Salzburg is certainly a beautiful place. I started out fresh this morning and walked into town. It was easy to find in the light.What is magnificent about the long walk into town is that Nonnberg Abbey Towers over the road which brings me to town. This is the place where Maria was in the convent And also where she married Captain Von Trapp.
Having learned from the tour guide in Croatia I went directly for the festung Which went up the side of the mountain to the fort on top. I was in one of the first groups to get up there. Much of the castle itself was closed for renovation. The living quarters of the kings and queens were closed. However, it did offer a beautiful views of the surrounding region. The mountains were so beautiful and surrounded the entire city. I walked around for a while and then went down the same way I came up. So much easier than walking.
My next stop was the cathedral of Salzburg. The cathedral is a beautiful building which sits in the center of the city. It is surrounded by large squares just bustling with people. When I go to the cathedral it was closed and people were waiting to enter for an organ concert. I gladly buy a ticket and when the doors open I was let into a most magnificent cathedral.As the time for the concert grew near, The church begin to fill up. The Organist began to play. He began with a piece by Brahms written for the organ. It was a beautiful piece. He went on to play for an hour using different pieces from different composers. I preferred the pieces from the newer composers as they were more melodious.
After the concert, I began to walk through the city. The city had a very narrow streets with shops on each side. All of the shops were very high-end suggest Armani and places like that. These jobs have no interest for me. There was a market in one of the little squares where people will their carts in and sold their produce. Someone is selling sandwiches and pastries to be eaten there. I bought a cheese sandwich and sat on the steps of one of the churches, had my lunch and watch people go by. The streets were just packed with people. It was like being in a herd of cattle just walking slowly and one direction.
I walk till the end of town. There was a high cliff here but there were two cut outs that took you into another part of the city. There was no place to walk to get through the cut outs so I headed towards the river. I stopped to get an ice cream cone which had become a daily ritual. A bad ritual. The road along the river was just as crowded but there were places to sit and many people were just sitting along the banks. The shops here tend to be less expensive and there were lots of fast food places. The weather was still pretty pleasant but it was hot sitting in the sun. I sat by the river for an hour or so. I decided that I would wait till tomorrow to explore the other side of the river. I mosey on back to my hotel. It was a good time to take a rest and put my feet up. Both of my feet are swelling in my legs are very sore.
Much to my dismay, when I returned to my hotel the Internet was not working and would not work for the rest of my visit. This is why three days are being done in one day on the blog. I spoke to the woman at the front desk and she began to cry. You were not the first person she said and there’s nothing I can do about it. The manager just said it’s not working and that’s it. I was most unhappy. So I went upstairs to my room and I rested. About 6 PM, I decided I wanted dinner so I would eat at the restaurant attached to the hotel. It was called the Giacomo‘s and the food was fair at best. I would not recommend it. I would’ve been better going back to the place I ate last night which was fantastic. That was trattoria Campania.
After dinner I decided to take walk back into town to see all of the important buildings lit up. Unfortunately none of them were lit up. The place was a ghost town. All the shops are closed at six and all the people were gone. There was a concert outside the cathedral and people were just beginning to leave. Some of the outside cafés were open and concert goers were having late dinners. There was a little to see, so I went back to my hotel.
After a good nights sleep, I checked into the hotel for breakfast. The breakfast was good but expensive. It was $20 a person. This morning I decided to check out the tram and take it to the train station so that I could be sure I was going to be on the right train the next morning. I got to the train station by using tram number five. I was told the ticket booth that all I needed was my Eurail pass And I was all set. Now it was time to explore the other side of the river.
I began my exploration with the palace Mirabel. This had been built by Kaiser Franz Josef I. It was a beautiful complex of gardens and fountains. There were three weddings going on in the building so much of it was closed to the public. One of the weddings, the groom was wearing lederhosen. It was interesting to see. Across the street from the Palace , Was a church that was there for the use of the Kaiser. It was nothing special. I was very disappointed in the lack of design. I spent an hour roaming around the Gardens and then I move on.
I want to see the areas that were involved with Mozart. This was a very big disappointment. There was little emphasis on anything about him. There was a museum that was part of a school of music that was on this day only open to students. The house where he lived was there and there was a long line to get into it. I chose to pass that up and just continued walking. I eventually decided that there was little to see you on that side of the river and walk back to the other side and sat by the river again. I walk through the streets again just to see if I had missed anything. Cafés were starting to fill up so I picked one to have my dinner. I chose trattoria Domani. It was good but no where’s near as good as the first night.
After dinner I walked back to town. I took notice of all the buildings I had seen what a beautiful city Salzburg is. What I found interesting is that I had not had any encounters with any of the local people. I had spoken to some British people and some Canadians but no locals. They were not terribly friendly. It was hard to find people who spoke English. The other thing I noticed was a definite lack of Americans. Usually you find large groups of Americans traveling in Europe at this time. This was not the case. I’m not sure why but they weren’t there.
I got back to my hotel and began my preparations for my journey to London. I checked with the woman at the desk about the tram running on Sunday. She assured me that the number five would take me right to the train station. A pack my bags and went to sleep fairly early as I wanted to take the 9 AM train to Munich.
Having learned from the tour guide in Croatia I went directly for the festung Which went up the side of the mountain to the fort on top. I was in one of the first groups to get up there. Much of the castle itself was closed for renovation. The living quarters of the kings and queens were closed. However, it did offer a beautiful views of the surrounding region. The mountains were so beautiful and surrounded the entire city. I walked around for a while and then went down the same way I came up. So much easier than walking.
My next stop was the cathedral of Salzburg. The cathedral is a beautiful building which sits in the center of the city. It is surrounded by large squares just bustling with people. When I go to the cathedral it was closed and people were waiting to enter for an organ concert. I gladly buy a ticket and when the doors open I was let into a most magnificent cathedral.As the time for the concert grew near, The church begin to fill up. The Organist began to play. He began with a piece by Brahms written for the organ. It was a beautiful piece. He went on to play for an hour using different pieces from different composers. I preferred the pieces from the newer composers as they were more melodious.
After the concert, I began to walk through the city. The city had a very narrow streets with shops on each side. All of the shops were very high-end suggest Armani and places like that. These jobs have no interest for me. There was a market in one of the little squares where people will their carts in and sold their produce. Someone is selling sandwiches and pastries to be eaten there. I bought a cheese sandwich and sat on the steps of one of the churches, had my lunch and watch people go by. The streets were just packed with people. It was like being in a herd of cattle just walking slowly and one direction.
I walk till the end of town. There was a high cliff here but there were two cut outs that took you into another part of the city. There was no place to walk to get through the cut outs so I headed towards the river. I stopped to get an ice cream cone which had become a daily ritual. A bad ritual. The road along the river was just as crowded but there were places to sit and many people were just sitting along the banks. The shops here tend to be less expensive and there were lots of fast food places. The weather was still pretty pleasant but it was hot sitting in the sun. I sat by the river for an hour or so. I decided that I would wait till tomorrow to explore the other side of the river. I mosey on back to my hotel. It was a good time to take a rest and put my feet up. Both of my feet are swelling in my legs are very sore.
Much to my dismay, when I returned to my hotel the Internet was not working and would not work for the rest of my visit. This is why three days are being done in one day on the blog. I spoke to the woman at the front desk and she began to cry. You were not the first person she said and there’s nothing I can do about it. The manager just said it’s not working and that’s it. I was most unhappy. So I went upstairs to my room and I rested. About 6 PM, I decided I wanted dinner so I would eat at the restaurant attached to the hotel. It was called the Giacomo‘s and the food was fair at best. I would not recommend it. I would’ve been better going back to the place I ate last night which was fantastic. That was trattoria Campania.
After dinner I decided to take walk back into town to see all of the important buildings lit up. Unfortunately none of them were lit up. The place was a ghost town. All the shops are closed at six and all the people were gone. There was a concert outside the cathedral and people were just beginning to leave. Some of the outside cafés were open and concert goers were having late dinners. There was a little to see, so I went back to my hotel.
After a good nights sleep, I checked into the hotel for breakfast. The breakfast was good but expensive. It was $20 a person. This morning I decided to check out the tram and take it to the train station so that I could be sure I was going to be on the right train the next morning. I got to the train station by using tram number five. I was told the ticket booth that all I needed was my Eurail pass And I was all set. Now it was time to explore the other side of the river.
I began my exploration with the palace Mirabel. This had been built by Kaiser Franz Josef I. It was a beautiful complex of gardens and fountains. There were three weddings going on in the building so much of it was closed to the public. One of the weddings, the groom was wearing lederhosen. It was interesting to see. Across the street from the Palace , Was a church that was there for the use of the Kaiser. It was nothing special. I was very disappointed in the lack of design. I spent an hour roaming around the Gardens and then I move on.
I want to see the areas that were involved with Mozart. This was a very big disappointment. There was little emphasis on anything about him. There was a museum that was part of a school of music that was on this day only open to students. The house where he lived was there and there was a long line to get into it. I chose to pass that up and just continued walking. I eventually decided that there was little to see you on that side of the river and walk back to the other side and sat by the river again. I walk through the streets again just to see if I had missed anything. Cafés were starting to fill up so I picked one to have my dinner. I chose trattoria Domani. It was good but no where’s near as good as the first night.
After dinner I walked back to town. I took notice of all the buildings I had seen what a beautiful city Salzburg is. What I found interesting is that I had not had any encounters with any of the local people. I had spoken to some British people and some Canadians but no locals. They were not terribly friendly. It was hard to find people who spoke English. The other thing I noticed was a definite lack of Americans. Usually you find large groups of Americans traveling in Europe at this time. This was not the case. I’m not sure why but they weren’t there.
I got back to my hotel and began my preparations for my journey to London. I checked with the woman at the desk about the tram running on Sunday. She assured me that the number five would take me right to the train station. A pack my bags and went to sleep fairly early as I wanted to take the 9 AM train to Munich.
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