It’s Kristine again. We are now in Salzburg, where it has unfortunately been cold and rainy but we’re still having a good time. Our train from Munich was wonderful - it was an Austrian high speed train, so clean and sleek and they even had a screen like on planes that shows where you are and how fast you are going. If only our overnighters had been like that.
We headed to our hostel when we arrived, then walked around Salzburg for a bit to orient ourselves. The town is about 150,000 people so it’s weird to be somewhere that isn’t a huge city. It is beautiful though, there’s a river through the city and you have the Alps all around, and great architecture too. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant, where when Maggie asked if they sold their beer glasses, the waiter gave her one to slip into her bag! She was thrilled, especially since it was a glass with the Spiegl logo, apparently brewed in Salzburg since 1492. Once we got back to the hostel we were wiped, and I, over the course of the day, had seen most of my many mosquito bites grow to the size of quarters and start itching like the devil. So I took some allergy medicine and was out for the next 11 hours, which was nice since I haven’t gotten a long night’s sleep in awhile, and we actually had our 6 bed hostel room to ourselves, which is a rare treat.
This morning we went into the old city to walk around some more and we saw the house that Mozart was born in. The area had lots of shops, and what was cool is that the signs were iron and very decorative. Apparently they were made that way because in the past a lot of the population couldn’t read, so the signs had to depict what the store sold. We then headed back to the hostel, where we were picked up for our Sound of Music bus tour. We felt slightly ridiculous taking it, but who doesn’t love The Sound of Music? Plus, it was our chance to see the countryside, something that is hard when you are traveling without a car.
The bus was filled with mostly women, of course, but our guide was actually a man and he was a riot. He told us many cheesy jokes (Did you hear they found a cure for the swine flu? It’s a special oinkment.) but also provided lots of information about both the making of the movie and the history of the area. We saw the gazebo, the lake at the back of the Von Trapp residence, and the church where they got married at the end. And while we were driving through the beautiful countryside, they played the Sound of Music soundtrack. Best of all, they had a bar on board and were selling beer and soft drinks for only a Euro! My video of the scenery with the music playing in the background is interrupted by the guide announcing, "Sorry folks, but we just ran out of beer!" Basically, the whole thing was hysterical, and even though it was raining off and on, the clouds actually made for some great photos of the countryside.
On a side note, we also passed the world headquarters of Red Bull - apparently the founder is the second richest Austrian in the world, and the building complex is quite impressive.
After the tour, we walked through the Miribell gardens where much of the Do Re Mi song from the Sound of Music was filmed. It was pretty, though probably would be nicer on a sunny day. We then returned to our hostel, where I finished my first book of the trip. I left it on the shelf in the hostel, happy to be rid of the weight in my pack! We then braved a downpour to go to dinner, and again crashed early, exhausted from another busy day.
This morning we woke excited to see the sun, and went out for a half hour run along the river. We saw the Alps for the first time since being here, which was amazing. We then decided that if we both aren’t married by a certain age, we will just buy a palace in the hills of Austria and live there together. After a breakfast of a very large soft pretzel (we forgot that grocery stores are closed on Sundays), we walked up to the fortress overlooking the city. It is the oldest fortress in Europe that has not been damaged in any war. We took an audio tour through part of it, seeing a torture chamber and climbing many stairs to see a panoramic view of the city. We then wandered through a small museum with arms from World War One, and then went back down to the city to grab bratwurst and a kebab for lunch before taking a bus to the Hellbrunn Palace.
The Hellbrunn Palace was home to one of the archbishops of Salzburg, who had a great sense of humor. When he had the palace built, he included numerous trick fountains in the design. One of the most famous is the table where his guests would eat - there are fountains under each chair (except his own, of course), and since guests could not stand in the presence of the archbishop, they were forced to remain seated when water suddenly starting spraying up from under their seats. There are many other such fountains, as well as statues, streams, and little enclaves with dancing figures powered entirely by water. Our visit started with a guided tour of the gardens, during which we got sprayed multiple times (we thought that Betsy would love the gardens but maybe not getting her hair wet!). We then walked through part of the inside of the palace, and then up a very large hill to a folklore museum where we saw some odd art exhibits. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed being out of the city again. We were definitely glad that we decided to spend 3 nights in Salzburg, since if we had left this morning we wouldn’t have seen the area at its most beautiful.
Tomorrow we are on to Vienna!
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