June 30, 2007
Over this weekend we traveled to the home of Mozart and the film location of “The Sound of Music.” Salzburg is only about a 2 ½ hour train ride from Munich and the ride was wonderful. We were able to see a lot of really pretty countryside, and, of course, mountains. We left right away in the morning on Saturday so that we could have the whole day to see Salzburg.
As we were walking towards the castle, we saw a guy playing a guitar. Not all that amazing, normally. But Mike claims that it was the same guitar player that he had seen playing about 10 years ago. In the same place. Weird. According to Mike he is one of the most amazing guitar players known to man. Apparently we own a CD of the guy’s… I’ll have to check it out when we get home and find the CDs. :)
The castle sits atop a small mountain and towers over the city. It was a steep walk up, but the views of the city were spectacular. (You can also take an elevator up the hill… but it was a nice day and we aren’t lame yet!) We had a wonderful picnic lunch on one of the terraces of the castle with views of the valley and the Alps, then headed off to explore the castle. It was MUCH more intact than the castles we left behind in Scotland! Its broken up into two different sections. The first is an audio guided tour that you have to do in a group of 40 other people and are herded through the rooms. But the groups leave every 15-20 minutes, so its not too bad. And the end of the tour is a climb up into one of the towers which has great views of the city and the surrounding area. The second part is all self guided. I think that audio guides are available, but I find them rather annoying. Half the time what they are telling you is written on a sign somewhere in the room plus they tell you lots of inane facts that barely anyone remembers. There is a really pretty church to see, plus ruins of a Romanesque church. The ruins were really interesting. Part of the original structure was there, and even some of the old fresco paintings. There were also a few museums to go through. There was a lot of information on Romanesque churches in the building that housed the ruins, plus there was a military museum, an artifacts museum, a museum on the castle, and even a section for torture devices – which included big metal masks. One of the most interesting parts of this section of the castle was the state rooms. There are three rooms that are incredibly ornately decorated. They are amazing – and even more impressive than the décor is the fact that they have survived quite a long time.
After the castle, we explored more of the Fortress District – which included the nunnery from “The Sound of Music.” I cannot tell you how excited Mike was to see this and all the other film locations that we saw. But luckily, he loves me, so he smiled and went along with me – and never once complained. :) Unfortunately, the Nonnburg Priory is not open to the public. Even the church was closed as they were getting ready for the Saturday evening service. I suppose that it makes sense that the priory was closed, but it would have been really neat to see more than just the outer courtyard! This part of the city was quite pretty. Lots of small lanes and winding streets with NO tourists. I know that we are in this group, its just nice to be free from them. We saw a few more churches and tried to get out to Schloss Hellbrunn where the trick fountain scene of “The Sound of Music” was filmed, along with a few other scenes. But it was quite the hike out there, and we had other things to see in the city. It didn’t seem worth the trek out there to see a fountain and a pond. I’ll watch the movie when I get home.
Next we headed over to the Cathedral District and decided to explore … the cathedral. :) It is absolutely huge, and incredibly beautiful. The stone work is amazing, and all over the walls. There are incredible paintings all over, about 5 different beautiful organs, and more. The artwork inside of the cathedral is breath-taking and well worth a visit. (They do ask for a donation, but it can be free.) The cathedral has been re-built twice, once in 1628 due to a fire, and the last time was due to a bomb in 1944. The church didn’t re-open again until 1959. Another reason for paint-ball gun/bomb warfare.
Right next to the cathedral is St Peter’s Abbey. There was a wedding – or some big event – going on in the church, so we didn’t go in, but the courtyard was wonderful. Lots of old, beautiful tombs, AND it was yet another film location for “The Sound of Music.” We stopped at another pretty church, and walked past Mozart’s birthplace as we walked back to our hostel. Across the river we stopped at a church courtyard that was very lovely. St Sebastian’s cemetery houses lots of old tombs and gravestones, along with a monument to Paracelsus’ (no idea who he/she is), the Wolf Dietrich mausoleum (again… no idea), and the Mozart family tomb. We thought that it would included Wolfgang himself, but it doesn’t. I’m pretty sure that it was his parents, and other such relatives and it was really pretty. The cemetery is full of huge trees, flowers, and lovely vines – it feels more like a park than a cemetery.
Our hostel was incredibly easy to find. We stayed at the YoHo Youth Hostel and it was really great. It was one of the nicest hostels we have stayed in yet. They had a restaurant and bar in the building – with really cheap beer prices for happy hour too. The beds were nice, bathrooms clean, and staff friendly. The only hitch was that the building vibrated. I have no idea why or how, but it did. We ended the night with a great Italian meal at Restaurante Corallo. It was run be actual Italians, and to make it even better, Italians also ate there. Then you know the food is authentic! Even if it wasn’t, the pasta was incredible – better than some of the food we had in Rome!
Over this weekend we traveled to the home of Mozart and the film location of “The Sound of Music.” Salzburg is only about a 2 ½ hour train ride from Munich and the ride was wonderful. We were able to see a lot of really pretty countryside, and, of course, mountains. We left right away in the morning on Saturday so that we could have the whole day to see Salzburg.
As we were walking towards the castle, we saw a guy playing a guitar. Not all that amazing, normally. But Mike claims that it was the same guitar player that he had seen playing about 10 years ago. In the same place. Weird. According to Mike he is one of the most amazing guitar players known to man. Apparently we own a CD of the guy’s… I’ll have to check it out when we get home and find the CDs. :)
The castle sits atop a small mountain and towers over the city. It was a steep walk up, but the views of the city were spectacular. (You can also take an elevator up the hill… but it was a nice day and we aren’t lame yet!) We had a wonderful picnic lunch on one of the terraces of the castle with views of the valley and the Alps, then headed off to explore the castle. It was MUCH more intact than the castles we left behind in Scotland! Its broken up into two different sections. The first is an audio guided tour that you have to do in a group of 40 other people and are herded through the rooms. But the groups leave every 15-20 minutes, so its not too bad. And the end of the tour is a climb up into one of the towers which has great views of the city and the surrounding area. The second part is all self guided. I think that audio guides are available, but I find them rather annoying. Half the time what they are telling you is written on a sign somewhere in the room plus they tell you lots of inane facts that barely anyone remembers. There is a really pretty church to see, plus ruins of a Romanesque church. The ruins were really interesting. Part of the original structure was there, and even some of the old fresco paintings. There were also a few museums to go through. There was a lot of information on Romanesque churches in the building that housed the ruins, plus there was a military museum, an artifacts museum, a museum on the castle, and even a section for torture devices – which included big metal masks. One of the most interesting parts of this section of the castle was the state rooms. There are three rooms that are incredibly ornately decorated. They are amazing – and even more impressive than the décor is the fact that they have survived quite a long time.
After the castle, we explored more of the Fortress District – which included the nunnery from “The Sound of Music.” I cannot tell you how excited Mike was to see this and all the other film locations that we saw. But luckily, he loves me, so he smiled and went along with me – and never once complained. :) Unfortunately, the Nonnburg Priory is not open to the public. Even the church was closed as they were getting ready for the Saturday evening service. I suppose that it makes sense that the priory was closed, but it would have been really neat to see more than just the outer courtyard! This part of the city was quite pretty. Lots of small lanes and winding streets with NO tourists. I know that we are in this group, its just nice to be free from them. We saw a few more churches and tried to get out to Schloss Hellbrunn where the trick fountain scene of “The Sound of Music” was filmed, along with a few other scenes. But it was quite the hike out there, and we had other things to see in the city. It didn’t seem worth the trek out there to see a fountain and a pond. I’ll watch the movie when I get home.
Next we headed over to the Cathedral District and decided to explore … the cathedral. :) It is absolutely huge, and incredibly beautiful. The stone work is amazing, and all over the walls. There are incredible paintings all over, about 5 different beautiful organs, and more. The artwork inside of the cathedral is breath-taking and well worth a visit. (They do ask for a donation, but it can be free.) The cathedral has been re-built twice, once in 1628 due to a fire, and the last time was due to a bomb in 1944. The church didn’t re-open again until 1959. Another reason for paint-ball gun/bomb warfare.
Right next to the cathedral is St Peter’s Abbey. There was a wedding – or some big event – going on in the church, so we didn’t go in, but the courtyard was wonderful. Lots of old, beautiful tombs, AND it was yet another film location for “The Sound of Music.” We stopped at another pretty church, and walked past Mozart’s birthplace as we walked back to our hostel. Across the river we stopped at a church courtyard that was very lovely. St Sebastian’s cemetery houses lots of old tombs and gravestones, along with a monument to Paracelsus’ (no idea who he/she is), the Wolf Dietrich mausoleum (again… no idea), and the Mozart family tomb. We thought that it would included Wolfgang himself, but it doesn’t. I’m pretty sure that it was his parents, and other such relatives and it was really pretty. The cemetery is full of huge trees, flowers, and lovely vines – it feels more like a park than a cemetery.
Our hostel was incredibly easy to find. We stayed at the YoHo Youth Hostel and it was really great. It was one of the nicest hostels we have stayed in yet. They had a restaurant and bar in the building – with really cheap beer prices for happy hour too. The beds were nice, bathrooms clean, and staff friendly. The only hitch was that the building vibrated. I have no idea why or how, but it did. We ended the night with a great Italian meal at Restaurante Corallo. It was run be actual Italians, and to make it even better, Italians also ate there. Then you know the food is authentic! Even if it wasn’t, the pasta was incredible – better than some of the food we had in Rome!
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