Salzburg

In the morning I do a walking tour of the city. First I splurge for brunch on the roof of my hotel.

Walking tour

I run off after the tour to see a concert in the nearby church. At some point tears come to my eyes. It is magical listening to a performance in this cathedral.

After the concert I try to eat a street dog but I don’t love it and throw half of it out.

That’s ok because I want to try a very large egg white dessert called Salzburger Nockerl: a dessert with egg whites, flour and sugar. It is interesting to try but not sure I would order it again.

I shop and buy the Mozart chocolates I’ve been wanting to try as well as some cheese.

Finally the last day in Salzburg I head up to the fortress. I walk by that quiet beautiful cemetery on the way to the funicular. I am glad I take the funicular because the walk is long and hot, all uphill.

I tour the fortress and surrounding grounds. As far as fortresses go it is average but what is impressive is the views it has over the city.

Marionette museum

I almost missed the state rooms and the magical theater. They are both very impressive.

Even though my admission ticket includes a return ticket on the funicular I am going to walk to the bottom because the goal is to walk down to the Augustiner brewery and have lunch. However for some reason I cannot find the path that leads straight to the brewery as suggested by others the other day. Instead I walk down through the old city, following along the cliff side. I see people making the difficult trek up by foot. The pathway is long and steep and it is very hot. When I reach the bottom I see the funicular line is quite long. I see now how walking uphill could be seen as a good alternative to the funicular line but definitely not on a hot day like today. I hope no one dehydrates on the way up. I pat myself on the back for my early morning start.

I walk towards the brewery and though I finally see another side of town I realize the brewery does not open for at least another 2.5 hours. I am hot and the hanger is about to set in. I settle for a beer and pizza across the street. Once again the food is impossibly salty. I’ve been eating out quite a bit so I should be used to the highly salted food but I guess I am not. Do other people not notice it? I could come back later to the brewery but I know me, once I head back to the other side of town I am not coming back, especially on this hot day. I walk back along the water and take it easy the rest of the day. Tomorrow I move on to Graz.

Sound of Music Tour

This morning I have my sound of music tour. It is exactly as you imagine – A bus load of singing crazies stopping to see some of the filming locations. The tour gives a real good background of the real life Von Trapp family and tells you how their story differs from the movie. We also learn about details of the filming. It’s kitschy but if you have any sort of affection for the movie it’s worth it. I didn’t belt the songs at the top of my lungs like most of the other passengers but I did enjoy participating in the sing-a-long a bit.

Stop 1: Schloss Leopoldskron

We stop first at the location of the VonTrapp place of residence. You see the lake that some of the scenes are shot. The building is now a luxury hotel.

Stop 2: Hellbrunn Palace, Gazebo and road nearby

We view the tree-lined road where the kids are climbing the trees.

We walk to where the gazebo used by Rolf and Liesel exists outside the Schloss Hellbrunn. Hellburn looks like a nice place to visit if I have time to return.

Drive by: Nonnberg Abbey

We drive by Nonnberg Abbey, the abbey used to film all the scenes with the nuns in the abbey. We don’t stop here because the abbey is not accessible to the public.

Stop 3: View of region

We stop at one of the areas featured in the opening scene of the film.

Stop 4: Mondsee

We stop in the town of Mondsee, the location of the church where Maria and the Baron get married. We have some free time here so I pick up a snack.

Stop 5: Mirabell garden

We have a final stop at Mirabell palace and garden where the kids and Maria sing and dance.

It is a quick stop but I end up visiting this again a couple days later.

Other thing along the way

After the tour I return back to my hotel to unwind for a few minutes. I still think my hotel is so beautiful.

I try some schnitzel and walk around town for the rest of the evening. It looks like they are starting to set up for the upcoming music festival.

Tomorrow I have a walking tour and a concert I want to attend mid-day.

Arrived in Salzburg

After a couple hour bus ride I am in Austria. I arrive first in Salzburg, the former roman settlement run by an archdiocese. It flourished in salt mining riches and at some point was part of Bavaria. Eventually Salzburg was annexed into Austria where it remains today.

Salzburg is also the birthplace of Mozart and where he spent his early years before he wandered off to Vienna to make money.

But what many from the USA know this city for is from a little musical called Sound of Music that was filmed here. The musical was a childhood staple and is the focus of a tour I attend (more on that later).

I am a week too early for the Salzburg music festival which is disappointing or fortunate depending on the way you look at it. I think it would be neat to attend some performances but the crowds would get on my nerves.

I book a boutique hotel from my credit card points and I have been having good luck when I do that lately. I am staying at a really nice hotel on the river in a room overlooking the river and fortress.

I make dinner plans at a trendy restaurant that just happens to be the oldest restaurant in Europe called St. Peter Stiftskulinarium. But before that I explore the area a little and pop in some churches.

Stiftskirche St. Peter (St Peter’s Abbey)

I am dinning outside today but apparently there are historic rooms you can dine in. I could not figure out how to get reservations specifically in those rooms. Dining outdoors is nice but it could be any trendy restaurant in any city. The steak I ordered is slightly overlooked. I am so used to restaurants undercooking my steak I wasn’t expecting this one. I guess order steaks rare if you dine here. The menu has many other interesting dishes as well but I have my heart set on some red meat for some reason. I guess its been a while since I’ve had a steak.

After dinner it is still early so I walk around town and end up in the cemetary of St Peters church. It is quiet and calm due to the tour groups gone for the day and it is probably one of the most beautiful, but small, cemeteries I have ever seen.