Hallstatt, Austria

On our last full day in Austria, we took the bus back out to the airport to pick up our reserved rental car. We then drove through the countryside to the beautiful lakeside village of Hallstatt. I've seen it on several lists of the most beautiful places in Europe, so when I realized it was close to Salzburg, I figured it would make a fun day trip. It flourished as a salt-mining town, dating back to Neolithic times (think 5th to 8th centuries BC) and we were able to tour a salt mine while we were in town. 

After making a quick pit stop for a box of Kleenex (ugh, that cold was the worst!), we arrived in Salzburg. We parked a little ways away from the city center (after struggling to find the correct parking lot as signage was confusing). We walked into the village and toured the cute streets, of which there are basically two -- one lower street, and one upper "street" that was more like a path to the houses further up the mountainside.

We then took the funicular ride from the base of the mountain up toward the salt mine. At the top of the funicular, there was a restaurant where we grabbed lunch, and enjoyed the views from the platform extending out over the valley over Hallstatt. There were a LOT of selfies and selfie sticks happening up there!

Entrance to the salt mine

The miners' train!

The salt mine tour was a little bit pricey for what it was -- a bit too cheesy and a bit soft on actual information provided. However -- it was fun to get dressed up in special overclothes (to protect your clothes from the salt if you brush up against the walls), go down super speedy mine slides, and take the miners' train back out of the mine -- through a very narrow tunnel! keep your hands and legs in! -- at the end.

After the tour, we headed back down the funicular to the car park and headed back to Salzburg. The GPS took us through some real back roads -- ones we may or may not have supposed to be on?? We initially forgot to refill the car with gas when we got back to the airport, but were pleasantly surprised to see we could just drive back out of the parking garage to get the gas (not possible in the States!). We then bussed back into the city, and ate dinner at a truly delicious restaurant (Gastof Alter Fuchs -- "the Old Fox Inn", I believe). I wasn't sure about going out to dinner as I was feeling low energy and was coughing and sneezing everywhere, but it ended up being probably one my top 10 dinners ever! The atmosphere was so cozy, with wood fires and soft lighting, and the food was amazing. I had a butternut squash pasta dish, and we finished with an apple strudel (famous in Salzburg). It was the perfect ending to our last night in Salzburg!

And pretzels for appetizer!

We flew out relatively early the next morning, and were back to relieve Mom of Charlotte-duty by early afternoon. They seemed to have had a great time, despite being somewhat stuck in our small town with not a lot of good weather to play in. Thanks again Mom for taking such good care of her!

Salzburg, Austria

The week before Thanksgiving, Paul and I got to take a trip to Salzburg, Austria! We spent 3 nights in Salzburg. As a general overview: The first day we explored Salzburg, the second day we went on a Sound of Music tour in the surrounding area and went to a dinner & Mozart concert at the Hohensalzburg Fortress, and the last day we drove to Hallstatt and toured a salt mine there. It was a great trip! My mom was kind enough to stay in England with Charlotte so we could relax a bit more on the trip. The only bummer was we both caught terrible colds at the start of the trip, so we coughed and sneezed our way around Austria -- yuck!

We had an early flight out of Stansted, but were there a little earlier than necessary so got to enjoy a sit down breakfast at the restaurant called Giraffe. Our flight was uneventful and we arrived in Salzburg by mid-morning. We got the Salzburg card for our stay, which was just barely a good deal over the course of our stay -- but nice because it gave us free bus rides! The best way into the city it to take the bus from the airport, which we did. It was pretty easy to find our hotel, which was located across the river from the old town of Salzburg and at the far end of a small shopping district -- about a 15 minute walk from the main sights. 

Once we checked into the hotel, we headed out to do a self-guided tour of the Old Town ("Altstadt") with our Rick Steves guidebook. It was pretty and quite scenic! The old town is dominated by the castle on the hill -- the Fortress Hohensalzburg -- and a huge number of churches. They were completing the set-up of the Christmas market when we arrived, including an ice rink and lots of gluhwein stalls.

Salzach River

Mozartplatz

Pastry shop at the Christkindlmarkt

Interior of the Salzburger Dom (Cathedral where Mozart was baptized)

Kapitelplatz outside of the Cathedral

Former horse-washing station in the Kapitelplatz, now used only as a decorative fountain. Festung Hohensalzburg on the hill in the background.

Cemetery where the Von Trapps hid from the Nazis in "The Sound of Music"

Old doorbells for the various flats in the building above

We grabbed currywurst to-go from a popular alley stall, and ate it while people-watching on the Getreidegasse, one of the popular shopping streets in Salzburg. Afterward, we took the funicular up the steep hill (mountain?) to the castle overlooking the city. We didn't do the tour of the state rooms, but enjoyed the view overlooking the rural areas and the city. It was clear enough to enjoy a view of the mountains in the distance!

Views of the mountains from the top of the hilltop castle

View of the city of Salzburg, with the Salzach river running through it

Enjoying the view!

We went back to the hotel for a bit to rest before heading back out for dinner. We ate at a burger joint near the old town, which was good. I saw there was a sink with paper towels against the wall of the restaurant, which seemed odd -- maybe they know their burgers are a little messy? But after having dinner out at other restaurants, we saw the same thing -- it is a city-wide oddity. My tour book says that Salzburg has always been known for hygiene, and was in fact one of the only major cities in Europe to escape outbreaks of the plague. I guess it's a carry-over!

After dinner, we wandered the Christmas market and watched ice skating at the rink, to the sounds of mostly American Christmas music. It was so pretty!

The next morning, we met downstairs in the hotel with 3 British ladies whom we had met the previous day as we were checking in to the hotel. We were all picked up in a small bus and transported to the location where our Sound of Music tour bus was departing! The tour was super cheesy but a blast. We rode around throughout the countryside to a lot of the filming locations from the movie, all while listening and singing along to the soundtrack with our tour guide and 50 of our new friends. A very unique and enjoyable experience if you're a fan of the movie, which we are :)

Leopoldskron Palace, where the boating scene was filmed

The gazebo, rebuilt at Hellbrunn Palace, where "16 Going on 17" was filmed

The house that was used for the "front" shots of the Von Trapp home

Nonnberg Abbey, where Maria was a novitiate before becoming the Von Trapps' governess

Gorgeous lake in the Salzkammergut (Lake District) 

The church in Mondsee, Austria, where the wedding scene between Maria & Captain Von Trapp was filmed. The interior the church was beautiful!

The downtown scene of Mondsee

At the end of the tour, the bus dropped us off at the Mirabell Gardens in downtown Salzburg, where "Do Re Mi" was filmed. We hopped around on the steps for a bit, and ran down the archway of  vines a la Maria, but then it started raining so we headed back to the hotel :)

That evening, we walked back into the city for some hot chocolate near the ice rink before taking the 6 pm funicular ride up to the castle again.

We had booked a dinner & concert at the castle. Dinner was in a restaurant within the castle walls, and the concert was in the Golden Hall up several flights of steps in the castle. Dinner was delicious, and the concert was magical -- a little bit of Mozart (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik) as well as some other Baroque pieces. Unfortunately my cough got the best of me a few times, despite massive numbers of cough drops, and I had to sneak out the back so as not to disturb the other attendees. We then went back to the hotel to rest up for the next day!