If you think Salzburg is all about Mozart and The Sound of Music, you’re wro . . . well, you’re kind of right. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Mozart and Julie Andrews history aside, Salzburg, Austria is a fantastic city to just walk around in. Most of the city center is between the river and the Hohensalzburg Fortress on the hill in the photo above. It’s the biggest fully preserved castle in Central Europe. On the other side of the fortress are large parks and a beautiful residential area with lots of trees, flowers and views of the Alps.
It seems like the fortress is visible from everywhere in the area.
Salzburg is one of those cities where you know there’s a lot of money being thrown around by tourists. You can smell opulence in the air. High-end clothing stores abound, and the well-to-do tourist is well served. But the fashions for children were the most memorable. It was spring and the number of window displays of expensive children’s clothing that would be worn once (at most) was staggering. The “Oh look at that — how cute!” reaction is pretty quickly replaced by “WTF!?! That much for lederhosen?”
One of those fancy sun-dial type clocks that nobody understands how to use.
A shop that’s trying to make a few Euros from the tourists on a back street leading up to the Fortress.
Cafe Mozart (touristy) and Cheese & More (touristy PLUS cheesy) = a lunch stop for us. Karen latched on to these two young women in the Mozart Cafe who broke apart from their main tour group in Munich and took the train here for a day. Turns out they were adopted from China, not Korea, like her daughter Kayci is. She hit it off with them nonetheless.
As you can see, shopping, eating, people-watching and coffee-drinking are always just around the corner.
Guess what part of the Fortress this is? Yup — where you go to get locked up.
A travel photographer at work
The walk up to the Fortress is a little strenuous, but there is a funicular for the older folks (like maybe 71-year olds and such). The Fortress museum is interesting, but the views from the top are the big show, in my opinion. We didn’t eat at that Cafe, but there’s always next time, right?
Have you noticed that I’ve barely mentioned The Sound of Music so far? Well, don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten. The above photo is the beginning of our “TSOM”-related stuff. The red arrow points to Hellbrunn Palace, Captain Von Trapp’s mansion from the movie. You might remember the boat-tipping scene in the lake by the mansion. As you can see from this photo, it’s really more of a pond.
The hills really are alive. Go ahead and sing now if you wish!
The Abbey (where Maria had so much trouble fitting in with that particular girls’ club) and the cemetery, (where she and the Von Trapps hid from the Nazis) are near the bottom of the hill under the fortress. We stopped there before walking to the mansion. Those scenes were not actually filmed here, but were shot on sets built to look similar to these locations.
The cemetery is where the nuns helped the Von Trapps hide as they escaped during the applause for their winning of the talent show. It looks a lot different in the movie because it was filmed on set somewhere that only roughly recreates this place.
Mountain view on our walk to the Von Trapp mansion.
When we got to the mansion where the outdoor shots were done (the “I am 16 . . .” song gazebo, the kids overturning the boat, etc.) we found that we couldn’t get near the place because a private party was blocking off entry to the grounds. So we walked around to the other side of the little lake and had a nice view.
Hellbrun Palace with the Fortress visible on the hill behind.
So THESE are the rich people that rented the whole place and prevented us from getting closer! Wedding - Schmedding!
One more photo from our walk. (Those little huts behind the railing are like the Schrebergärten we saw and wrote about in Germany. CLICK to read that post.)
Okay, one more. Last one. I promise.
The Do Re Mi song, filmed in the Mirabell Gardens, provided some corny/fun opportunities for us, although Karen couldn’t figure out a way to get up on the balcony to get the Pegasus Fountain shot right.
This is really a long post, but I need to mention what a great family we had as hosts in our AirBnb. Rasa and Wolfgang are a friendly, knowledgeable couple with two adorable kids. They love their city, but they’re also interested in travel. Wolfgang is a lawyer — a public prosecutor who works for the city. Rasa is a professional opera singer (Yes, you read that correctly! We saw the grand piano in their apartment.)
Wolfgang has spent quite a lot of time in the U.S. (including college at the University of Virginia, where my daughter went). He’s a people-person and LOVES America and Americans. He chatted with us in the hall on our first night there. On the second night, he tapped on our door at about 9:00 pm. We were in our pajamas, lounging around and talking about our day. We opened the door and he told us he’d been at meeting of a volunteer group that maintains a hiking trail around a nearby mountain. He said, “Do you want to come over and have a cup of tea with me? My wife is putting the kids to bed.” We of course said yes, and went over to their place in our pjs. He told us all about his time in the U.S. and how he loved being there — how he likes American western movies and the whole lifestyle that Americans have. We had great conversation and could have talked all night, but his wife had given him 10:00 curfew.
They own the second floor of 3-story apartment building at the bottom of the hill under the Fortress. It’s on a quiet street, but perfectly located for walking the city. They live in a larger apartment on the same floor. They are a wonderful family, and we hope we can see them again on a future visit.
Those cute kids!
A little snacky-lunch in our apartment