Saturday 31st August - Salzburg

You know how tell when you are on holidays? It's when you can't remember what the day or date is!! Have mixed them up a bit over the last week :(

Finally sorted out Michael's Skype, and it was lovely to be able to chat with him. Also phoned Mum and Dad to check that Dad had received his Fathers Day surprise - all went well. Errol had purchased a Toggle Mobile simcard for my phone. This gives you a local number for up to 9 countries. The 4.5 minute call to Mum and Dad actually cost about $0.60 (that's Australian!) Will have to make a few more calls, but we don't have an Italian number, so they will have to wait till we reach Switzerland. After breakfast, had a short stroll up to the Mall then checked out - decided to do the Salzburg day trip.

No problems getting to Hauptbanhof today. Purchased another Bayern ticket, put our bags into a locker, and climbed onto the Salzburg train. At times the train was at standing room only. Arrived in Salzburg about 12:45. It seems strange to head off on a day trip around 10 and be heading for a different country!!

We walked down to the river, and followed it along to a walking bridge. We crossed over to go to the old town. There was an open air market, very similar to the ones at home. Looming over the old town is a huge fortress built to defend the city centuries ago. But the fortress is so intimidating, that no-one ever attacked the town, so it was never really used. When Napoleon arrived, they surrendered without a fight! Because the town was never invaded, it is one of the few in Europe that never suffered an outbreak of the plague.

Errol had the Rick Steve's walking guide, but we had a little fun trying to find the right walking bridge (there are several) where the commentary started. After asking directions a couple of times, we finally found our starting point!

What a beautiful city. There are many narrow streets lined on each side with tall buildings. Salzburg also boasts 38 Catholic churches (2 protestant, and 1 synagogue - slightly one sided!'), and it seems that many of them ring their bells on the hour. It has been a common thing through Germany to hear the town bells ringing regularly throughout the day. There was even a wedding at one of the churches, and the bride and groom came out of the just after we arrived.

We could have taken one of the many horse and carriage rides, but decided to follow Rick's recommended walk, which was supposed to take 40 minutes, but we took several hours, and enjoyed every minute of it. We wandered from one platz to the next - it's hard to explain, but the buildings are like borders between the squares, some opening each side, others with 'arcades' or passages through them at ground level, lined with small shops or cafes.

The city's favourite son is Mozart, and, of course, he has a square named after him. In Mozart Platz, there is open air reading. There were hammocks and lots of outdoor beanbag type seats, and a small mobile library. People were just lazing around in the sun reading!

We stopped for a break at a sidewalk cafe on one of the platz, and enjoyed the 'people watching'. There were some very well dressed people about, we found out that there was a Mozart concert on in the old Residence.

Apparently Salzburg people aren't too fussed about the Sound of Music movie - although the von Trapp family were a real family, there was much artistic license used in the movie script. But they do love anything to do with Mozart. There are 'pictures' of him everywhere, and even the chocolate served with Errol's coffee had a picture of him on it.

Once we finished exploring the old town, we crossed back over the river, and went to Mirabell Gardens and Palace. Don't think the palace is open for tours, but there was a classical concert on there tonight, so it is still used. The gardens were beautiful - geometrically structured gardens blooming in colour, a fountain and another pond with a large statue of a flying horse in the middle of it.

Back out on the streets, we wandered in the general direction of the Hauptbanhof, looking for somewhere for dinner. Finally found a hotel with a reasonable menu, and ordered. Although the meal was a little slow in coming, it was very pleasant sitting outside, sipping a wine and watching the passing of the day. When the food arrived it was good. The couple at the next table were Aussies too (the husband picked up on Errol's Boags beer cap!) Once finished, we had to race for the station and the 8:09 train back to Munich.

Arrived back in Munich about 10:10 with a little time to kill - night train due to leave at 11:40. We checked out the platform, then collected our bags from the locker, and sat to wait. Train was ready for boarding just after 11:00, so it wasn't too long. Unfortunately, our steward did not speak English, which was surprising, and made instructions a little difficult. The sleeping cabins are so small, but definitely better than a seat. Fingers crossed we mange to sleep.