Day 10: Salzburg/Seattle

Nineteen hours, four airports, three flights, and one lost bag later and we were back home.

(Not to fear! The bag was reunited with us the next day.)

It's been more than a month since our Austria adventure began, and we are fully back to the real world. Luckily, Seattle's summer has already teased us and should be here to stay soon -- knock on wood -- and between July and September, there really is no place like home.

Traveling is a process. There's the beginning, with the decisions and the planning. Then the middle, with the actual trip itself. But if you're really lucky, the third part - the new perspective, the memories - never really ends. Thanks for listening to me share mine!

Interested in more photos? See our albums on Shutterfly:

• Vienna: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0BcuGLNwzctnzw
• Hallstatt: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0BcuGLNwzctn3g
• Salzburg: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0BcuGLNwzctn7Q
• Berchtesgaden: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0BcuGLNwzctn_A

I'll be signing off until the next trip. St. Lucia, maybe? Or Croatia? It's a big world and we've only seen a small piece of it. :-)

Auf Wiedersehen!

Day 9: Salzburg

Last full days are bittersweet. No matter the length of a trip, this day always feels like we've been traveling forever and also like we just arrived.

We didn't have many things planned for the day, but ended up squeezing in a fair amount of random experiences, like:

• Meeting a salesgirl who grew up in West Seattle.
• Enjoying a noon-time drink at Sporer, a century-old family-run spirits shop housed in a 15th century building. The orange punch is a house specialty made from the owner's grandmother's 1920s recipe, so we thought this counted as a "cultural experience" even though it was basically 4 oz of rum and prosecco. We made friends with a younger Austrian man at the bar, who was also enjoying an early afternoon pick-me-up and had spent substantial time on the U.S. west coast.  
• Soaking in the views during a rooftop lunch atop the Hotel Stein -- due to our mega-walk along the river, we didn't have lunch until 14:30 and had almost the entire rooftop café to ourselves.  

Café Tomaselli in Old Town was the perfect place for a late morning coffee and people-watching.

Some of the people-watching from the café.

We couldn't leave Salzburg without picking up a genuine Mozartkugel (a chocolate ball with a cake-like center). There are tons of imitators across Salzburg, but Café Furst has the original recipe from the late 1800s and still makes them by hand.  

Very few of the Old Town hotels had balconies, but that didn't stop me from rigging my own window seat with views of the cathedral.

After stopping by Mozart's Residence in New Town, we spent more than two hours walking along the river. As we ventured farther away from the town's center, it was fun seeing that Salzburg is truly a working city and doesn't solely revolve through tourism.

After four days in Salzburg and nearly ten in Austria, we were in love with this land of Alps, Bavarian and Baroque architecture, music and schnapps.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Day 8: Berchtesgaden, Germany

Today was our planned day trip to Berchtesgaden in Germany, best known for being one of Hitler's main homes during WW2 and part of Nazi headquarters.

Instead of taking the very convenient but very packed tour buses from Salzburg, we booked tickets through Eagle's Nest Historical Tours - a British operation based in Berchtesgaden. Since we booked the tickets in advance, we were lucky to snag a day that the Eagle's Nest was opened (its season began just three days prior due to late snow!) AND on a sunny, warm, and only slightly hazy day.

Prior to the trip, I had read "On Hitler's Mountain" - as described in this post - so I had a basic idea of what to expect. But I was still taken aback by the area's natural beauty and very unnatural infamous history.

After squeezing in a quick walk and visit to Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg - a mostly overcrowded and slightly disappointing sight - we hopped a bus and were off to Germany. (No passports needed and sadly no additional stamp -- the border is so barely marked that neither of us noticed it on the way there!)

So much of Europe today has been impacted by WW2, and even though Berchtesgaden didn't see much physical warfare, we could feel the weight of history on this picturesque town. Hitler spent much of WW2 in his home on this mountain -- in a house partway up, not the Eagle's Nest retreat at the top due to his fear of heights.

How something so evil could be masterminded from a place so beautiful was heartbreakingly ironic.

A river ran through the town at the base of the mountain.

Views as our bus climbed the mountain to the Eagle's Nest. We made a short stop at a museum & toured remains of WW2 era bunkers.

Original plaque with dedication date at tunnel to Eagle's Nest entrance - 1938

In the Eagle's Nest, at the top of the mountain, looking out.

Eagle's Nest building is structure at left, the umbrellas in front of it are part of its restaurant. Austria had to agree not to turn the structure into a monument or museum as part of their treaty. Proceeds from the restaurants benefit charities.

Beautiful views, ghastly history.



Partway up the mountain, we stopped at a very well-done museum that included access to many of the area's original bunkers.

The special buses from Berchtesgaden up to the Eagle's Nest are switched out every five years and equipped with super-intense breaking systems. They went up the one-lane road with crazy precision, one bus coming down and one going up at the same time; the descending bus would pull over partway to avoid a head-on collision. Don't sit by the window if you have vertigo!

Berchtesgaden was a powerful experience, but let's end on a few lighter photos from the day after we returned to Salzburg:

Another parade! The Salzburg Military marched right past our restaurant during dinner.

Street performers with impressive creativity -- this one moved a marionette skeleton puppet to Elvis songs.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Day 7: Salzburg

I definitely believe that some of the most rewarding travel experiences come when you venture outside your comfort zone.

Also, beer helps.

After a busy morning of sightseeing, we were ready to relax over a couple brews in the early evening. I was able to convince Brendan to head to Augustiner Braustubl, a traditional Austrian beer garden. Thanks to my guidebooks, we had a basic idea of what to expect and managed through the beer garden process as best we could:

1. Pay for your preferred sized mug at the cashier and pick it up from a nearby shelf.
2. Rinse your mugs in the water fountain.
3. Take your mugs - and your receipt - to the keg man, and he'll fill 'em up!
4. Find an empty seat and enjoy.

That Step #4 became a little intimidating since even though the beer garden had more than 1,000 seats around large tables, almost every single one of them was filled with German-speaking patrons. After a few awkward minutes of debating our next step, we were able to snag a table as it was being vacated by a large group of older Austrians. Not two minutes later, we were joined by a local father and his 20-something son.

Beer makes easy conversation and easier friends, and soon we knew everything about each other. They lived in Salzburg and enjoyed practicing their conversational-level English with tourists. The son was visiting New York City in the fall. Dad had recently restored a 1960s Vespa, of which he proudly showed us several photos via his phone. He jokingly asked if the name of our hospital was "Seattle Grace" (thanks, Grey's Anatomy) and told us about an Austrian tradition that involves how to make a daughter --- to his son's great embarrassment.

They bought a round, we bought a round. Then the father left for a few minutes and came back with a smorgasbord of traditional Austrian snacks from one of the beer garden's food booths - and insisted we share with them. Now pleasantly tipsy, we bid "Auf Wiedersehen" to our new pals and began the lovely 20 minute walk along the river back to dinner in Old Town.

Since we were too busy enjoying the moment to take pictures of the beer garden, I'm including a bunch of photos below of our other adventures that day:

First stop of the day: the Hohensalzburg Castle overlooking Salzburg! We took a funicular up but enjoyed hiking down the steep hill. We also participated in a 30-minute audio tour that took guests through a dungeon and to the top of one of its towers. 

Enjoying the views from the castle's walls. Originally built in the late 1000s, this castle is one of Europe's largest medieval fortresses.

Next stop: Cable car up the Untersberg! About a 25 minute bus ride from Salzburg, a cable car takes visitors up the Untersberg, an Alps mountain that straddles Austria and Germany. This was another example of stepping outside (at least my) comfort zone! I was glad that at least our cable car wasn't packed peak-season style, but I had major heart palpitations as we skyrocketed to the top, suspended by a mere cable.

By the way, the Austrian father from the beer garden said he'd never been up the Untersberg because it was, quote, too scary.

We survived!
At the top of the Unterberg, there were a couple restaurants and hiking paths.

Looking down at Salzburg from the Untersberg (at about 6,100 feet).

Looking away from Salzburg, to the Alps and Germany.

Enjoying a couple beers with the world's best view atop the Untersberg.

At the top cable car station, looking down. The terrifying ride was worth it!

Ahhh, back on solid ground. Each side of the Salzburg River included large walking paths and separate bike trails. Perfect for walking off all that beer!

Needless to say, I was in love with everything about Salzburg -- creepy cable cars and all.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Day 6: Hallstatt/Salzburg

We bid goodbye to one of our favorite places as we boarded the ferry boat and crossed the lake away from Hallstatt. After a slight rush (ultimately unneeded) to the train station, we arrived at Salzburg after about 3 hours and an easy journey.

(....Unfortunately, there was a poor soul on our train who realized he forgot his passport in Hallstatt AFTER taking the ferry AND train more than an hour in the opposite direction. That put any minor inconveniences that we had experienced in lightning-quick perspective...)

As we took our BFF Rick Steves along via podcast and began walking throughout the town, I quickly fell in love with the medieval city. Salzburg is surrounded by the rolling Alps foothills with the proper Alps towering in the near-distance, and is split by its river into a "New Town" (rebuilt after WW2) and the "Old Town" (mostly survived the war.) Its imposing castle looms on a large hill overlooking the town and.... well, it's hard to put into words just how lovely everything is. Good thing we took a ridiculous amount of photos so I don't have to:



View from one of the bridges over the Salzburg River between New and Old Town

Happily plugged into Rick Steves city walk tour.



Mozart is the hometown hero! Before living in Vienna, he was born and raised here in Salzburg. His birthplace was around the corner from our hotel, and much of Old Town looks similar to how it did in his time. I loved walking the pedestrian-only streets and knowing that Mozart had visited these same buildings and cathedrals.

Salzburg Cathedral -- gorgeous Catholic Church in Old Town (we could see its cupolas from our hotel room). The current structure dates from the 17th century -mostly all but its dome survived the war -- and a church has existed on this site since the first century.

Above photos are interior views of Salzburg Cathedral.

St. Peter's Church - does it look like the area where the Von Trapp family hid during the Sound of Music? It was! (Well sort of. The movie version used a Hollywood set that was based on this church & cemetery.) The real life Von Trapp family's story took place in Salzburg and there are a crazy amount of commercial Sound of Music tours for us American tourists. Brendan thanked his lucky starts that I got my fill of SOM tidbits from our Rick Steves podcast and didn't feel the need to join one of the herds of cattle -- I mean, tour groups.

The main streets in Old Town feature traditional wrought-iron signs. 

View of Salzburg Castle (background) and Salzburg Cathedral (foreground) from our hotel room. I spent an embarrassing amount of time just staring out our window at this sight.  

Photo taken in New Town, across the river from Old Town and the Salzburg Castle.

That night, we enjoyed our best meal of the trip -- so nice, we ate there twice! -- at K&K Restaurant. Delicious Austrian-themed food but lighter and more modern in presentation and ingredients. The weather was nice so we enjoyed tables on their patio, but the restaurant's interior dates back more than 800 years (!!!).

Hotel note for travelers:
We stayed at the Hotel Elefant and again, couldn't have had better luck with our room. The hotel was located in the middle of Old Town and within easy walking of all the sights. It retailed for 347E/night -- but we only paid around half of that due to shoulder season and my polite-yet-cranky pre-booking requests. The room was on a high floor and had a sitting room, bedroom, separate entry room and large bathroom. But best of all, it had great views of the castle and Salzburg cathedral. If you visit Salzburg, request room 509!

 Auf Wiedersehen!