Day 62

Finally arrived in Salzburg at around 9 in the morning. boy oh boy was that a hectic journey.  You can see from my train ticket how crazy the night travel is. I also ran into a small problem between Munich and Salzburg where I had to swtich trains take a bus and then get on another train which (as u can tell is NOT written on the ticket). Luckily I asked some fellow travelers and got on the right track, which made me feel really grateful that I knew German!

After that little mess up and lack of sleep I hurried off to find my hostel and hopefully grab a quick nap. Unfortunatly for me check in is at 12 not 9 so I failed to get a little shut eye. Instead I paid for a locker in the hostel, locked up most of my things and then figured out how I was going to tour the city. (TIP: In most major cities they offer a welcome card for around 20 or so euros that includes local transport and every museum in the city for 24 hours. Perfect if you just plan on spending the day in the city!!)http://www.salzburg.info/en/sights/salzburg_card/

 I bought one of these welcome cards and ventured off to find Mozart's house, birthplace, a castle, churches and cemetaries, and a couple of museums. If I spent 20 euros I was going to use it to the max!

The first sight was a beautiful cemetary connected to the Church of St. Sesbastian. I wandered around, checking out the dates on the tombstones and crosses and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery. In German cemetary is Friedhof, which litterally translated is composed of the words peace = Frieden and yard or court = hof. Cemetaries in Germany aren't as creepy but rather peaceful which probably has to do with the close ties to religon.

Next on the list was Mozarts House. I walked through the house and learned a lot about the composer. Sadly most of the house was destroyed during the war. the city did their best to try and rebuild and create the house. It's so sad to think of all the history that was lost with the war. I guess this ties to the theme that there is more history beyond WWII but WWII left a huge mark on the now and then.
However I think the thing I remember most is the famous candy that shares his name. The Mozart Kugeln (or Balls). http://www.mozartkugeln.biz/

I only bought a couple but they were truly delicous!!

After Mozart I headed into the heart of the city to find some churches and make my way to the castle that over looks the city.

On the way to the city



I walked into the Salzburg Cathedral and was floored by beautiful it was! This is probably one of my favorite churches so far. It was a little to Rococo but still the style and colors, light and details made it an amazing place to be. Not to mention the Cathedral is right next to an open square with a life size chess board and a great view of the castle.

 There was also a small market in the square where I managed to pick up a few gifts for Courtney and Haley. I spent a lot of time in the church, taking my time to look at everything and absorb everything. Afterwards I headed towards the castle and managed to run into another famous cemetary which also had catecombs. (unfortunatly they were closed until next weekend so I just missed them!!)

 The cemetary was called St. Peters Cemetary and was connected to St. Peters church. Its located right underneath the castle and was just as beautiful as St. Sebastians. I think this cemetary was a little bit larger but at the same it was really nice to walk through. Afterwards I used my lovely welcome card to get a "free" ride up to the castle. The view was amazing. Now I understand why Beethoven left Bonn (and Germany) for Austria, the mountains and senary are just gorgeous. The whole time the sound of music was playing in my head.."The hills are alive with the sound of music..."

Pretty lame huh? (thats another big tourist thing in Salzburg. The sound of music was filmed in Salzburg and everywhere you turn there are tours offering to show you where everything was and to point out certain areas for filming and where the actors ate and everything.)

Touring the castle ws pretty cool. I felt like I was walking through Lord of the Rings or something, since the castle was also like a fortress. I got to see strange puppets, an old chapple and even some old bedrooms and stables. Most of the area isn't exactly the same as what it used to be but it was close enough. The view was, once again, incredible. I couldn't help but go into tourist mode and snap shot after shot from every side of the castle.

Afterwards, in my attempts to find Mozart's birthplace, I wandered to a museum dedicated to Austria. At this point I was super tired and just trying to see everything I could with the Welcome card. I walked through the museum pretty fast. I was a little disappointed that most of the museum was closed but also a little thankful since I knew I had to be on my way inorder to see everything on my list. Outside the museum was a lovely statue of Mozart kind've like the one we have in Bonn for Beethoven. Being the tourist that I am I snaped a shot.
From there I ran around trying to find Mozart's birthplace and was having no luck I kept stopping in shops to ask for help but still messed up directions and wandered in circles around the place. At one shop I even made the mistake of asking for Beethoven's birthplace since I'm so used to hearing about Beethoven in Bonn.

After I finally found it I went in, did a tour and got out. I can't believe how tiny the rooms are! There were instruments in the building belonging to Mozart and his sister. I learned that both children were prodigies to music but Mozart's sister was always in her brother's shaddow.

To finish the day I walked through the gardens of the Marcipal Castle. I wish I could see the gardens in spring or summer. It was missing a lot of color due to fall but the leaves surrounding the garden were very pretty. There were two wedding parties taking pictures in the gardens. It was really cute!
I headed back to the hostel and decided that I would treat myself to an Austrian dinner and enjoy some wine. Only a small problem arrose. I couldn't find anywhere to eat that wouldn't swallow my wallet whole. I walked into a souvonier shop to ask a local where I should go and told him about my issue and he helped solve my wine problem by selling me a 9 Euro bottle of white wine for 5 Euros. He also gave me a Mozart Kugle on the house. ;)
I was so tired that I just decided to head back and go to sleep for the night. Thats when I ran into some kids from the AIB program..
We grabbed some beers at the hostel and actually had an exciting night. I met a guy from the Netherlands who is studying in Munich and a bunch of other people. (TIP: If you are traveling by yourself pick a hostel (using hostel world) that has some good ratings for meeting people and for travelers. You can most likely meet up with other students in your situation and end up having a good time. Just be careful and make sure you lock up all important documents and items in the hostels!!)

The next day I was off to St. Valentine and Mauthausen. This deserves another post! Salzburg was a great experience I did the city in a day with little sleep and managed to have a good night, I almost wish I could have stayed another night!

Tschüß!!!