Thursday, February 23, 2017

Salzburg, Austria... Two days full of wonderful !

Juicy big snowflakes greeted us as we arrived in Salzburg!
It truly was magical... and remained so our entire visit.

Hannah greeted us at our Airbnb and settled us in to what I can only say will hold a special place in my travel memories.  Goodness... it is stunning.  In all the ways I love. See for yourself...




Hallways that capture you in the story of their history.  


 Hardware Love... and then you arrive at...


Stunning, elegant, divine, cozy.... really... stay here and add your own words.   The location could not be better.  Right in the middle of the old town.  Taxi's were able to drop us off right at the end of the little walking street.  You can get anywhere from here... and back for a little nap. We did that twice as the space was just to wonderful not to spend a little time right here.




The floor boards in the kitchen are huge!  I had to lay down my travelers notebook for reference.



All the pictures above were taken the evening we arrived.  Now you can see how during the day the daylight just pours in - windows all along one side.  Views of the quaint street below.



View from the street... door on the left... older than time.  
Confession... yep... we had to purchase another suitcase. 



The apartment was a sweet reflection of the town we were about to discover.

Cafe Tomaselli

Crema you could float on....


Just around the corner from our apartment.... and oh so delightful!
The service was amazing, not rushed and the attention to detail was a treat!
We arrived early and sat for quite a spill and soaked up all the goodness.


The rack for newspapers... perfect!


Once we had filled ourselves we were ready to head out.  Our plan today was to explore - this side of the river... beyond that... no plan.  

 To be honest, I love the research prior to a trip.  To the point I feel familiar when I arrive.  But I have tried to resist setting too firm a schedule... or any at all.   I usually go for an "area" for the day and have on hand a list of possibilities for that area... then if we find ourselves wondering "what to do" - I just pull out the list.   

We stopped in to pick up our "Salzburg Card".  I love these city cards.  I find we "stop in" to more places... because why not... it's covered in the card! We found this card to be a great value - it covered many of the things we happened upon and gave good discounts on others. 

Card in hand we turn to go explore.... well hello Salzburg... look at that!


We make a quick stop in the Panorama Museum... included in the card and worth a visit.


We happen upon this as we make our way to the base of the hill.


Find your way here... Petersfriedhof
A beautiful cemetery.






and remember to look up


We find the entrance to the Festungsbahn Funicular  for a ride up to the fortress.

And the views are amazing!  My tip... if it is a clear day... head up!  As you can see we had beautiful skies on this day.  The next day fog rolled in and although I'm sure it made for a haunting visit, I would have missed out on this.....




The Fortress



Below may be my favorite picture of the entire trip.


The Fortress is Large with many different spaces to visit.




   Inside there was a Marionette Museum


  We spent close to 4 hours here.  Many areas I simply forgot to take pictures...
there is a lot to take in... so give yourself time to explore.
Special Chamber Rooms - included in the card if you get here early enough... we had spent so much time looking at everything we were a little late... so just paid the extra to see these rooms.

The column above is solid marble... and there are more than one in this room.
I loved the ceiling... can you tell?





And we paused one last time to take in this view.


Once we arrive at the bottom of the hill we just explored...


St. Peter's Abbey 



Pferdeschwemme


I loved the painting below that shows how the bath was used.  Amazing!


Getreidegasse


We only peeked into a couple shops along this street.  It is worth a walk down just
to see the signs.  Beautiful metalwork.  So unique.

The Stag is a motif you will see repeated all over town... and on mugs and such.



Mozarts Birthplace


This was a sweet museum of Mozart... I love seeing the handwriting and original music.
You are in Salzburg after all.... Mozart is a must!




 We dip into the Cafe Mozart and have.... can you name this?


We walk a bit further... and then head back to the apartment
for one of those naps I spoke of before...

But you can't sleep the day away... so back out we ventured.
Salzburg has a sweet Christmas Museum
and a perfect way to start an evening at the Christmas Markets!


Vintage Cotton Batting .... swoon!


Layers of visual fun!


I loved this sweet little museum...


and it put us right in the mood for this....



 It is a beautiful Market with many things to catch your eye and wet your whistle!


Once you pass under the sign above you enter another market and to the left is the

Salzburg Cathedral - Dom


There was a choir practicing while we were inside and the sweet notes
added so much to the beauty of the space.


We headed back down our sweet street and dropped off some
purchases... and then headed out to find dinner.

We had been given a wonderful list of options from our friend Udo
and he was spot on with this one!

Goldener Hirsch


Amazing Service...


And if this hazelnut wonderful is offered the evening you are there...
just say yes!


And then we walked off our diner,
Umbrella Shop... Salzburg is the home of the Umbrella



 Sweet dreams of an amazing day.
Tomorrow's Plan... the other side of the river.

A new day... and a morning with Mozart
Early morning - a coffee and pastry not photo worthy... well they can't all be...
We stopped into the Mozart Residence


So... no pictures... whoops!
So pretend like you don't see this. 
I'm always careful and really didn't see any notice. So just this one.
It's a nice place to visit.



It was still early and we happened upon the "hop on hop off bus" and it was running so we thought why not.  The Salzburg card gets you a nice discount and we loved the route.
And we hopped off at the Hellbrunn Castle


This place is beautiful


They also host what looks like an amazing Christmas Market... we just arrived too early and the booths were not open... but it looked wonderful.


We just had a nice long walk around the property.


I had to grab this picture for my daughter and her besty Annie.
They grew up loving this movie..


We hopped back on and finished the tour back to the beginning.

From the bus stop we walked around Mirabell Palace grounds.
This map was on the floor in one area... it was fun to find our apartment on here!


We enjoyed the grounds for awhile and then decided it would be lovely to grab
another nap... ah that apartment just pulls you in.
So back across the Salzburg Love bridge we went.



We checked out the Salzburg Museum and got
this fun capture of the Market below from one of the windows.

One last trip to the Christmas Market to pick up a few gifts.
Oh... and some yummy food and drink!
Dropped off our purchases and cleaned up for our evening...


Tonight we were headed off to a concert back at the Mirabell Palace.
WOW... this was a wonderful night.
Front row seats... not sure how I managed that ... but it was wonderful.

Schlosskonzerte Mirabell

The space is beautiful and the music was a perfect
complement.  It was as if the notes hung in the air with all the notes played there before.


A perfect way to bid adieu to Salzburg


One last treat... a stop into the  Cafe Sacher


I really enjoyed Salzburg.  The city has such a nice energy to it. Rich in history and
literally alive with the sound of music.  It really is.


We will be reflecting on Salzburg for some time.
You are a gem of a city.




Nice easy morning and we are on our way...next stop...  Innsbruck.