Sunday, March 24, 2013

Salzburg--Final Trip

So, I am a very anxious packer and I finished all of my big packing stuff during the week. This meant that I had all day Saturday free and I have to make the most out of my time here in central Europe. We could get to Salzburg on the cheap Bavarian Pass, so Salzburg it was!

Salzburg is the home of Mozart and the Van Trapp family from the Sound of Music. It was a cute town with a very comfortable, safe, and familiar feel.

We started towards the Old Town and cut through the Mirabell Palace Gardens. It was a very beautiful area filled with interesting statues and flowers.
Walking down into the garden area. The Hohensalzburg Fortress in the distance 

Me! 

A smiling Unicorn Statue 

Very pretty flower decorations 

Cool Fountain 

Taking a nice stroll along the garden pathways

This is what I mean by "interesting statues" 

There were guys dressed in gold pretending to be robot statues. You would have to pay them and then they would move and make beeping noises

Walking across the main bridge to get into the old town 

Still more locks on the fences 

Mozart's Birthplace 

If you know any music/mozart lover, this is the place for them to go. There were so many different types of Mozart souvenirs! It was crazy 

Walking along the Getreidegasse with their cute medieval shop signs 

Even Claire's and McDonald's are fancy in Europe

Old church with an elevator behind it that takes people up into the mountain/hill area

Then we walked into the Universitatsplatz where there was a huge open market packed with all sorts of meats, cheeses, breads, fresh fruit and flowers, souvenirs, and other fun stuff 

Muskrat lotion!?!? Umm okay 

The fountain at the Residenz Platz 

Salzburg Cathedral 

This is the Hohensalzburg Fortress. It is 120 meters (400 feet) above the river. It was never used, but it played its part well by being foreboding that no one attacked for years. 

Giant chess board 

Cool statue 

This was a horse-bath from the 18th century. It says, "Leopold the Ruler Built Me" 

One of the cool sites to see is the St. Peter's Cemetery. It was a very beautiful resting place. The only catch is that plots are rented out every 10 years. If a bill is sent and no one makes the payment, the person gets taken out to make room for someone else. 






These "catacombs" were the homes of medieval hermit monks 

Then we decided to hike the steep hill up towards the Hohensalzburg. Well, you could only get so far until you have to pay to keep going to the courtyard, and the sites weren't that fantastic. We chose to just skip the sites and hike up another hill to see all of Salzburg; but no before taking some pictures.

Views of the Cathedral 

Walking back into Old Town, there was a man in the Platz playing on the electric Violin. It was so pretty and it made me want to play again! Salzburg was a very musical place, as he was not the only musician out that day.


Walking through Mozartplatz, complete with a statue of Mozart 

Walking back across Mozart Bridge to the other part of Salzburg

View of the mountains 

Capuchin Monastery and a medieval wall (to be climbed later unknowingly) 

View of the other side of Salzburg 

Walking along Steingasse, you are able to see some cool and non-touristy sites
This is the nunnery where the real Maria from the Sound of Music taught 

Carvings on the doors told the beggars which homes would give money

This is the memorial plague for Joseph Mohr, the writer of Silent Night 

We started walking up some stairs that were just to the left of the Joseph Mohr memorial and found our way up to St. John's Church--a cute, little, and quiet church hidden in the hillside. 

The inside was gorgeous 

Information about the Church 
The church also offered a nice view of the Fortress and the Cathedral 

Then, we found more stairs that we couldn't even see the top to! Why not keep climbing to see what we find

Well we, unknowingly, found the Capuchin Monastery which provided us with a beautiful view of the city of Salzburg! 

Some homes had roof gardens! 
More stairs! 

A very neat statue monument 

The homes that live next to this hillside really have to watch out! 

We thought it was cool that an apartment building was made out of an old piece of wall 

Another castle in the distance 

This building is the Festival Concert Hall--most famously remembered as the concert hall where the Van Trapp's sang Eidelweiss before fleeing to Switzerland 

View of Salzburg sites 

A cool statue

We walked back into the Old Town and the the front side of the Cathedral. 

The statue of Mary here was strategically placed in front of the golden crown on the Cathedral wall

You could take horse-drawn carriage rides around town

A cool thermometer/barometer 

The Mozarteum and the Puppet Theater 

Statue playing the violin 

It was a nice little day trip and a good way to finish off my last weekend in Germany. I spent Sunday working out, going to a BBQ, doing laundry, cleaning, and packing. USA here I come! 

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