Salzburg, Austria: Schloss Hellbrunn

Many places in Europe are known for their Christmas markets in early December. Not to mention the music performances that are available all over town. Schloss Hellbrunn was one location for a market. It was built to be the summer day palace for the Archbishop of Salzburg, and since he always returned to Salzburg for the evenings, there isn't even a bedroom on the premises.

Another big draw are the grounds. There are trick fountains that get you very wet, but they are only open in the warmer months. Usually there are also tours of the palace itself, but since we were there during Christmastime we instead were able to walk through the rooms and see craftsmen and women making a variety of things by hand. It was very interesting.


This is the courtyard. The green stand in the center is selling warm drinks and food. Mostly mulled wine I imagine. Had we not had our rather fuzzy experience the first evening, we may have indulged; it was certainly cold enough for it.

I am not sure if it is clear in the above photo, but it had begun to rain by this point. I have one photo that is all umbrellas. What amazed Rocket Man and I most about this was that every individual had their own umbrella. No one shared. This made for some very interesting navigation, especially in the small winding streets in old town Salzburg. To say that we were poked a few times is definitely an understatement. On the plus side, neither of us had umbrellas, so not only could we move faster, but we were covered quite a bit by everyone else's umbrella.


The inside of the palace was decorated for Christmas, including a few trees like the one above. We always use artificial trees, but the real ones are beautiful. I didn't feel comfortable taking many other photos inside since there were so many people making and selling original work.

We walked around the grounds a little bit before the rain got very heavy. I am sure some of you recognize this gazebo from a rather popular film. There is a tour for The Sound of Music that many people encouraged us to take. The above photo is of the gazebo now located at Schloss Hellbrunn that was recreated in Hollywood (larger) for filming.

We chose not to do the tour for a few reasons. For starters, Rocket Man isn't exactly into that sort of thing. Another is that much of the movie is a fabrication; the family did not do what the movie claims, and the people of Salzburg don't understand how people believe it to be true as it was not. The von Trapps did sing as a family, but the entire storyline about his being forced to join Hitler's army and all that results is made up. Hollywood chose picturesque Salzburg as their location, but some sets were created (like the cemetery scene) while many other portions were filmed outside of the city.

More than anything, we wanted to see Salzburg for what it has to offer. We wanted to know its history and see it for what it is, not for what someone imagined. We had a really good time. There was a lot of rain our final day, not to mention a ton of people, but as we had seen most of what interested us the first two days, we did not mind. We spent our afternoon purchasing gifts for family members and finding warm, dry places for lunch and dinner. In all, it was a very good trip and I would suggest going to a European Christmas Market town in early December to anyone.

Tomorrow? I have no idea what I'll write about...but something, so stay tuned!

Salzburg, Austria: Untersberg

On our final day in Austria, we decided that we would get out of the city for a while. Included in our Salzburg card was a trip up the Untersberg as well as entry to Schloss Hellbrunn, both of which are a little ways away. We had to pay for the second half of the bus ride to the lift up the mountain, but that was less than two euros each.

Our drive through the countryside was not too long, and we were able to see some very quaint small towns along the way. It would be very easy for someone to stay in one of those towns and still get into Salzburg whenever they please. If you were looking for a place to stay that is very quaint and has less people, it would definitely be the way to go.

The day was shaping up as chilly and cloudy; there was a lot of low cloud cover our last day. This meant that we didn't get the best views while up on the Alps, but you can't control the weather, so it is what it is. We still had a lot of fun up there.


The building above is where you go to get your lift tickets and then ride up. I think the man on the side of the building is pretty funny. We headed inside, obtained our tickets and then had a couple of coffees while we waited for the lift to return and pick us up.

Just before going in, I took some photos of the area around the lift, and this one? It is for Jenky:


I would show you what our view out of the car was like, but basically it was a photo of a window out of which one could see nothing but white foggy clouds. Oh, yes and occasionally some rocks came at us out of nowhere. The visibility was only five feet at most, so we couldn't see much at all aside from the car itself.


I probably shouldn't even have had my camera out up there, as the air was very moist and the temperature was definitely below what we had been experiencing down in the valley. Rocket Man took the camera for a photo of me and then he tried to get a photo of the nothingness that was our view. Imagine whitish-gray. That was it. He pointed the camera, messed with the zoom a bit and declared that it wouldn't focus.

Um...yeah...

'Cause there was nothing for it to focus on.


There were a couple of men up there who were planning to hike to the next station, which in decent weather, is supposed to be quite a nice thing to do. Considering the weather and also the fact that my leather shoes had very slick soles, there was no way we were going anywhere. We did walk a tiny ways uphill away from the station and to get back, I had to walk right behind Rocket Man and basically let his feet stop mine from sliding all over the place.

Good times.


Everything up there was frozen. Pine bushes, leaves, and every other thing you can imagine. We did notice the markers for the trail, which are painted to look like the Austrian flag.


After just a little time, we were frozen as well. My hair was completely stiff and even Rocket Man's eyelashes were frozen. We took refuge in the lift station and waited for the car to take us back down to the bus.


From there we took the bus back towards town but got off at Schloss Hellbrunn. We saw some crafters making all sorts of things by hand and also the gazebo that was created in Hollywood for The Sound of Music. More on that tomorrow!

Salzburg, Austria: Veggie Pizza

So.

Our dinner on day two in Salzburg.

We had a very busy day, full once again of walking here, there and everywhere to see all that we could see. That evening, we were looking for a place to eat.

When we visited London, I made reservations and/or arrangements for dinner for every night that we would be there because it is such a large place and I wanted to know where we had to be each night so that we would actually manage to get there. In Salzburg, I made no such plans. This was in part because the area was so much smaller and also because I thought we would decide once we got there.

In a way, that was a mistake. In another, it was great as we found some really good food by just choosing a place based on the menu outside. Unfortunately, the December holiday we choose to travel on was one that much of Europe also chose...and quite a few came with us. By our second night, restaurants were filling up and we weren't having a lot of luck for eating, especially over in the old town.

We walked all OVER that area and found no place that had room. We went across the river to the Linzergasse area (major shopping and newer) to look around. There were sausage stands/restaurants everywhere we looked, but of COURSE Rocket Man won't eat THAT.

Duh.

So we became more and more hungry and more and more tired which made for a more and more irritable version of us. Since Rocket Man refused any place with sausages or the like, I chose a stand that sold these:


Mmm - Can you smell it? I got to watch the man make it from the street. We managed to communicate about what I wanted on it and how spicy he should make it.


Man, oh man did it smell good and taste good. All in all, it hit the spot.


While I suggested to Rocket Man that he get one as well, just without the mayo-looking sauce (which is actually YOGURT, which he LIKES), he refused. Instead he took a look at the menu, which was very limited, and chose a vegetable pizza.

Okay.

That sounds normal enough.

The man running the stand (hole in the wall) informed us that he had to make it fresh. Fresh! It will take a few minutes because he must get the fresh vegetables and make the pizza for us!

So, we are waiting.

Then he insists that we come inside to wait. He feels bad that we are waiting for his Fresh! Vegetable Pizza and that we are standing outside in the cold while we do so. And by insist, he really insists that we come inside. I really think it would have offended him if we had stayed outside.

We go in, and the hole in the wall place has a couple of tables and a few locals who obviously spend a lot of time in this place. They are smoking like ca-razy, so we are really excited about how our clothes and winter coats are going to smell once we leave.

We wait a while, with old scruffy men looking at us like we are a little off our rockers, and finally the Fresh! Vegetable Pizza is ready.

We pay, thank the man and then hike back over to our hotel to eat our dinners. As you can see from the photos above, mine was fabulous and delicious. It was huge and I couldn't even eat it all.

Rocket Man's pizza, on the other hand...well:


Oh, yeah. Your eyes do not deceive you. Those are green beans, corn and carrots on that Fresh! Vegetable Pizza. Basically, it looked like he took a bag of frozen veggies (and we all know how yummy those taste) and put it on there with some sauce and cheese.

Oh, and the sauce was very reminiscent of Spaghettio's...he didn't even finish one slice.

Yum.

Let's just say that Rocket Man learned his lesson about that.

And now we all know why those scruffy old men were looking at us like we were ca-razy.

'Cause seriously - who gets a vegetable pizza at a Döner Kebab stand?!?

Salzburg, Austria: Around Town

Each morning, Rocket Man and I would eat breakfast in our hotel (a decent included breakfast is usually one thing we look for) and then head off into town towards our first destination. Depending on where we crossed the river, we could see a variety of buildings and views. The first post on Austria showed you what it looked like if we took the bridge across to the old town further away from our hotel. This first photo shows what we saw when we crossed over very close to our hotel and then took a river-walk to the old town:


The buildings above are built halfway into the rock. I imagine that they have excellent temperatures inside. In Spain, people choose to live in cave houses because they provide warmer temps in the winter and much cooler ones in the summer.

On our second day, after we visited the gardens at Schloss Mirabel and the Baroque Museum nearby, we took some time to go here:


This building is where Mozart and his family lived. It is not where he was born (you can visit there as well; it is in the old town), but it is where he spent more time. There was a good presentation of family portraits, musical instruments, and general information about the Mozart family. Since most people only hear/know about Amadeus, it is a good way to learn about more members of the very musical family.


There are a variety of ways to get around Salzburg. One of the easiest is to walk. The city does experience something called string rain, which is rain that falls not in drops, but in never ending strings of water. We experienced quite a bit of it our last day there, and were very happy that there is an excellent trolley-bus system that runs on the cables pictured above.

One rather fun thing about being in Europe during the holiday season is the chance to see how other cultures celebrate; there are many different traditions and it is interesting to compare them to our own. I am sure you know that there are different versions of Father Christmas everywhere and that they travel in different ways and have different clothing.


An Austiran/German holiday tradition that we were able to witness was that of the Perchten and Krampus runs. On December 5th and 6th, these creatures roam through the streets. The Perchten come to scare evil from your home; the Krampus are there to scold the naughty.

The Krampus have horns, wear bells at their waists and are rather loud and scary looking. You can see the face of one here. They go through the city on the 5th of December looking for those who have been bad. Some even have baskets they wear on their backs: "The better to take you away in, my naughty child!" Kris Kringle walks through with them carrying a book that has all of the names of the good and bad for the year. The above photo was the best I could get as they were moving quickly through the streets.


Throughout Spain, cities and towns normally have a tile mosaic representation of themselves. Many of them are small, but some are quite large. This mosaic of Salzburg was inside the entry to the Mönchsberg lift. This is an elevator that takes people from the ground up to the top of the mountain and to the Museum der Moderne. As it reminded me so much of Spain, I had to take a photo.


We were immediately greeted by this fantastic view of Hohensalzburg Fortress overlooking the old town. As it was towards the end of the day, the light was fading fast. We ran into a couple of other tourists up there and we took each other's photos.


We did not go into the museum, but we did take a look at a couple of the exhibits that were outside. Then we investigated a few of the paths that lead away from the city. Only a couple of minutes in, and you'd never know that you are so very close to Salzburg:


In addition to the city and all that it has to offer, the environs of Salzburg are certainly worth seeing. We would spend our last morning in Salzburg doing just that.

But first, I simply MUST tell you about our dinner experience...

Salzburg, Austria: St. Peter's Cemetery

As my closest friends can tell you, I love cemeteries. I cannot really explain why; I can tell you that it is not an obsession with death or the dead. Something about them is completely fascinating, calming and beautiful to me. I especially enjoy those that have markers that are old and weathered. That would be because I like old stuff. Yup, old stuff is the best.

Many people recognize Saint Peter's Cemetery because a scene in The Sound of Music took place there. That is to say that they created a set that looked like this cemetery for the movie. Most recognizable are the vaults that run along the walls. They belong to families who pay to basically rent them.


In fact, all of the plots in the cemetery are rented. As long as you or a descendant of yours pays the fee, the plot is yours. Once no one can or does pay for the spot, your remains are dug up, moved somewhere else, and your resting place is put on the market. Although this sounds very strange, especially to most Americans, it is fairly common practice, especially in places where space is limited.


There are a wide variety of markers in the cemetery. Some, like the one above, appear hand painted; quite a few of them were very worn from the weather. Others are made of marble and carved with names and figures that range from patriotic to grotesque. Others still are statuesque. Some plots are surrounded by stones, some by wrought iron gates, and others had no official border markings at all.


All of the graves within the cemetery are very well tended. The families of those buried there obviously take pride in caring for their loved ones' resting places. We saw lots of candles and even some flowers. The whole cemetery was crammed full of beautiful things; it was tough to decide where to look or which part was our favorite.

Saint Peter's is located right along the Mönchsberg which means that when they needed a catacombs, a natural solution was provided. The rock was cut to allow for a place to keep the remains of those whose time in the ground had run out. From below a window and door in some rather worn brick are all that is visible of the old catacombs.


Entry to the catacombs is partly hidden. Behind the vaults that run along the mountain is a tunnel that climbs up into the rock. The short skinny tunnel leads up to a room that at one time held the bones that had been disinterred.



These days all that awaits visitors are a couple of altars, murals and the barred off door and windows leading to a dangerous drop off of the cliff. The climb wasn't too long or difficult and the area was mildly interesting; I am guessing that is why the cost is one euro (if you don't have the Salzburg Card).


On the way up to the main catacomb room, there is a landing. There are also some windows along the way that provide views of the cemetery and Romanesque Chapel of the Holy Cross.


While we could not enter the chapel, we could visit Saint Peter's Church. This was probably the most beautiful interior we saw while in Salzburg. Photos were not allowed, but if you'd like to catch a glimpse, go here. It is done in the Baroque style and is breathtaking. The interior decorations of silvery blues and greens as well as the cream/white surrounding the paintings makes the church feel very lofty and light. This contrast with the exterior and one's general feelings after touring the cemetery combine to provide for an almost shocked feeling when you enter. It is quite literally like a breath of fresh air.

Salzburg, Austria: Schloss Mirabell

Our second day in Salzburg began at Schloss Mirabell. This palace was built for the mistress of one of the Prince Archbishops (who was also the mother of his children). It is most famous for its gardens. We were there one of the first weeks in December, and even then things were very pretty. I can only imagine what it must look like in the spring when everything is growing and blooming.


The gardens are done in the baroque style and are open to the public. There are a variety of flower beds as well as statues and reflecting pools. There is an open air theater as well. When we were there, the flower beds were mostly empty although some had been filled with appropriate plants for the season:


One of the draws of the gardens is that some of The Sound of Music was filmed here. I am not sure on all of the specifics, but we were told that the Pegasus fountain was a scene in the movie. I have no idea if that is correct, but the fountain was pretty:


Just over a little bridge from the fountain was the dwarf garden. Some are said to be modeled, though in a caricature fashion, after servants who were living in the palace at the time. Others were recreations of peasants and farmers in the area.


Some of the statues appear as if they could be from other lands.


For the most part, each one has something it is holding that explains its job within the palace.


I got the distinct impression that this one was the food taster. You know, to be sure there wasn't any poison in the edibles? Then again, this could be someone's idea of a singing dwarf...


Once again, we had to go for a photo-op. This one was too cute not to smooch.


As this was either the only or one of only two women, Rocket Man chose her for his kiss.

In addition to the dwarf garden, the fountains, theater, reflecting pools and beautiful plants, there was also a maze section of the gardens. It was rather useless due to the time of year, but I got a couple of good photos out of it:


Who is that in there all fuzzy-like?


Why, it is Rocket Man, looking at me like I am crazy for taking longer than necessary in all of this cold weather!

From the gardens we visited the Baroque museum, which was very informative and then also Mozart's residence while in Salzburg. Both allowed no photos, so I don't have much to show you there. That afternoon however, we visited St. Peter's church and cemetery, which was very interesting indeed. So tomorrow, that is where we'll visit here! See you then.

Salzburg, Austria: Store Signs

Throughout the old town of Salzburg are fantastic signs advertising everything from where you can get your hair cut and styled to the best place to purchase a Christmas ornament in the form of a real egg that has been painted.

Oh, yes. You can.

Actually, you can buy a large variety of painted eggs for every season or event imaginable.

Most of the signs are wrought iron and have gold-leaf embellishments. Even the McDonald's has a sign that includes golden arches. Literally.


Some appear to have only been painted to match the items sold within.


If you are ever in need of traditional Austrian clothing, I imagine that these people would know how to help you:


Then again, they could just sell clothing or be tailors.

Rocket Man and I went to this toy museum one afternoon:


It was full of old toys, musical instruments and marionettes. 'Twas a fun way to spend an hour or so.


This fancy schmancy looking stylist's shop was located very close to a restaurant, called Nagano, that we chose one day for lunch. This was the beginning of our tradition of finding a sushi place at which to eat whenever we went somewhere new. As it was fah-reezing the day we chose to eat there, it really hit the spot. They had warm soups and Japanese grill items as well as squishy, jiggly things, so it had something for both of us. A word of caution, however: fresh fish in a land-locked country in the middle of Europe? Not the most inexpensive place to eat sushi. Very tasty, though.

Salzburg, Austria: Evening

[And now we return to our regularly scheduled posting...which I should point out details a trip we took in December of 2006 while we were living in Spain.]

When Rocket Man and I travel, we like to go see as much as we can. We only people watch a little bit, and while I am sure we are missing out on that front, we have done a trip where we didn't go see much and we weren't very happy with it. We feel like trips to the beach are for sitting around and doing as close to nothing as possible. When you're finally visiting a part of the world you've never been to, we agree that you should see and learn as much as possible.

That being said, it can make for some very tiring days. We usually plan to go back to the hotel in the afternoon for a rest and/or a nap. This becomes very entertaining when you add foreign television into the mix. We had no television in Spain really, only about 4.5 channels or so of completely spanish channels, so going to other countries to see their television was always a bit of a treat - mostly because the game shows? They are awesome.

Each afternoon in Austria we would head back over the river to our hotel and rest up for a bit (and dry out, if needed) before we would head out on our side of the river (newer side of town) to find a place to eat.

This is where I should point out that I do all of the planning for our travels. Rocket Man was always working and it was like pulling teeth to even get him to take the vacation days as it always meant even worse hours leading up to and following the trip. He would just come along for the ride, and that was fine by him. I do the research and just lead him around the town telling him whatever I had already learned from my reading and planning.

Usually I try to include places to eat in my plans. In London, this was very necessary as the city is so big and time was of the essence. It was also very easy because many places were listed online with reviews, etc. Not that I am saying they weren't listed for Salzburg, but for whatever reason I didn't plan places to eat for this trip.

This meant, especially for dinner, that we would simply walk around and eventually choose a place on a whim. The night we arrived (which was after the huge luggage debacle and late airplane which led to running mess), this wasn't a big deal as not too many other tourists were there.


We ended up choosing the Gabler Brau. In fact, we ate here two of our nights in Salzburg. It was very good. One thing that was different about eating out in Austria is that at least in some restaurants, you don't wait to be seated; instead you simply find a table with enough empty seats for you and have at it. I think this is fairly common in Europe as we experienced the same thing in Dublin.

As we did not know this bit of information there was some awkwardness at first, but eventually it all got sorted out. We enjoyed our meal and a bottle of very good Austrian wine.


Many travel to Europe for the Christmas markets that pop up in many towns near the holiday. We walked around and stall-shopped for a bit. We also purchased some mulled wine while there.

And that, my friends, was basically enough to end the evening.

We'd already split a bottle of wine at dinner and adding the mulled wine from the market made for a rather entertaining walk back to the hotel where we both crashed. I am fairly certain that the rest of the evening looked a bit like this:


Oh, yes. Blurry indeed.

It was tasty stuff, and a little will go a long way.

Needless to say, we did not drink any more mulled wine during our stay...

Salzburg, Austria: Residenz

The Residenz building, located in the center of town near the Dom (cathedral), is where the Prince Archbishop lived and held events. As per usual, we had audio guides included in our visit to the palace. Again, the Salzburg card, at about thirty-six euros per person for three days, was incredibly worth it.

Then again, if you don't like listening to all of those guides and would rather people-watch, then perhaps you'd be better off just looking around. In most cities, if this is more your style, then I would immediately tell you to forgo the cards and just look at the free stuff. In Salzburg, I think it could still be worth it. You get free transport around the city and entry to almost every site/museum in town. You could easily spend twelve euros a day getting around and seeing just a couple of things...and no one said you have to listen to the guides. As much as I enjoy learning about old stuff and the like, I certainly have pushed the fast-forward/stop button when I just don't care to listen.

Further proof of this is the fact that when Rocket Man and I visit museums, we are far more likely to make a fast walk-through and marvel at only that which really catches our eyes rather than read every.single.thing. in the place. Our fathers can take the blame for this approach. They read everything. As in absolutely everything. Which is a feat, indeed, but not one which we are inclined to repeat everywhere we go.

We love you Dad and Dad. And we appreciate the places you've taken us and what we learned.

Well, except for the battlefields.

I mean, you've seen one and you've seen them all.

Especially when you're a kid.

Ahem. Moving along...

Upon entry to the palace, tourists are greeted by a large room with huge marble doorways on either end. This is where, if one so chooses, a concert can be appreciated during your stay in the city. I am sure you can all see the musicians' stands set up and a few of them getting ready for an afternoon performance:


The staircase at the far end of the room is beautiful in its construction, but it serves a dual purpose. In addition to its beauty and function, it is also a musical instrument. That's right. Each of the brass banisters are tuned to a different note and can be played.

I found that to be excellent. What kid, no matter their age, could resist that?

Next is a close-up of the fabulous marble doorway at the other end of the room. The reddish-brown stone is something I had never seen before. Austria certainly has some interesting mining opportunities. Marble and crystals indeed.


Much of Salzburg is done in a baroque style. While Rocket Man and I were somewhat aware of what this means, we weren't one hundred percent on the details. Luckily Salzburg also has a baroque museum, which made things more clear for us. The Residenz had typical ceilings for the style, painted with many depictions of the life of Alexander the Great:


All over the palace were beautiful crystal chandeliers which of course required a photo or two:

Ooohhh, sparkly.

I am sure that many of you have heard of the slightly famous musician who was born and grew up in Salzburg. He was a bit of a child prodigy. There were a few rooms in the palace in which he performed, one of which I am fairly certain was at the age of six or so.

That would be Mozart for those of you who are going eh?

If you look in the back left corner of the above photo, you can see a large cylindrical ceramic object. Basically, these are the fireplaces within the palace. They are ovens made to heat the rooms.


In the back of each is a small door where servants can stock the fire with coal to keep the place warm. So that the workers do not interrupt there is a doorway and passage in the walls that leads to the back of the stove where they can work unseen.


The tour takes you in a round-about path so that you end up in the same room in which you began your tour. The vast room is certainly impressive. There were tapestries and other impressive items within the rooms of the palace, but you can usually find those things in any royal palace you visit. I tried to point out the things that are different or better than things I have seen in other cities. Granted, we haven't visited that many in all, so I am sure some of this is a repeat of somewhere.

Anyway, that is all for the Residenz. Tomorrow I shall talk a bit about our first two evenings in the city.

I know, I know; you are waiting with bated breath...