Salzburg

10/22/2012

We took the OEBB train from Vienna to Salzburg and bought the tickets online in advance so we wouldn’t have to deal with the hassle at the train station. Our hotel, Achat Hirsch Zum Salzburg, was two blocks away from the train station. Guess what greeted us? A Mirabell mozartkugeln nested on each one of our pillows! Angel was so gleeful she looked like a kid on Christmas day! After we dropped everything off, we headed out for a long day of exploring.

We went to Schloss Mirabell, where we reenacted the Sound of Music. Here's us jumping up the stairs like the kids did in Sound of Music:

Oiy vey, give me the camera!

I got her in mid-air! Booyah!

Walking along the horse fountain...

Singing while skipping down the archway...

Pretending to be a statue. I don't remember this part in Sound of Music, but Angel swears it was in there so...

We went across the Mozart bridge where the kids rode their bikes. Alas, we did not have bikes, so we settled for a nice shot of the autumn landscape. 

... and went to the horse fountain where Maria gets on the bus to go to the Von Trapp house:

Angel's been dreaming of Furst Mozartkugelns for two years now, so we had to stop by and buy her some. They are expensive. One chocolate ball is one euro! When you can get 23 Mirabell for 6 euros! And Reber, you'd probably get a whole lot more (Reber's nasty and meant for tourists, so Angel says).

Finally got one... yah happy now?

For lunch, we went to Café Tomaselli, where we thought they would have savory foods. But their savory items were overpriced (12 euros for an omelette… really?!) so we got their cakes and coffee and hot chocolate. This is the café where Mozart used to hang out at, and is mentioned in a lot of tour books. Yea, yea, we got gypped by the whole tourist thing. Their cakes were so-so, and their “renowned” hot chocolate was watery and thin. I was pretty disappointed, as the beverage was 5 euros (and as I will find out later, the hot chocolate at the breakfast buffet in Munich is a hundred times better!). The waiter comes by to take your drink orders and you pay him for them, then a lady comes out with a plate of assorted cakes, and you pay your cake bill to her. We ordered a raspberry mousse cake, a chestnut and chocolate cake, and an almond buttercream cake. Couldn’t taste the chestnut at all. >.<

Turn a corner, and you’re on Gernterstrasse, the main tourist hub. It’s a historical street, very quaint and cute.

We passed by Mozart’s house on Gertnerstrasse and there was a Spar! Mom bought a roasted ham, which was pretty good.

Mozart's house

A couple steps down is the doner place we were obsessed with last time. It was just as good as I remembered! (But again, I will find out in Munich that theirs is much, much better).

Doner kebab

Residenzplatz has a daily farmer’s market and I bought the pretzel speck and cheese sandwich I really liked last time. It was 5 euros. I remember it to taste much better, but I will find out tomorrow that it tastes a lot better after sitting for a day.

We wanted to go to the Von Trapp houses (the lake house and the yellow house). To get there, you need to climb up a steep hill (actually, lots of steps and then up a steep hill) and go back down—climbing over the mountain, so to speak. 

You get a beautiful view of the city for all your trouble, at least. 

Hohensalzburg

It didn’t take as long this time to get there, because we didn’t take the roundabout way to the lake house. 

Not sure what the little monster is thinking here... oh yeah, she wasn't supposed to be in the picture!

Hohensalzburg

Dad taking a rest

From here, we walked to the yellow house, which did take a while because we got lost. Again. It was really really cold and the parents were miserable. Mom was freezing and Dad was trudging.

She's singing. No really, she is! And twirling about with her imaginary giant purse and guitar.

On the way back, we walked past Nonnberg Abbey to get back to the main part of town. 

Dad was pretty fed up with the weather and how much walking we had to do, so he went back to the hotel. We went to the horse mural and when Dad saw the pictures later on, he asked how come he didn’t see this landmark. If you weren’t throwing a temper tantrum, you would’ve seen it.

There are two Billas near our hotel. By the time we returned, it was 7pm and one of the Billas was closed. Man, Europe closes early. The other Billa at Ferd Porsche strasse has pork knuckle and it was the best we’ve had this trip. It was 8 euros for a gigantic piece of knuckle and oh so juicy, so perfectly flavored. Angel is now a convert. Mom, Angel and I are agreed—THIS is the best pork knuckle we’ve ever eaten.