Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 2015
Tour Day 10: Salzburg
Morning stroll in the gardens
At home, we are night owls that you have to drag out of bed in the morning, but when on vacation I'm so excited to see the famous sites and take photos before they get too busy that we are often up at sunrise. You might as well take advantage of your body being confused about the time change anyway, right? So off we went at first light to view Mirabell Gardens - and boy was it worth it! This is definitely one of our favorite gardens in the world now. Nothing tops the beautiful manicured flower beds, old crumbly walls, intricate wrought iron gates and classic statues all overlooked by the Salzburg Fortress and surrounded by mountains. Wow! We even got to watch a Sound of Music style video shoot complete with a gaggle of kids in costumes. Totally worth losing a few minutes of sleep! This was a totally different scene just a bit later when we returned with our walking tour. If you want to see Europe's busiest places in a more serene manner, plan to be there early! After walking through the gardens, we returned for breakfast and to meet up with our group for our morning walking tour.
Walking tour
Our extensive walking tour took us through Mirabell Gardens, past Mozart's birth home, through Old Town, past several notable churches and to the cemetery where Mozart's sister was buried. It was a great overview of the city and gave us a good jumping off point for exploring on our own later. We walked past a little street market in one area and had to stop for a bit of a pastry break! One of my favorite parts of the two Rick Steves' tours we have been on is the curious and intelligent tour members that are attracted to his method of travel - I always learned a lot from the educated questions our tour members asked the guide. Everyone brought their own backgrounds and would ask questions about architecture, archaeology, transportation, etc. that we may not have otherwise learned about. Hans always tried to point out things that would be of interest to individuals based on what he knew about them.
Mountains on our mind
After our walking tour we went up to the Salzburg Fortress with another couple from our group for some great mountain views. Salzburg is just stunning from there! You can take a funicular to the top, which makes it quick and easy. The views were the best part of the Fortress! It was too early for lunch, so we sat and had some drinks and just tried to soak in the amazing views while listening to nearby church bells. It was perfect!
Free afternoon and evening
We had an afternoon to explore, so we decided to start off with some delicious pizza. Not exactly Austrian, but it hit the spot! After lunch we walked through a street market along the river while looking for a place to rent a bike. It wasn't easy, but we finally found a place and took off into the countryside for some mountain views. We got stuck in the rain on the way back, but luckily we were able to outrun most of it, only getting slightly damp! On our way back to our hotel we visited St. Peter's and the Salzburg cathedral - each beautiful in their own way.
We quickly changed into dry clothes and met part of our group for our pre-arranged Mozart dinner performance at the oldest official restaurant in Europe. Hans arranged this for people who were interested, and boy were we glad we went! Not only did we enjoy a nice dinner with some of our tour mates while listening to lovely opera singers perform some of Mozart's songs, but we also got to do it in the oldest restaurant in Europe! The St. Peter Stiftskeller is in a great old building with beautifully painted ceilings and walls. What a busy, fun-filled day!