Monday, Sept 17 2018 – Salzburg
Salzburg is just 1.5 hours from Munich by train, so we decided to do a day trip. Keshav was able to come with us, as he had taken the day off while Anu had work, so she couldn’t come along. We started early and bought some breakfast at the Hauptbahnhof. The train to Salzburg was on the station almost 30 minutes before departure and because of Keshav we sat in the right coach… This was a train that would split at Rosenheim. A few coaches will stop at Rosenheim and the rest will continue onto Salzburg ! So watch out. 🙂
We spent time taking a few pictures of the stunning scenery that flashed by …
We reached the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof and walked into the tourist information centre to grab a map. Using google maps we figured out which way we wanted to head out as most of the tourist hotspots are laid out on a single road (Rainerstraße) that leads all the way to the HohenSalzburg castle.
As you step out of the Hauptbahnhof, the bus station is right across the road. We debated if we should take a hop-on hop-off bus tour, then decided to just do our own walking tour. We headed left and soon got on to Rainerstraße and the first building we came across is the Salzburg Congress which is a convention centre and a venue for any kind of conferences, large meetings etc.
Right across is the Tourist office on Mirabellplatz with the St. Andrews Church in the backdrop.
As we walked further we had to cross the road towards Makartplatz to see Mozart’s Wohnhaus. This is Mozart’s old home, that is now a museum displaying artifacts dedicated to the composer’s life.
We didn’t take the paid tour of the museum, but kept walking towards the Castle. From the Mozart Wohnhaus we walked towards the Markartsteg bridge or the Love Locks Bridge across the Salzach River. The entire bridge has padlocks of different colours and sizes that couples have used to lock their love forever.
We crossed the bridge and kept walking towards the castle that is set on a small hill. Our first stop was in front of the house where Mozart was born. Mozart’s family resided on the third floor of this house from 1747 to 1773. Mozart himself was born here on 27 January 1756. Currently you can see the historical instruments used back then, including Mozart’s own violin and clavichord in this place.
We then walked a bit more and went through a small passageway towards a tiny market place. We stopped at a fruit stall that was selling “jumbo” fresh figs and “huge” dried figs from Turkey. We bought a pack of dried figs and a couple of fresh figs to eat right then.
Krishnan got himself a homemade natural cola from one of the shops there and I got myself a great cappuccino.
After a brief coffee break we resumed walking towards the castle and passed through the Old Market Square and the Rathaus.
The Mozart statue here is massive and a fitting tribute to the musical genius.
On the way there were several shops selling Christmas decorations and I entered one of the shops that was selling everything made of egg shells. The collage below shows the shop windows, a pic of a man blowing soap bubbles at the Old Market Square and the inside of the Salzburg Dom. The Salzburg Dom is a grand cathedral dating back to the 1620s and stands on the site of a much older church from the 8th century.
You can either walk up to the HohenSalzburg castle or take the Festungbahn – the funicular train that takes you up in 54 seconds :). We wanted to ride the funicular train so bought the tickets for it. The ride up is quite exhilarating but not for anyone who has problems with heights – the sheer incline can turn one’s stomach.
Hohensalzburg Fortress/castle sits atop the Festungsberg, a small hill in Salzburg. It is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe. Hohensalzburg Fortress is situated at an altitude of 506 m. It was built in 1077 and with subsequent modifications reached the current form in 1500. The fortress was built to protect the principality and the archbishops from hostile attacks. In all of these years, it has never been captured by foreign troops.
The first thing we did as soon as we entered the castle was to sit on a bench and polish off the chips packet that we had with us. We were hungry !! As we got off the Festung Bahn on our way back, we exited through a museum shop and just outside was a Lion faced spout with drinking water flowing through it. We filled out water bottle and went in search of lunch.
We found Uncle Van’s Natural restaurant close to Mozart’s Wohnhaus and ate an amazing Vietnamese meal. Its a vegan restaurant and the food is really fresh.
After lunch we strolled back to the Hauptbahnhof stopping in a couple of shops selling leather bags … I didn’t buy any, just browsed :). At the Hauptbhanhof we entered the Spar supermarket and bought a litre of fresh orange juice that was so delicious that didn’t leave a drop of it and drank it all up in a couple of minutes between the three of us. We then took the train back to Munich and we again got some amazing pictures on the way back.
The trip to Salzburg was pretty much the end of our vacation as well. We left Germany on the 19th and used the 18th to just relax and pack our stuff.
Note – The iconic “Sound of Music” movie was shot in Salzburg and there are two tours that take you to all the spots where the movie was filmed. We missed the early morning one and didn’t do the 2 p.m one as it was for four hours. Next time !