En route from the Dolomites to Vienna, our other main destination, our train journey passed back through Innsbruck (where we spent three nights a week earlier) and Salzburg. We decided to break up the trip to Vienna with a brief two-night stay in Salzburg to spend a day exploring the city. This also gave us a breather after a somewhat complicated travel route: local bus from Ortisei to Ponte Gardena, local train to Brixen/Bressanone, Inter-City Express (ICE) to Innsbruck, then another Inter-City to Salzburg. We had the unusual situation of the first ICE train being delayed by 14 minutes, and with only a 16-minute layover in Innsbruck Ken was able to get his first experience running through a European train station trying desperately to leap onto a departing train. It turned out our final train was held for about 10 minutes to give passengers time to hustle one platform over from the ICE train that was running late, and the time was made up before we reached the next station – making it unclear why the first one was late to begin with. Use the accelerator, people!
Anyhow, the better Salzburg weather was forecast for the day we arrived, so after walking 10 minutes and checking in to the hotel we strolled through the Mirabell Palace gardens, the tight pedestrian passages of the Altstadt, and the plazas near the cathedral. Our second day promised drizzle in the afternoon so we did a longer morning walk along the riverwalk and through the Altstadt before spending the afternoon taking care of some planning for Vienna. A photo montage:
Quick Takeaways
We both felt Salzburg was the grittiest place we visited so far on this trip, with extensive graffiti everywhere and posters/placards pasted on many surfaces. At the same time, the city is full of interesting large-scale contemporary public art, of which I failed to take a single picture. We found the vibe to be quite touristy, with Christmas shops and Sound of Music tours competing for attention, and that’s before even getting into the large number of tourists we observed re-enacting Sound of Music scenes. There are many extremely historic (and fully original) buildings here, with the city center named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but ecclesiastical buildings and classical music performances are not really our thing so we preferred to save up our mental space for “buildings” for our next stop in Vienna. Our quick visit was enough to give us a sense of the personality of another location with a strong sense of culture and history. A lingering mystery: We saw ads around town for a marionette performance of The Sound of Music. How do they handle the scene with the Lonely Goatherd song? Do the marionettes manipulate even smaller marionettes? Inquiring minds need to know.
Food and Lodging
We stayed at — what else? — a Motel One located a 10-minute walk from the train station, which was also a short walk down the river from the historic downtown area. On our first evening while in the Altstadt we had a meal of traditional food at Zirkelwirt (established in 1647!). On day two, having a bottle of wine at the hotel bar and dinner at Cosmic Pizza, a block from the hotel, was satisfying and easy to manage in the iffy weather.
Next up: The Austrian capital city of Vienna!
I have to say, before I even got to your comment about Salzburg being a “gritty” city. I was thinking “Man, I hate graffiti.” Your photos are so nice, but all the graffiti is just such a turnoff. It’s pervasive in so many of these European cities and I just think it takes so much away from their inherent beauty. But I’ve been griping about it in Lisbon since we got here and not a single person, apparently, cares what I think.
Love the food pics – everything looks delicious – and I can only imagine how cool it was to eat in a restaurant established in 1647. Just crazy!
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Vienna.
I think the graffiti is tolerated somewhat in Salzburg because the community is very artsy – there are several universities including art schools – and it’s seen as a form of free expression. But I agree with you; in my mind it’s definitely not an enhancement. But if it makes you feel any better, graffiti is as old as these cities! I remember visiting Pompeii years ago and being entertained by the graffiti that was perfectly preserved under ash for two millennia.
We have been eating very well here in Europe, as you can undoubtedly appreciate. I wouldn’t mind a bit more presence of vegetables on the plate, but since we’ve had several rentals with kitchens we have been able to satisfy our salad cravings.
Traveling gives you such a great education. I loved Salzburg and walked all of it while loosing weight. You two have to be burning more calories than you can eat. Will you fly from Austria back home?
Pat
We are definitely meeting our fitness goals on most days with all the walking, though the cities don’t give us nearly as much mileage as we were getting in the Dolomites. We are taking the train from Vienna to Munich for our return flights to Charlotte.
If I was in charge of the marionette show of The Sound of Music, I would have the puppeteers come out and play the goatherd scene as actors. The old switcheroo, as it were.
THIS IS IT! If this isn’t what happens in the show, it should be.