Day 5-We started off by enjoying the first class lounge
at the Hauptbahnoff to get free drinks and access to a nice bathroom because we
had first class train tickets to Salzburg.
Our cabin on the train was empty to us, so the three of us got to all stretch our
legs and nap on the train ride. Davis went to Hannover for some EDM concert, that I could care less about. The only
part that sucked about this train was that it was old, and none of the water
closets (bathrooms) near us worked. Once you get to
Salzburg Hbf, it kind of sucks because they are doing construction around
the main area. So we got the tourist
zone, got our Salzburg cards, and started off at the Aldstadt (OLD CITY). The first thing we did was the Hohensalzburg
Castle at the top of the hill. You take
a funicular to get up there, because its included in the Salzburg card, and it would be a very tough vertical walk. This whole fortress was pretty impressive,
and it was designed by a previous Archbishop of Salzburg. We got to see the weapons museum, and other
things that used to decorate the fortress interior. It provides for excellent views of Salzburg,
but we did not get to go to the Torture tower, or the Observation tower.
We then headed back down to check out some of
the churches right next to the funicular.
The Saint Peter’s abbey was alright, but the main thing there is the
cemetery, where it also filmed the scene from Sound of Music where they hid
from the Nazis.
The Franziskaner church
was ok, it’s just cool to see images of the saint that the beer is from. The Dom or the Cathedral was the main church
of Austria, this church was very nice and detailed in the baroque/rococo
style.
Then we tried going to the place
where the Von Trapp family sang their “so long farewell song” along with many
other tourists, but the building was closed.
We then tried finding a place to eat, and ended up at some hotel
restaurant with a very exuberant host who was happy to speak English. I had some gulash and it was whatever. We did the Residence museum here in Salzburg,
which was a neat palace for the ruler of the city, but nothing special because they were never the seat of power. They had some paintings on the top floor, and
the special exhibit was on paintings from an Egypt expedition with Napoleon.
After this, we went to Mozart Square to see
the statue of Mozart, but it also doubled as the finish line for some marathon
in Salzburg. We also walked to the
Mozart Bridge, and then to the Mozart birth house. They had a lot of documents of Mozart’s work,
and some of his personal items, and even four locks of his hair. We had to get some Mozart Balls, a chocolate specialty of the city that it is famous for.
We then cruised over to the Mirabell Gardens, since the Mirabell palace
was closed to see scenes from the Do Re Mi song from Sound of Music. From the Pegasus fountain, to the stairs, to
the grand foundation, to the dwarf, to the archway, we saw it all.
Then we went to the Mozart residence house,
where he lived after his birth house, and got to see more instruments that he used
to compose his works. Right across the
street, was Christian Doppler’s birth house, the dude for the Doppler
effect. We still had a bunch of time to
kill before the train, so my mom and dad stopped for some drinks, while I went
to go take a picture of the famous Horse tamer.
After that, we tried finding a place to eat dinner around the train
station, but there wasn’t anything good.
So we ended up at last summer’s favorite place, McDonalds! So instead of
being #4 like in Italy, the chicken nuggets are the #6. It felt good eating
last year’s favorite, and with a coke.
Some crazy homeless dude was being a dick in there, until the manager
threatened to call the cops and he scrammed.
It’s funny, because like the middle eastern looking people try to act
all gangster and look hip like American wannabes, and hangout at the Mcdonalds
thinking they’re some trill shit. The
train station here is under construction, but luckily we had a main line that
was finished, but we had to wait for the fast train back to Munich. The train ride wasn’t bad, and we shared it
with some fellow orange county peeps, who had been traveling nonstop it seemed
from Zurich to Salzburg to Munich via John Wayne Airport to Bush, to
Zurich.
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