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Published: December 20th 2006
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Train ride to Salzburg
Our first train ride in Europe! We were very excited!! The Italians are coming! The Italians are coming!
Yes, yes... this is a joke.
We just arrived back from an amazing (yet wet) trip to Salzburg, Austria. In which we traveled by train on the OOB. The total trip took 3 hours with about 5 stops.
Upon arrival at Salzburg main station, we grabbed the local Bus 3 to Old Town (aka New Italy). I say this because as soon as we stepped off the bus in Old Town there was no longer German anywhere being spoken. Apparently the first two weekends in December the town is besieged by tourists, which happened to be about 90% Italian. This is no big deal for a beautiful place with the local charm of the quant Christmas welcoming Salzburg. The problem was that due to the droves of visitors and the heavy rain. There where approximately 50k umbrellas perched at a height of about 6'2." This just happens to be at my eye level which made navigating the narrow streets nearly impossible without crouching and pushing your way through the crowd. After a few G.P.S. technical difficulties we where able to locate the hotel which we had pre-planned as a economically
The Fortress in Salzburg
The fortress with a breathtaking view of the snow covered mountains! sound yet still close enough to the action. Hotel Wolf was a sight for sore eyes, literally... but, alas no rooms were available. Not to mention a look of, are you totally nuts. Hmmm, plan B, back out into the pouring rain. Luckily a stop next door at the Hotel Weisse Taube turned out to be the right place. Upon viewing the room we even had a view of the hillside fortress, built in 1098 the Festung Hohensalzburg.
After a while drying our socks (with the hair dryer) we were set for a day of sightseeing. Thankfully the hotel had umbrellas to borrow for the rain. Which was a real blessing, as we were ill-prepared for rain. Once back out in the street we wandered our way through the Christmas markets and the tourists toward the hillside where the fortress stands. We easily found the tram up the hillside from the square on the southwest of the town. 7 Euros later and we are being whisked up the hill at mach 3. The view from atop the fortress is absolutely stunning, even during the rain. What we could not see was the incredible snow covered mountainous backdrop which made
Mozart's Birthplace
Yup, this is where the man was born.. although the story is he hated Salzburg and couldn't wait to leave.. :) the view even more amazing. We opted to view the museum as well as the castle chambers. Two different tours as well as two different entry fees. The museum was small yet very interesting with the Kings quarters and the royal stove taking the top marks. In the castle chambers we learned of the evolution of the fortress from arch bishop to the next. We also got to visit the torture chamber, which was small but eery. The final stop in the tour was the observation tower which has an immaculate view of all of Salzburg.
Back down in the town again we dinned in the micro sized dome shaped pizzeria next to the hotel. (sorry we forgot the name, but defiantly recommended). After a few nightcaps across the street and the Irish bar, it was off to bed.
The following day we headed out after an Austrian breakfast to go find Mozarts birthplace. Smack in the middle store lined narrow streets lyes Mozarts Geburtshaus. Virtually un-miss able the house is painted bright yellow and is a bit unremarkable. So we didn’t go in... Instead we toured the rest of the town before the rest of the tourists
Parade of umbrellas
The Italians and their sea of umbrellas woke up. We visited the catacombs, St. Peterskiche, as well as attended part of the Sunday service at the Dom (Cathedral).
On our way to the train station we decided to venture on the other side of the river to the other pedestrian shopping area. On our way we got distracted by an alcove with a steep street billowing down from the hillside cutting through the shops with huge archway. 50m up the hill there is a sign informing of the park we where about to enter. Just what we needed a walk through the Kapuzinberg park, also known as City Hill. Just up the road is another great vantage point from the lookout as well as a neighboring monastery. We continued up the road until the road turned to trail and the vistas got even more incredible. This is where I got the shot of the fortress with the snow cover mountains in the background.
After some more rain scares we headed back down the hill explore a bit more before heading off. Heading north on Linzer Gasse we found the mausoleum to Wolf Dietrich as well as the grave of Mozart’s widow and his Father. Both of which are in the same cemetery. With these findings we had throughly satisfied our curiosity for Salzburg and headed back to the train station for the ride home.
Back to Vienna for a week then off to Prague! Peace!
And no mom there wasn’t a single sign of “The Sound of Music”
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Mom J.
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Love it!
I just love this travel blog thing! I feel like I am right there experiencing all your adventures with you! And the pictures are great! Keep it up! xoxoxomom