Jake and Brenna: Europe Part III: Salzburg

Upon finishing up our adventure at Neuschwanstein, we hopped on a train to Salzburg, Austria. Well, actually a little farther to a town called St. Johann, which is where we were staying. We ventured into Salzburg a few times, though. So I'm splitting the posts by town. The first time we made the trek into Salzburg, we made a very quick stop to grab breakfast pastries from a bakery on our way to the train station. When we got there, we couldn't find the ticket we wanted on the ticket machine so we had to buy it from a slightly perturbed man in a booth. While he was taking his time typing in the information, sliding our card, and printing our receipt, and looking cranky, the train arrived. Then it left without us and we had to wait half an hour for the next one. Although this was kind of disappointing, Jake and I were able to enjoy our pastries under the clear, blue sky on a quiet, Austrian morning.

Germans and Austrians sure know how to make a good pastry. Some of the best things we ate on our trip came from the bäckerei. Chocolate Croissants: As the name suggests, this is a croissant filled with chocolate, and it is divine. Why they don't fill croissants with chocolate in every bakery in America is anybody's guess. Laugenbrot: We called this pretzel bread. Picture a roll or bread stick that is not crunchy like a pretzel but has a dark brown exterior and salt on top. Jake loved these, which led me to discover an ingenious meal. Pretzel Sandwiches: I don't know how to do them justice. It sounds like a simple concept, and yet, I had never seen such a heavenly creation. Thin slices of delicious salami and tomatoes on the most wonderful salty bread - I wanted to eat this every day, and in Salzburg, I probably did. Since our return, I am haunted by the absence of pretzel sandwiches in my daily life.

Salzburg seemed smaller and more quaint than Munich. Hohensalzburg Castle overlooks the city, which is divided by the blue-green Salzach River. It is beautiful, as are the sights there. We were able to visit the birthplace and residence of Mozart, Mirabell Gardens (beautiful flower beds, fountains, and statues surrounding a palace), and the Getreidegasse (a lane in the Old Town that is packed with little shops).

The picture below is of a building right next to the train tracks in Salzburg. As you can see, there is a lot of construction going on. This caused a lot of headaches for us. Because of the construction, there were only stairs rather than ramps to the platforms. Trying to haul our heavy suitcases up and down these stairs while hurrying to make our trains was quite a challenge (for Jake, who ran up several staircases carrying both our suitcases while I scurried behind him). One day, almost late for our train again, we were trying to hurry down a staircase full of sixth graders dragging suitcases and duffel bags twice their size up the stairs. They were literally filling the entire staircase, and they would not scoot over for anyone. I'm pretty sure I got cussed out by a 12-year-old girl in German as we pushed our way through in order to catch our train. Oops.

Mozart's Residence

Mozart's Birthplace

One end of the Getreidegasse...

The other end of the Getreidegasse.

In the picture below, Jake and I are standing in front of the fountain where the von Trapp children sang Do-Re-Mi with Maria in the Sound of Music.

The next five pictures are from the Zwergerlgarten (Dwarf Garden), which features statues that were modeled after real dwarves that served the Archbishop.