6.07.2009

Germany/Austria Part 2 - Munich and Salzburg

Welcome back! I last left you as we approached Munich by car from Dachau Concentration Camp. After dropping off the car, we made our way to Central Munich by underground to get our train tickets to Salzburg and spend a couple hours around town.

Pics Here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bbergey/SalzburgWithMom?feat=directlink

We strolled around central Munich for a short while, admiring the large cathedral and noticing that absolutely everything was closed for the Easter Holiday. We did manage to find the same brewhouse and beergarden that I had enjoyed the last time I was in Munich. No trip to Munich is complete without devouring the large meat and cheese platter served at Der Pschorr. We then boarded our train for a surprisingly quick ride to Salzburg.

The weather for our final few days of the trip couldn't have been better. We enjoyed endless sunshine and temperatures around 25-30 degrees (around 80). It couldn't have been more fitting for our final destination of Salzburg. If someone told me I had to move to Salzburg tomorrow, I would gladly pick up and move without hesitation. It is truly the only place I've visited so far in Europe where I could see myself living; and wanting to live. With a population of only 150,000, it is a stunning city that somehow feels unspoiled and easy to get around. It is known for it's alpine setting, surrounded by the Alps, and is the birthplace of Mozart and the setting for The Sound of Music. Salzburg's Old Town with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best preserved city centres north of the Alps. With all of that said, I could have easily spent weeks here rather than a couple days, and every turn provided another beautiful building, open square, a hilltop castle surrounding the city, or the majestic Alps. It really is a great place!

After catching a bus from the train station to our hotel, we set out to find some dinner. Our hotel had an excellent location in the Old Town and we had a great view from our room. We discussed the plan for the next two days over dinner. Since Munich had entirely been shut for Easter, we were worried that Salzburg would be the same. We were happily surprised to find all shops open and the streets crowded with people enjoying the sun and the beautiful city. We also read that there would be a large Easter Market set up in one of the open squares for the weekend which would provide all sorts of food, produce, and gifts.

The next morning, we woke up and strolled through the streets some more and visited the Easter Market where we checked out all of the stands and got some lunch. We then went to board our bus for the Sound of Music coach tour offered a few times each day. Before you make your judgments, the tour lasts 4 hours and spends most of it's time outside of the city. So although we were forced to listen to the soundtrack the entire time and were surrounded by too many people who knew way too much about the stupid movie, we saw a lot of the surrounding area. We were taken around the outskirts of Salzburg to see some of the filming locations and then taken up into the Lake District in the Alps to Hohensee, Lake Gilgen and Mondsee. All of the areas were absolutely beautiful and well worth a few hours of annoying music. I also realized that mom knows far more about the Sound of Music than any human being should ever know.

Our flight left the next day (Easter) in the evening, which meant we had another entire day to spend in the city. After breakfast, we visited the market again to grab some meats and cheeses for lunch, and then headed up to the Hohensalzburg castle nestled atop a large hill dominating the city. After construction began in 1077, it is now one of the biggest castles in Europe. It houses a couple museums and a great tour that takes you through many of the rooms and up one of the towers. The castle is part of a large hill that stretches along the entire length of the Old Town. We walked along the top of the hill enjoying views of the city, castle and the mountains and enjoyed our lunch in one of the parks. We then spent the rest of the afternoon strolling through the streets of Salzburg and chilling out on the banks of the River that flows directly through town.

Please take some time to take a look at the pics...and if you ever make a trip to Europe, make sure you include a visit to Salzburg!!