I
never got around to writing about our time in Austria, so here
goes...
Seeing
the stage version of The
Sound of Music at
the Princess Theatre in Melbourne in the early 1960s sparked my
interest in Austria. It was the first live show I had ever attended
and I thought it was just magical, even though our seats were at the
very back of what is now referred to as the 'Grand Circle', but which
we just referred to as 'the Gods'. Although of course it wasn't
until the film came out in 1965 that I realised just how wonderful
the scenery around Salzburg is.
We
arrived in Salzburg on Wednesday October 9. It was a very grey day
and I wasn't feeling particularly cheerful - not sure exactly why.
When we arrived at the station, as usual, we were a bit confused
about which way to go. I eventually decided that my sense of
direction was so poor that it was probably best to just go the
opposite way and ignore what I thought.
We
had a productive evening and planned and booked our trip to Abisko
- the wonders of the
internet and wi-fi. We were a bit slow getting going the next
morning, however after a great breakfast we purchased a Salzburg
Card each. A lot
of cities have cards which offer a variety of benefits. This was the
only time we bought one and we found it good value. It included free
public transport of which we made good use. It also included free
admission to many/most of the city's attractions. Working on the
principle of mutually agreeable outings we went first to the cable
car Untersberg. The brochure says the summit is at 1776m, although I
am not sure what the elevation of the rest of Salzburg is! There was
certainly a magnificent view from the summit, although slightly
obscured by cloud. (As it turned out the story of our life - London
Eye, Montparnasse...)
A
view from the summit
And
coming back down
We
then caught the bus to Hellbrunn - a pleasure palace dating from
the late Renaissance. We undertook a guided tour of the trick
fountains, which were rather fun, if you didn't mind getting a bit
wet!
I
According
to an explanatory plaque, in 1991, the Salzburg City Council, who had
been presented with this pavilion at the end of the filming of The
Sound of Music,
decided to restore it and show it publicly in the Hellbrunn Palace
Park.
Another
bus ride took us to the Mirabell Gardens. We weren't doing a Sound
of Music tour although this was the location for the filming of some
of 'Do-Re-Mi'...
In
1963, along with the rest of my school music class, I attended
Mozart's The
Marriage of Figaro. I
had probably heard music by Mozart before that, but this outing
certainly left a lasting impression on me. Although as much as I
love the music of Mozart, I didn't feel the need to visit his
birthplace or residence, both of which were included in the Salzburg
Card.
I
had rather fancied a cruise on the Salzach River. However I changed
my mind as there was quite a long wait and it was rather cold and the
weather looked threatening. We had reached the wharf by crossing the
Makartsteg Bridge. As far as I can remember, this is the first time
I had seen so-called 'love-locks'.
We
then made our way to the Hohensalzburg Fortress which dates from the
11th century. This was our first experience of precipitation since
we had arrived in Europe. I donned my bright yellow poncho, which at
that stage was my only protection against rain - I bought a parka in
Vienna and we both bought umbrellas on our descent from
Neuschwanstein Castle, although it wasn't actually raining that day!
Anna said she certainly wouldn't lose me, but in general I found the
poncho unsatisfactory. If the entry to the fort hadn't been included
on the Salzburg Card, we most likely wouldn't have continued. We
caught the funicular up to the fortress and set off to explore. If
the weather had been better and I hadn't been tired, it would have
been fascinating. I am afraid my eyes were starting to glaze over.
However there was a good view over Salzburg, even if it was a bit wet
and I was a little scared of slipping over. The view would have been
even better if not shrouded in cloud.
We
decided going back to the hotel was looking good. We dined at the
hotel that night and partook of their “Austrian “ menu – very
delicious, although still not sure exactly what constitutes
“Austrian” food.
The
next morning we departed for Vienna – although not on the train on
which we had booked our seats, it was running 2 hours late. We got
another train that left only 10 minutes later. Apart from a delay
just before Hendaye, on the very first day we used the Eurail Pass,
thanks to a fallen tree, I think this was the only other “train”
problem we had in Europe, although we had a few more in the UK. Well
that is except for when we got on the train to Zermatt from Visp, we
discovered that although we had seat reservations, the Eurail Pass
didn’t cover the fare as it was a private railway. Fortunately I
was able to pay by card.
As
usual we had booked a hotel very close to the station – virtually
just across the road provided you came out the right door. We dumped
our bags and used the internet to check the location of the “plus
size” clothing stores we had discovered the night before. We set
off – as often – in completely the wrong direction. Our problems
were compounded by the rain which began falling quite heavily. I was
feeling rather damp and dispirited, however spied a station across
the road. We purchased 24 hour tickets, consulted our map again and
made our way to a shopping centre only one station from Westbahnhof
and the hotel. I bought a parka, track pants and jeans, which all
proved very useful in Abisko. It was interesting just to see
ordinary Austrians out for Friday evening shopping.
By
the next day the rain had disappeared and we were greeted by a warm
and sunny day. We caught a tram to the Schönbrunn
Palace. According to my guide book, the Habsburg summer palace is a
grand display of baroque imperialism. However we decided to skip the
guided tour and instead explore the Versailles-like gardens which
were free. My feet were quite sore. They had got very wet on the
previous day – the next day I, well actually Anna, discovered that
there was a hole in the sole. So I paid for a hop on hop off
transport option and Anna walked. We had arranged to meet at the
Gloriette from where there are great views of Vienna.
We partook of some delicious food before setting off again to make
our separate ways to the entrance.
We
decided
to make use of our 24
hour public transport ticket which expired at 16:25,
so we
continued our Vienna exploration
on PT.
This included looking at the outside of St Stephen's Cathedral (we
were actually in search of the nearby Manner shop to buy some
biscuits!)
and gazing at the Danube.
We hadn't had the foresight to check out the cruise times, so we
scrapped the idea of viewing Vienna from the water as the wait was
too long.
We
ended up doing some more clothes shopping, this time at the Stadium Shopping
Centre. Bought a shirt and jumper but found this in the bathroom
interesting!
At
lunch time we had unsuccessfully tried to eat at a well regarded
schnitzel place, however it would have been a very long wait –
maybe something to do with it being a beautiful Saturday. However
for dinner we had a huge and tasty Wiener Schnitzel at a pub quite
close to the hotel. Went to bed early and prepared to farewell
Austria and make our way to Munich.
