Fortresses, Mountains and Bratwursts, Oh My!

Guten tag, readers!

I had another wonderful day in the beautiful city of Salzburg, Austria today. It started out a little rough when I discovered the theft of my camera memory card and card reader, but I found a little camera shop and bought myself another card and card reader so all is well on that front. I just lost some photos from my tour at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site.

For the first time since I’ve been in Europe, I left my day completely unscheduled. I didn’t book any tours and instead, I gave myself the whole day to do whatever I wanted. And it was grand. 🙂

After blogging, eating breakfast, and dealing with the memory card issues, I finally left the hostel around noon with my camera, phone, and handy dandy tote bag. I was making my way toward the Fortress Hohensalzburg , when I happened upon a farmers market in Mirabell Platz (It’s a big square around a huge church). Tempted by the aroma of Austrian meats and cheeses, I decided to look around.

Cure farmers market in Mirabell Platz in Salzburg.

Meat and cheese for days, folks!

One of the booths had a tray of delicious looking pastries so I bought one. It was some kind of a cake pastry; I don’t know the name. It was really good, but a little too rich for me to finish the whole thing. Especially when paired with orange juice/soda stuff. Yum.

Sugary lunch of champions!

After I finished perusing the farmers market, I continued on my way to Fortress Hohensalzburg. This huge castle-looking thing sits on a hill in the middle of Salzburg’s Old Town. It’s really cool looking, and serves as an awesome landmark. On the way, I took some photos, bought blueberry gelato (I had a really healthy day today… NOT haha) and listened to a street violin player. The weather was just so perfect; sunny and warm, but not too warm. It was a perfect day to just wander around and enjoy the city.

Cool old building I found on my way to the fortress. The architecture here is just too cool.

Heavenly blueberry gelato. Thank you, kind waitress, for suggesting it.

Before reaching the fortress, I took a detour and went up to the roof of Hotel Stein, a swanky hotel right along the Salzach River. The rooftop patio has a little restaurant and is open to the public. A very nice host let me sneak in and get some pictures. I love how blue the river is. I’ve heard that’s because of all the salt that’s in it. There are salt mines nearby. The blue river mixed with all the colorful buildings makes for a very photogenic town.

The Salzach River that runs through Salzburg. It’s so blue and gorgeous.

Another shot of the river from the rooftop of Hotel Stein in Salzburg. You can see the Fortress Hohensalzburg near the top right of the picture, on the hill.

The fortress was a really cool place. It made me wish I had my hollowed-out coconuts so I could clip-clop through the castle, Monty Python style. This castle is one of the oldest medieval castles in Europe. Construction began in 1077. Crazy, huh?

Borrowed this from the Internet. This photo shows the castle better than my pictures do. It’s a very old, cool place.

But the best part about Fortress Hohensalzburg was the view from the top. I could see all of Salzburg’s old town and it was breathtaking.

View of Salzburg from the top of Fortress Hohensalzburg.

Me on one of the viewing spots at Fortress Hohensalzburg. I’m grateful to all the kind strangers who have been willing to take pictures of me on this trip.

After I was done at the fortress, I hopped on Bus 25 and headed east toward the small town of Grödig, Austria. There, I rode a cable car 4,300 feet up Untersberg Mountain, which is part of the Berchtesgaden Alps. It straddles Berchtesgaden, Germany and Salzburg, Austria. The cable car ride took about 10 minutes and provided amazing panorama views the entire time. Once we got to the top of the mountain, I hiked away from the group to find a little solitude. When I found my spot, I took a few pictures, sang part of “The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Music,” and just stood there enjoying the peace and quiet. The air was so fresh and clear. I felt powerful, but at the same time completely humbled by the sheer size of the Alps.

I only had about an hour to explore before the last cable car went back down the mountain at 5 p.m. But I decided that I’m definitely coming back to Salzburg someday, and I am going back up that mountain and hiking the trails. One of them leads to ice caves. How cool is that?

The view of Salzburg and the surrounding towns from Untersberg Mountain.

You can see the cable car line on the right side of the photo.

The Alps are pretty much amazing. They just go on and on.

The cable car ride back down the mountain was a little nuts. The small car was completely packed, so everybody was up close and personal with everybody else. But we made it back safely. I got on the bus and headed back to Salzburg where I re-took photos of Mirabell Gardens to replace the ones I’d lost when my camera card was stolen. The lighting was beautiful.

Then I sat and read in the Mirabell rose garden. There was a whole row of benches and most of them were occupied by people reading or watching the sun set. It was very calming.

My reading spot in the rose garden in Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg. You can see the fortress in the background.

I finished off my evening by ordering Austrian Bratwurst (bratwurst stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon) and watching The Sound of Music in the hostel common room with about 17 other guests. A nice evening in was just what I needed after so many crazy travel days.

Tomorrow, I’m heading back to Munich for the day and Saturday is my day-long biking tour of Munich, a tour of Neuschwanstein Castle and paragliding over the castle. I’m so excited!

Well, I’d better sign off. I have an early bus to catch tomorrow.

Tschüs!