Salzburg’s Funicular to the Castle. I overcame the fear.
We (Han, Niki, Mia and myself) took off for Salzburg today about 300km to the west and encountered some beautiful countryside with charming homes and farms along the way.
Stopped at a roadside eatery for lunch called Landzeit Market. If you ever see one, keep on going. It is a tourist trap with subpar food at best.
We arrived a little before check-in at “Star Inn Hotel”, which turned out no problem. The staff was so nice, informed and accommodating. The hotel had just become part of the Comfort Inn Worldwide chain and the girls spoke excellent English. We placed our belongings in our rooms and headed out the door, as a new adventure awaits us.
The hotel sits just on the other side of the tunnel through the huge rockformation, that leads directly into the city’s center and main historic sightseeing district.
Walking through the tunnel was cooler in temperature and was very appreciated because it sure was hot today.
I could have done without the smell of urine in some areas, but that is life in darker places.
I was quite enchanted upon coming out of the tunnel. Once again I almost felt like the first days in Prague.
Everywhere you looked there was something more to see, study and feel wonderment. The old buildings bring such comfort to me.
I was in for quite the surprise when we rounded a corner, and behold the eye-popping magnificent Fortress Hohensalzburg, high above everything else and the only way to scale it was by the “castle lift” which is a small train going steeply up the side of the mountain, enclosed by mostly windows so not only could I feel my fear, I could see it too. The way up made me feel a bit edgy but we made it safely and being inside the fortress was well worth it.
The huge court yard has a center tree with benches surrounding it. I was visualizing in my mind what a day would be like living there and I am sure I was romantizing it into something unrealistic, but it was just so quaint and charming. Even Han got caught up in the magical atmosphere, and mentioned how great it would be to have a Petanque court there.
We had a sweet treat and coffee at the restaurant inside, luckily nabbed a table next to the fort wall and took tons of pictures. Looking below was like a tiny doll village with moving parts.
We would have liked to stay a bit longer but the wind was picking up and we had already been alerted it may rain soon. We wanted to get on the train before the mad rush, so we began our descent via the train and it was much more enjoyable the second time. I love continually pushing myself to try new things.
After the castle, we walked the famous street of Getreidegasse and ended up in front of Mozart’s birthplace. Very inspiring and is quite lovely. The downstairs is now a small food market, but even in Mozart’s years of living there, there was a small purveyor downstairs, so not much has changed. We did not go into the museum since thunder was now sounding in the distance.
We continued slowly walking down the famous Getreidegasse, which is considered to be one of the loveliest shopping streets in all the world. Due to limited time, I only went into one store which was Swarovski and was founded in 1895 in Austria. What better place to purchase Swarovski than Austria? It is also about 15.00 (per item) less expensive than in America.
We made excellent time because soon after making our way inside the tunnel, back to the hotel, it began raining.
We all were tired and took a little siesta and met up in the lobby for dinner. Finally settled on a mexican restaurant called Lemonchilli, which I thought to be somewhat of an odd choice, but we were in for a pleasant, delicious surprise.
We all chose the ribs and I have never tasted more tender or flavorful ribs in my life. There was a huge stack on each of our plates and I could not finish mine but I gave it my all. The rest were enjoyed by Niki. Now I am dreaming of some of those ribs.
The restaurant is also located in a lovely area of town.
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