Lucky for us there was no rain today so it was time to play catch up!
Last nights pizza served as today's breakfast on the go. Nothing like
cold pizza for breakfast! :)
The day began with a bus ride to Uternsburg, a 30 minute ride from
Salzburg, where we took a cable car up to the very top of the
mountain! I was hesitant at first as I am not a huge fan of heights,
however I didn't have the chance to turn around, the man operating the
car shoved us in. I hung on for dear life on the way up, we were right
on the window! It was an absolutely gorgeous sight though, we could
see all of Austria (ok, maybe not all of Austria, but probably all of
Salzburg and more)! Once we got to the top we were able to get out and
hike around for as long as we wanted. There were trails leading all
the way down the mountain side and even little houses up there. It was
very cold up on the mountain so i didnt want to go too far but
Salzburg is indeed the most beautiful place I have ever seen and the
cable car ride was definitely worth it!
On the way back into town we stopped at Hellbrunn, a palace that was
built for entertaining guests with trick fountains throughout the
courtyards and gardens. The fountains were meant to surprise the
guests- which they definitely did! As we were walking through, water
all of a sudden came from hidden fountains in the statues or ground
and got us wet! It was an interesting place to see but definitely a
tourist trap.
Next, we were off to a medievel style fortress that overlooked the
city. I don't have the name handy at the moment but in order to get to
this fort you had to take the funicular up the hill. Once on top, the
view again was unbelievable! The actual fort was huge! It looked much
smaller from the bottom of the hill. This too was interesting to see-
there were even little caves that you could walk in that held various
exhibits.
After visiting the fortress, we walked around the old town some more
then headed across the bridge to Mirabell Gardens. This was a large
area with abundant, vibrant gardens and flowers and was pretty to see.
At this point I was exhausted!! Time for a nap before dinner.
After some needed rest we took a boat ride up the Salchz River.
(Fortunately there is a card that you can purhase that allows you to
do all of these activities and saves a lot of dinero!) The boat ride
was enjoyable but the water looked like chocolate milk! Haha. Once
again we got some gorgeous views!
For dinner we ate a little restaurant called Mozart's Cafe and tried a
traditional Austrian dish..noodles and ham. The best and most
memorable part of the meal was the dessert!! It was called nockeral
and was baked egg whites with rasberry filling (there is a picture
below). It was like heaven in my mouth... Very very tasty!
I forget that in Europe it is permissable to smoke in restaurants,
something that I am definitely not used to! One lady smoked 4
cigarettes through the course of a meal! Also, i have noticed that
people bring their dogs everywhere with them, even in restaurants! In
addition, when you pay it is customary to put the money on the
counter, not directly into their hands. The same when receiving
change, they won't hand you the money, it goes on the counter.
There are several differences in US and European culture and each day
I am learning more and more. I have had a great experience so far and
am looking forward to what is yet ahead!
Next stop-- VENICE, ITALY!
