Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg

I love the train system over here. Running late as usual, we were being dropped off at the station at 7:23am. Our train left at 7:27 …and it left on time and with us in it. We were very lucky our train was on the first platform. It is really cool to walk into the station, go straight to the train and board the moment before it leaves. Not so great when it leaves before you get there, but this time we were safe.

I always think of music when I think of Salzburg. Mozart was born here and called this home. The Sound of Music was partially filmed here and the Von Trapp family did live here. Our next stop is Vienna, so we scheduled an 8 hour layover in Salzburg.

When I scheduled this, it was with the plan that we spend the day learning about Mozart, but my wife had other ideas. As my father in law says… A happy wife is a happy life, so The Sound of Music tour became first on the agenda. Now don’t put me in the category of Queen Ludwig (queer), but I have seen The Sound of Music before. I can remember when my dad bought our first VCR and I think it was the only tape we owned for 5 years or so. My sisters and mother wore that tape out. I have seen the movie several times and due to my sisters, I have heard it 500. I am no stranger to The Sound of Music. There was really not any information I felt I was lacking on, but we had a 4 hour full dose of it today.

I kept myself sane by annoying the tour guide Gunther:

“When do we get to meet Captain Von Trapp?”

“Does Liesel look as good in person?”

“What do you mean you can’t sing Eidlewiess?”

“When do we get to climb those trees.”

“Is the rich baroness still available?”

“Can I sing in the festival?”

I must admit Gunter had a good sense of humor and after a while I just accepted the fact that I was going to get to hear the Sound of Music sung poorly by two American women in the back seat of the van.

I will admit the Austria is beautiful. It didn’t make me want to sing, but it did have that effect on the chics in the back. The tour went from the two houses that were used for the location of the family home ( one for the front and one for the back on the lake) . Over to the Gazebo that has been moved into a public park, and then out to the lake district and to the church where they were married. We also drove by the Abby. We also saw drove by the many sights that were used as background. Actually most of the movie was filmed in Hollywood studio. But they did do a few week stint in Austria to get the authentic feel of the location. Would I do it again? Not sure, but Melissa really seemed to enjoy it. Life is better when she is happy. Roaming Russell gives it 2 stars.

After the SOM tour, it was time for some Mozart. I love Mozart! There were two choices of tours. You could see his birth place or you could see his home. Since the allied forces bombed Salzburg 15 times in WWII and destroyed most of the city, we opted for his home. It included the piano he had practiced on as a young boy, hand written music, and lots of information about his life and travels throughout Europe. All of his instruments, paintings of his family, his toys (like an air pump gun for target shooting indoors), and letters that really gave an insight to what his life was like. It could have been better…. it was really set up perfectly for a German engineer, someone that needs to know every single detail. It was an overwhelming amount of information for the common tourist. I would have preferred a live tour guide instead of the audio guide, but oh well.

At this point, Salzburg had not overwhelmed us and the day was not over. The Modern Art Museum is on the top of a mountain cliff with a terrace for viewing. We took the lift from the bottom, up through the mountain to the top where there was a nice terrace to view the city. From up there you knew you were in a special city. Photos don’t do justice to the beauty and history right there before your eyes. Next stop was a Rick Steve recommended Restaurant… the Gasthaus Zum Wilden Mann. We walked in for the beer and supposed ambiance. It had both plus more, we found that they also had fresh white asparagus. One of my favorite things in Europe in late April- Early May is the white Asparagus. I had my first vegetarian meal in years and gorged on the huge white asparagus with a hollandaise sauce. I am not a food critic but you can tell by my waste line in my photos that I don’t mind eating. These were great! One of those moments that make the whole trip worthwhile.

We found the shopping district called the Getreidegasse. This street is old Salzburg‘s busy, colorful main drag famous for it’s old wrought iron signs. We were able to find my Dad the green German hat he had requested. Found a few things for the kids as well. Before we knew it , our train was leaving in 20 minutes and we caught a cab straight to the train station and made it with a few minutes to spare. I am sitting here chilling in first class drinking a cold beer as I write. This was another good day. We will arrive in Vienna at 7:44 PM, so there could be more adventures to come.

So long, Farewell auf wiedersehen goodbye…