Austrian Antics

Last weekened was the time for my first big day trip, setting off from Hauptbahnhof just before 8am with the two Annas, both friends from Oxford who are doing internships in Munich. After a journey just short of two hours, we were across the border in Salzburg, ready to soak up the Sound-of-Musical vibes.

We headed across to the old town for a coffee and a pastry at a classic Austrian coffee shop on the river, before heading up to the Hohensalzburg fortress which overlooks the town.

After an incredibly steep ascent, we decided to give the inside of the fortress itself a miss, in favour of a thorough wander around this wooded stretch just above the town, which proved to be the right decision, offering some brilliant photo opportunities and amazing views.

We then headed down into the old town which had looked so good from above, and it didn’t disappoint, starting with the market on Universitätsplatz, the site of Mozart’s birthplace, featuring an impressive array of Lebkuchen and super-size Brezen.

A wander through Residenzplatz and past the Dom showcased the regal, imposing architecture of the town. We stopped for lunch a little out of the way, three veggies opting out of the traditional meat-focused Biergartens, finding instead the Geheime Specerey, where we enjoyed drinks alongside some lovely food.

More wandering and the obligatory stint in the German bookshop was followed by an ice cream just next door to Mozart’s house, before finally finding the man on the golden ball (the Sphaera), which I remembered from a family holiday years ago, and then heading back to the station where Anna (1) was getting a train to Vienna.

Before having to head back for our own later train, we had time for what turned into a whistlestop Sound of Music tour, starting with the Mirabell castle and gardens which is on the same side of town as the station, and features the iconic steps, fountain, and tree-lined alleyway, as well as a less recognisable dwarf garden (the oldest in Europe, no less). The gardens are absolutely beautiful and the weather was gorgeous - the palace itself is a little less impressive given the grandeur of the buildings we’d seen in the old town, but I guess that kind of thinking is just what happens to you when you’re seeing fairytale castles and grandiose cathedrals on a weekly basis.

We then finished off the old town with a thorough wander as the sun started to go down, coming across an open air cinema in one of the main squares screening the Lion King and, the real highlight, discovering St Peter’s Abbey and graveyard, the site of the tense final scene in the Sound of Music, and speculating which gate the family hid behind.

Getting back to the station in good time, a sit down on the train was welcome and well-deserved, and the journey was relatively uneventful, bar a check by border guards and a slightly stern admonishment for having forgotten my passport. (In my defense, the train ticket we bought is called a ‘Bayernkarte’ and no one reminds you that you’re going to a foreign country ...)