Salzburg, Austria: 12.6.2014

Yahoo! I’m off to Austria. This is my first big solo excursion outside of Darmstadt. I’m pretty excited about that, and it helps to know that my destination is bike-centered. I’ve been watching the World Cup for 5 or 6 years now, and I’m really excited to see how fast these guys and girls go. The track is also of interest to me. TV flattens terrain, so the level of “gnarliness” will probably show just how skilled these riders are. But before all the bike stuff, I’m headed to Salzburg for the day to explore and play tourist.

 Loading up. We had to take a bus across the tarmac to our little plane. It was packed too, but I somehow scored a spot with nobody next to me.

 Just about there. I could see the mountains in the distance, but the rivers and greenery were the features closest and what caught my attention.

Booya! Salzburg, Austria. "Salt Fortress" and Mozart's birthplace.

I did some homework, wrote down the things I wanted to see, and felt prepared for the day. The bus to the airport was simple, and the flight was short and sweet. The airport took my face wash and lotion. Damn it. It was my fault. I had forgotten about the 100 ml maximum. I didn’t think it was a worldwide regulation, but I should have known. I didn’t get pretzels or peanuts, but I did get some good cookies with chocolate and tomato juice. Yum.

I picked up a Stadtplan (city map) and bus map at the info office at the airport because I forgot to print the map I had prepared. Luckily I did remember to bring my written notes. 1^st stop: Salzburg Hauptbahnhoff (train station.) I put my big backpack in a locker, and loaded a small bag with jacket, sweatshirt, and water. The weather was much better than anticipated. Leogang was going to be rainy, but Salzburg is far enough away that it was welcoming me with warm sunshine. It sucked carrying around warm layers for no reason, but it’s better to be prepared, right?

1^st stop: Marabellgarten. OK, this wasn’t on my list, but I was walking toward Stadtmitte when I saw an open patch of green and roses. DETOUR! Shit, it’s hot. Good think I brought sunscreen. Damn it. I lost the hat Mads gave me, so I will have to buy one this weekend. There were a lot of tourists, duh. I already get the vibe that this town is tourist central. Oh well. I’m one of them, so try to blend in or not stand out too much.

 Maribellgarten at Maribell Palace. The palace was built in 1606 and was home to Prine-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau's mistress.  oooooo. Scandal maybe?

My photo's don't quite catch the glory.

I love farmers’ markets, so I headed to one a few blocks away. I like cheese, but I’m pretty sure there are some super gross ones out there. I saw a girl sampling bits of cheese at a booth, so I followed suit. 1^st sample: Ewww, nasty! Ok, moving on. Around the corner I was stuck by an amazing scent. I had turned down the meat row and the smell of roasted meat was amazing. Maybe someone was roasting some kind of meat there on the spot or cooking something for patrons. Either way, it was amazing. I saw all kinds of blackened meat. It looks gross and burnt, but I’m sure it’s all sehr lecker (very delicious.) Even though farmers markets are all pretty similar, I still love walking around seeing all the fresh foods and random goods. It’s expensive, and I don’t buy anything, but it makes me happy to see all the other people buying goodies.

Something was smelling delicious around these booths. Some kind of meat...

Side note: I’m writing this while on the train back to Salzburg from Leogang. The scenery here is spectacular. We passed an amazing lake a few minutes ago, now we’re cruising through a canyon next to a river of teal green water. On the way to Leogang the rain was making the river muddy, but the mist hovering above was quite the scene. I tried to take pictures, but it wasn’t working. Just imaging steep cliffs with trees and vegetation next to a roaring river at the bottom. Open gouges in the hillside expose the rocky core of the region. Mist hangs just above the water’s surface and abruptly tops out a few meters above. I can imagine the water being pretty damn cold. (There are still patches of snow on the steep cliffs high above Leogang.) Now, the scene has changed. The water is a cleaner shade of green, and the sun proves summer is here. I see shades of green and gray. It’s pretty fuckin’ cool.

Seen near Residenzplatz. I gave him 50 cents, he gave me a postcard as if presenting me with a great medal of honor. I love street performers.

I didn’t really plan on taking any long tours or spend too much time in museums, but I ended up in Domplatz, paid my entry fee, picked up the audio guide, and headed into the old state house of the city’s past rulers. This building has housed generations of leaders and has been updated over the years, but now has been transformed into a museum. I saw where meetings took place hundreds of years ago. I saw some lavish pope hats and chalices (what some would today call a pimp cup.) I can’t recall many of the details, but it’s a place full of history and artifacts from the region. I spent more time than anticipated, but oh well. I’m traveling solo and not held to any strict schedule.

Amazing painting on the ceiling in Residenz State Rooms.

Inside the Residenz State Rooms. shhh. don't take pictures....

I hiked up to Hohensalzburg Fortress which worked up quite a sweat. Duh, it was hot! There is a tram that brings people up the super steep hill, but I prefer to suffer and save some dough so I walked up. I wandered around, took a few pictures, then headed back down. A tour would have been awesome, but the line was super long and waiting in lines pisses me off sometimes. I wasn’t in the mood, so I decided to move on and see some other stuff. I didn’t want to waste precious time waiting in line behind a big group of school kids. I’m full of contradictions. I take a tour at Domplatz, but don’t want to wait in line for a castle tour. Hmm. Weird. I’m glad I made that decision though. I spent that time instead checking out a couple churches and a small cemetery.

 inside a small chapel at Hohensalzburg Fortress.

 Just a cool room blocked a metal gate. I'm sure it's part of the tour I didn't take.

Cemetery at St. Peter's Abbey

The cemetery was pretty coo, but the catacombs built into the hillside was something out of an Indiana Jones movie. While walking among the headstones, I looked up and saw people looking out from window in the hillside. What? I want to do that! I thought it may be part of the castle, but lucked out when I found the entrance. I paid my 1,50 Euros (the numbers here swap commas for periods compared to how we write it. One thousand is 1.000) to the woman in the small booth, and I ascended the stairs into the hillside. It’s probably more of a cliff than hill. It’s all rock and almost vertical. The cool temperature was such a relief to the outside heat. Note to self: if I build a house in a hot location, use walls 2 meters thick of rock and concrete.

 I think Indiana Jones was here.

Those little windows at the top is where I saw some people stick their heads out. Behind those facades in the cliff is where I found these creepy chapels. 

The churches I’ve seen so far on my travels have all been of the Gothic style. Gothic churches are characterized by pointed arches and restrained ornamentation. Gothic churches still have a lot of detail, lavish altar pieces, and amazing paintings, but walk into a Baroque one and you’ll see the difference. St. Peter’s Abbey was quite a shock. I wasn’t expecting such a difference to what I’ve seen so far. I sat down for a couple minute and just let my gaze scan all corners of the place.

 St. Peters church

There is still more to see in Salzburg. I did have a good portion of the day to explore, and my feet were letting me know that they’ve had enough walking for one day. Too bad I still had to walk to the train station for my ride to Leogang.

 Cool decoration in Franciscan Church. (I think it was that church. I saw a few of them and can't remember which one. I do know this wasn't in St. Peters.) 

 Another cemetery. This one is at St. Sebastian's Church. The Mozart family tomb is here, but I didn't know that until I wrote this. That would have been cool to see. Maybe I did and didn't know it. These are the things you find when taking the long walk to your destination and get a little lost.

Yum. Vegan vegetable curry and ginger lemonade at Leichtsinn Vitalbistro. Lots of fresh organic and vegetarian/vegan items were available.The girls working here were very nice. I tried to speak German, and they were respectful of my butchering of the language. They spoke English too, and were all smiles. It was very much appreciated because I bet they probably get tourists a lot. It's not in the main tourist area, so it was quiet on this day. Lots of fresh organic and vegetarian/vegan stuff were available.

I already mentioned the train ride to Leogang, but I’ll say it again; the landscape here is gorgeous, beautiful, majestic, a welcome change to Darmstadt. Winding rivers of bluish green water, dense forest, rolling pastures of perfect grass, steep rocky cliffs sprinkled with snow patches at their peaks, and Austrian homes with an architecture style just like you’ve seen in brochures. I wish this trip was about DOING activities, instead of watching one. Rafting (if it’s available,) rock climbing, biking. Damn. Next time (in an ideal world.) 

 Yep, that's a guy wearing Liederhosen. I didn't notice until after I took the picture that the guys were looking at me. oops. Don't mind me; I'm just a creepy tourist.

 It was time to kick off the shoes and relax my feet. I'd been walking a lot. The train was very hot unfortunately. It took a few minutes before it cooled off once we got under way.

 Leaving the flatland behind and entering the Austrian Alps.

Der Hund. He was waiting for me at Backerwirt in Leogang.