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Published: August 10th 2011
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Festung Hohensalzburg
The Festung Hohensalzburg castle dominating the city. The weather was mixed first thing in the morning, so not sure of which way it was going to go, we decided that we would head towards Salzburg to spend the day there. We made sure we took our new raincoats just in case.
We had been advised to drive to a Park and Ride and then travel into Salzburg by bus from there. That was definitely good advice as it was easy to find, as it was marked on all the motorway signs, and it was only €12.00 for the parking and the bus ride into the city for up to five people. Since we did not know the bus routes that well, we did have a worry that we would never be able to find the car again, but we made sure we had a good note of exactly where the Park and Ride was.
The first thing that you notice is how widely the Mozart connection is pushed. The amount of shops, signs, posters, post cards, gifts that are all Mozart related is well in excess. There are the seriously overpriced, Mozart-branded chocolates everywhere you turn. Our daughter made us laugh when she asked who the
Salzburg View
The view over Salzburg from the Festung Hohensalzburg. man was who makes all the chocolate.
I don't remember Mozart being so prominent when I was last here during my Interrailing travels (see
Enjoying The Alpine Scenery).
An association the Sound of Music was also being pushed quite heavily – not that I would know whether or not there was any connection between Salzburg and the Sound of Music of course.
After a walk to the birth-place of someone called Mozart, which is a museum, we had a walk around the old town. We found an all year round Christmas shop so we thought it would be nice for a keepsake of our holiday in Austria to go on the Christmas tree every year. We got one in the shape of a musical note, given the classical connections. For some reason most of the shop was full of various decorated eggs. I’m not sure what the association is there – something to research when we get back home.
Next, we walked up the steep hill to the fortress that dominates the city called the Festung Hohensalzburg. The family ticket was actually very good value and it included all the museums and an audio tour around a significant proportion
Mozart Merchandise
Mozart, Mozart and more Mozart. He was everywhere with his chocolates. of the fortress. The audio tour was excellent, not just for telling you about various parts of the fortress, but also for a good overview of the history of Salzburg as well as of the fortress itself. The history seemed to be dominated by the Arch Bishops who each seemed to have made their own changes to the fortress, which makes it what it is today. It was also the only place in Salzburg that wasn't pushing any kind of Mozart connection.
I was now having to carry the rain coats as they are now surplus to requirements, which is good news. Hopefully that's the turning point for the rest of the week.
We eventually managed to work out what bus we needed to catch to take us back to the Park and Ride. It was very slow, stopping at everywhere on the way and it went via a different route to that which we came in on, which left us constantly feeling that we were going in completely the wrong direction. It all worked out ok in the end however and we were safely on our way back to Rauris on a beautiful sunny evening.
We got back and could see some picturesque snow-capped mountains, which we had been completely unable to see up until now.
Not that we’re doing the usual British thing and being obsessed with the weather, but we have just checked for Paris and it is forecast to be raining from the day we arrive. Brilliant!
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