Thursday, April 21, 2011
Salzberg, Austria
Up early and ready to go for it today, we had one errand to run before embarking on our day. Yesterday, on our arrival, we had a chat with the desk clerk at the hotel. She advised us of the travel difficulty we may face on an Easter weekend, and the need to book hotels and trains in advance. We don't usually do this, but then with off-peak travel we usually don't have to. But we do now, so with her help we got on the internet and book our Ibis hotel in Vienna, three nights, and then booked with the Austria national railroad (OBB - don't know what it means) for our journey from Salzberg to Vienna on Friday. She printed out the 'fahrtkarten' (train ticket) on her printer for us, and we were good to go without having to make the treck to the station again. So with her help we were ticketed and reserved for Vienna, and for that we went and bought her a coffee and some pasteries this morning, and brought them back to her before heading out on our day. It was all I could do to resist buying a bunch for Jan and I, but I didn't. Really, I didn't.
Then off again to the Mirabel Gardens to enjoy again, then through the old section of town on the Mirabel side of the river, then across that marvelous bridge again, this time with the light from the opposite direction, into the altstadt, through the winding streets to a small cafe where we had breakfast. All that took an hour and, oh, maybe, 200 photos. Each.
Breakfasted, we moved on up the hill to the castle and took the funicular railway to the top where we began our tour. The Salzberg Fortress, home to a succession of Bishop Princes, is a commanding presence on the top of a hill near the river. It is too large and beautiful to describe in words without writing a book, as many already have. The very few images we allow ourselves each day on these web pages don't begin to do it justice, believe me, it is larger than life and this structure or its predecessors have stood here for thousands of years. Awesome, we are so happy this stop on our itinerary was put there at Shane and Sonja's insistance.
Down, at last, out of the castle on the funicular railway and exited into the main market square. There, we picked out Nicole, Heidi, and Star for our next excitement. Sounds like we're picking out dancers at a local bar? No, Nicole was the driver of the carriage and Heidi and Star were the Austrian Ponies that pulled it. Up on the carriage, chattering to Nicole, we toured the old town and down by the river, back up into the old town again, and back to the starting point, about a half hour of 'clip-clop' fun. More pictures, laughs, and a good tip for the horses, and we were back in the old town and off for a mid-afternoon lunch under an umbrella to shade us from a hot afternoon sun.
Then exiting the old town to that fantastic bridge again, more pictures in the changing light, then a walk back to the hotel, buying a mug on the way, for a nap. Time for a quick wine and beer at another sidewalk bistro along the way and buying some bread and fruit and meat and cheese for dinner.
Later, after a nap, we made up some bunwiches and went to the Mirabel gardens again to sit and have dinner in the early evening sun. Along the way, we were about half a block from a big church and the bells began to chime loud and long. Jan checked her watch, saying 'my watch must need setting, I thought it said the time was past seven', as she (and I) thought the bells were toling for the hour. I checked my watch as well, ten after seven, but before I could say anything I looked up at the church which had come into view. It has two clock towers, with bells and a clock in each. The bells were still clanging away, and both clocks showed ten after seven. What?? Jan and I looked at each other, shrugged, and didn't re-set our watches. I guess somebody was just excited in the church, some blessed event or other, and decided to 'ring dem bells'. Maybe Quasimodo was getting in his excercise in the basement.
We had a lovely alfresco dinner of bunwiches and fruit on the benches in the Mirabel Gardens, castle glowing pink in the evening light, long shadows in the garden, putting our jackets on just before we got up to return to the hotel. What a wonderful end to a wonderful day.
Tomorrow, Vienna.
