations to take in en route - Leopoldskron Palace being one. A beautiful baroque facade complete with clear blue lake. All to paint up a picture of the city. A trip to Salzburg couldn't be complete with a visit to Mozartplatz where the city's favourite son looks down upon its thousands of tourists from a marble plinth.

The tour complete I head out to sample a typical Austrian dinner. Marcus recommends a number of restaurants. What he doesn't say is that most are closed on Sundays. I settle for an Italian just around the corner...when in Rome.

Tomorrow I head to the town of Kossel, some 75km to the south west of Salzburg, where Leeds United will train for the next 5 days. In this heat I feel for them already.

To keep up to date with the latest from Leeds United's tour of Austria head back to our website or follow Chris Dawkes on Twitter.