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.
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| 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!
