Salzburg 4

Salzburg Day 4

Today is our fourth day on this trip and it is time to go to Salzburg.  However, seeing as how Brian and I slept from 7 to midnight and then a few hours more…we were wide awake around 6 in the morning and starving! So, we decided to hit up one more Vienna café.  Café Drechsler was a café that was recommended in our book and it was open 23 hours a day.  We headed out to find it.  This was our worst planning in terms of transportation.  We got off the train WAY too early and started to walk.  When we noticed we had about a 25 minute walk ahead of us and we had to be back at the main train station with all of our bags in an hour and a half we started to worry.  We found another train station and took that further along the street.  Finally, we made it to the café.  Breakfast here was, what I think, the best yet! We both ordered rolls with butter and jam, coffee, hot chocolate, and fruit with yogurt.  Also, we just had to have the pancakes with plum sauce.  It was the perfect breakfast dessert! (And healthy because of that plum sauce J).  We ate and made it back to the train station/hostel with plenty of time.  Tip: if you are traveling to Austria, eat the cafes because they are fantastic, but expect it to take a long time, service everywhere is extremely slow.  If you want to get in and out quickly, pay when you order.  This is not considered strange and it allows you to leave when you are done eating.  Otherwise, you will be sitting around for a long time.  This is a great way to slow down and take in the whole experience, but not so great when you have to catch a train.

Kaiserschmarr'n

We checked out of our hostel and walked to the Westbahnhof train station across the way.  This is one of the main stations where you can get tickets to all sorts of places all over Austria and more.  We bought our tickets to Salzburg (buy from the machines, they are cheaper than buying from a person), and we boarded our train.  The ride was around three hours and absolutely beautiful.  The Austrian countryside is stunning even in winter!  We arrived in Salzburg and walked to our hostel which was conveniently about 7 minutes from the station.  This hostel is cheaper and nicer! Win! Brian and I both immediately fell in love with this city.  The sites are beautiful, especially the mountains.  We got settled in and then got directions to the giant Hohensalzburg castle that overlooks the city.  Then, we met up with Brian’s mom and walked over.

On the walk we were amazed by how quaint everything was.  There are many cobblestone streets where no cars can drive and they are lined with cute shops.  Unfortunately, today turned out to be a public holiday and so everything was closed except for the main tourist attractions and select restaurants.  So, if you plan on visiting Salzburg, this would be something you would want to find out about.  We got to the castle and took a lift up to the top.  It was the greatest view I have ever seen and I could not believe my eyes. 

We walked around for a while and then got a late lunch/early dinner at the Castle Café.  The food was great and the view was even better. 

After all of this we headed back down.  Mozart’s birthplace/museum was nearby and so we went to check it out.   Unfortunately it was closed and so we decided to walk back to Brian’s mom’s hotel and buy tickets for a concert for that night.  The concert celebrated the music of Beethoven and Mozart and was set in the stunning Mirabell Palace.  Everything was beautiful.  After the concert, Brian and I walked around and found the Sacher Café.  The Sacher Café is home of the original sachertorte and so, of course, we had a little after concert snack.  Brian had a meal, but I only got a cup of tea to enjoy with my sachertorte.  Again, the food was amazing and the atmosphere completely adorable as well.  I must say, this is something America can work on: atmosphere.  We definitely need more quaint coffee shops that serve fantastic pastries. 

This evening was lovely, but we are now so tired from not really sleeping since midnight and it is time for bed!