Salzburg

The hottest day of the summer so far …. so we might be a bit silly planning a trip to Salzburg today however, we were awake early so at 7am, we set off the 20 miles or so to our parking spot and caught the 8.30 bus into the city while all was quiet – and cool.   It was lovely walking the streets of Mozart’s birthplace (no chance of forgetting that) where all the shops are geared up with the usual tourist gifts and chocolates, ‘Mozart Kuchen’. 

     

After a short stroll around the shops with their intricate wrought iron signs outside we decided to make the long climb up to the castle and were soon joined by a sweet Chinese girl who was also trying to find the correct path upwards.  We all puzzled for a while trying to find the shortest walking route up to the fortress but quite soon she led us by using the map on her phone, with her young legs and us getting quite tired.  In the end she waited for us and pretended to be our guide using her hat as a pointer and chattering all the time.  It was all quite funny and made us forget our exhaustion.

Back down in the city various musical events were in preparation, one of which was being filmed for TV and we could see the performers all dressed up in Victorian type clothes in the now searing heat – poor things.

Once over the bridge (almost full with love-locks), we found the lovely gardens with the views of the castle in the distance and a bench in the shade to rest awhile.  References to “The Sound of Music” are everywhere in and around Salzburg and we saw at least four different coach companies with ‘Original Sound of Music Tour’ advertisements emblazoned on them. We just happened upon the Pegasus fountain (the Do-Re-Mi song) and the Wedding venue at Monsee without realising we had become part of it all.

In stark contrast, there was also a grim reminder of the war years just around the corner.  Numerous small square brass plaques have been set into the pavement at irregular intervals; the name of the person and date (1941/3) when shot and killed …….  We wondered what their story was.   

  

One last climb up to the hill on this side and we were all done in ….. just time to take one more photo from on high and we had to be back to catch the bus, just beside another ice cream stand, thank goodness! 

This ends our two weeks travelling around Austria ….. in fact we parked just over the border in Germany while in Salzburg and will carry on our trip westwards now.

We both agree that Austria has been the prettiest country we have visited on our trip so far and we have been very lucky with the weather for almost all of the time.  We have walked and cycled almost every day so feel quite fit, so long as the heat doesn’t wear us down that is! 

One of those tour buses!

The fuel is very cheap compared with Italy but most other things are more expensive and include a high tourist tax.  We look forward to returning again one day and exploring the eastern side of the country and southern Lakes in Carinthia.

Mission Impossible - cat-flap Austrian style!