Salzberg

            “The hills are alive…,” this is the song that is playing in my head as we head into Salzberg for a day trip. Surrounded by the Alps, the setting of The Sound of Music, large enough to be interesting, but still very picturesque, Salzberg is the perfect place to get your Julie Andrews on, as we’ve been trying to get Neil to do since Bratislava.

            Kyle’s breakfast of a cinnamon roll the size of his face fortifies him as we begin our tour at Mirabel Schloss and gardens. The palace is very nice, but the manicured gardens are the real attractions. It is around the fountain here that the Sound of Music children danced. It is also here that Kyle rides a unicorn statue.

            We cross the bridge and head to Monchsberg, built right into the mountain, This takes us up into the Alps, where we have a great view and saw some old city walls. It is here that we also saw a giant nest o’ snails.

            We descend to the Festspielhaus, built right into the rock, which is the stage used in The Sound of Music. Getting back into town, we see some “hunks of art”, including giant pickles. We found St. Peter’s Church, and next to it St. Peter’s Stiftskeller, advertised as the oldest restaurant in Europe, established in 803 by St. Peter’s monks. After peeking in, we went around back and explored St. Peter’s cemetery.

            Right next to some public art, a man standing on a golden ball and a big chess set, is the Dom, a very beautiful and old church whose interior I’m unfortunately only able to get a glimpse of as there’s something going on that day.

            We head towards Residenzplatz, famous as a place of Hitler’s book burnings, as well as having the large fountain. We tried to encourage Neil’s dancing, but no. It is also here that they had the state apartments, as well as the chiming glockenspiel. While walking through, I saw two nuns and almost asked, “So, how do you solve a problem like Maria?”

            Another interesting thing about Salzberg is that you see a lot of people walking around in traditional garb, and a lot of it sold in shops. I don’t know if they all work for the tourist trade or what…

            Then it’s to Alter Market (Old Market) and the Aldstadt, where we catch lunch at Zum Mohren (i.e. “moors”), a restaurant known for serving international food since the 1700s. Franz Schubert and Mozart both are said to have eaten there. Neil and I get Indian food.

            We head through Mozart platz and take a tram up the mountain to Hohensalzberg Castle and Fortress, where we get a great view of the city as well as a tour of the castle, including St. George’s Chapel, circa 1502.

            Our final 2 spots are Mozart’s birthplace and a hill for Neil to sing on. To find this last important one, we pass through a small street fest called “Funkytown”, where we got to hear Austrian funk music, which includes a tuba. We never did find that hill for Neil…

            We get to the train station, where a middle-aged Canadian is very impressed with the 5 words of German I can read from a sign (and yet didn’t want to admit that he was a tourist) and decided to “follow my lead.” Our train turns out to be a double decker (something we’ve been wanting to ride) and we to look at the beautiful scenery as we head back to Munich.

            Once there, we pick up 3 last sites: the amazing Maximilaneum, the Isartor, and Lukaskirche. We also see some Germans on a “beach” along the river. We have a dinner of brats and ribs at a nearby beer garden, and get to see some of Munich’s night life before heading back to the hostel.
P.S. Neil had a dream that he had a mole in the shape of Austria.