Salzburg

September 28 Salzburg

What a treat to wake up to a clear, blue sky...not a cloud in sight...just the perfect kind of weather for exploring the magnificant and yet somehow quaint city of Salzburg. As has been the case in every city we have visited, public transportation is reliable and efficient. Some of the stops have digital displays that tell you how long you have to wait for your bus. The longest we waited for a bus in Salzburg was ten minutes.

Our touring began on the Monchberglift, an elevator that took us to the Museum of Modern Art which was surrounded by an enormous park, with walking trails that led us across the top of the city to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. While exploring the fortress at its highest point we saw, in the distance, a cable car ascending a mountain. We decided to go there. We found out which bus to take to get to the Untersberg cable car and as per usual, we only waited about two minutes at the bus stop until number 25 arrived.On the bus we struck up a conversation with an Australian family and hung out with them while we waited for the cable car. They gave each of us a small koala bear toy and I gave them Canadian pin.

The first thing we saw when we got off the cable car was snow...not a lot of snow...but there was snow on the ground. We hiked around the area for about an hour, taking pictures, oohing and aahing and breathing in the cool, clear, clean mountain air. We were up 1,853 meters! The decent in the cable car took ten minutes and was a fun ride, especailly listening to the many languages being spoken. I know I heard Swedish, German, Dutch, Polish and some English.

A trip to Salzburg would not be complete without a visit to something or other to do with "The Sound of Music." I have seen the film many times and we both saw a live production at Neptune a few years ago. We headed for the Hellbrunn Palace and made a B line to the famous gazebo where "You are Sixteen" was filmed. I found myself either humming or singing that tune for the rest of the day.

We were famished when we got back into the centre of town and headed for Bosna Grill, a highly recommended sausage stand where we lined up to order two bosna sausages which means sausages in a bun with onions, mustard and curry. They were delicious and worth the wait.

After a quick peek into a couple of churches we decided to make our way back to the campsite. What a great day. We loved Salzburg!