Day 9: Salzburg

Alarm on, early breakfast and in the bus by 8:30. There were only 13 of us signed up for the trip to Salzburg and we were on a big bus so I got to spread out. We had a good tour guide who gave us a lot of information about the areas we we were driving through. He pointed out the headquarters of the firm that makes Red Bull. The owner liked the location in the lake country.

We drove through the lake country. It is beautiful. Sheer rock face mountains (the Alps) with blue blue lakes. Lots of chalets dotted around, most with flower baskets hanging off the porch railings. We went to the town of Mondsee on Lake Mondsee and walked to the center. It is small and picture perfect.

Dominating the square was the church used as the location of the wedding of Maria and Captain Von Trapp. It is very baroque, the inside of the church in Salzburg is gothic and dark so they didn’t think it would film well.

Mass was going on as I went in. Pink and white ceiling and gold trim everywhere. There was a woman singing in front of the altar and four people sitting behind her, the priest and three others. I couldn’t get to the front to see exactly what was up, but one of the three was definitely a woman. Pretty progressive! What really caught my eye was the number of women wearing the traditional dirndl. Perhaps it’s Sunday best. There were a few men in lederhosen. And there were women just walking around on the street also in dirndls. On some, they weren’t flattering.

I passed a store window with lederhosen on display, price: €799.!!

We had a pretty drive to Salzburg, passing some towns that the guide said are now basically bed and breakfasts or restaurants for visitors.

We had to leave the bus outside of the center of town. On the walk in, we saw the second Hotel Sacher (the first is in Vienna) home of the famous Sachertorte. We walked over a bridge that had lots of padlocks on the railings. It’s a thing in Europe.
Lovers lock the padlock and throw the key in the river so their love will never be unlocked.

Ha!

The city is beautiful if a bit Disneyfied. The building are painted in soft ice cream pastels and are all in beautiful shape, at least on the outside. The University of Salzburg owns a lot of buildings, old and new.

Our guide took us on quite a walk. We would be in a square, walk through an arcade or small street and be in another square. And on and on. Lots of squares, all gorgeous. Most with churches.

We walked to a Benedictine Monastery. In the huge courtyard we were told that part of the Benedictine Rule is to offer hospitality to anyone in need. And, they have a restaurant!

We all sat at one table, and I was at the end with my new friends from New Zealand. They were terrific, open and funny. We had a set meal, beef broth with a few skinny noodles, Weiner schnitzel with potatoes, and soft meringues on a red currant sauce.
The schnitzel was pork, not the usual veal. Frankly, I was afraid to tell anyone I didn’t want to eat pork. The Austrians have had anti-semitism in their history forever. They have not taken any responsibility for the holocaust and refused to return any Jewish property seized before and during the war. There was even a concentration camp right in the city.

We had an hour and a half before meeting in the the old market for the walk back to the bus. Salzburg was loaded with tourists, especially tourists in large groups. The guide said that since most shops are not open on Sunday, it wasn’t busy at all. I absolutely can’t imagine what it would be like on a weekday. I did find a bakery selling pretzels so I got one for Stuart. Also the guide told me about the REAL Mozart marzipan chocolates that are handmade. They are wrapped in silver. The “industrial” ones are wrapped in blue or red. I got 3 for us to share tomorrow.

We drove to Passau where we were to meet the boat. It was a 2 hour drive, mostly on a two lane road through not very inspiring countryside. Lots of industrial areas and lots of farms.

When we got to the port, Laura and Stu were right on the dock. They had taken a little walk around Passau. They loved being on the boat that afternoon and said the scenery was beautiful. In the morning they did the walking tour of Linz which they said was completely not worth it except for the stop at the cafe which serves the original Linzer torte which they said was fantastic.

We had the Captain’s Gala cocktail party and were again introduced to staff, then a really good dinner. Salad with raspberry dressing, sliced beef with roasted potatoes and fresh vegetables. Laura and Stu had salmon with barbecue sauce that they said was fantastic. They also had a spring roll stuffed with polenta. Odd but good.

The lights were turned off and then with great fanfare the whole dining staff marched out with flaming baked Alaska. Cue applause. It was great! They also set down a plate of tiny petit fours which, though good, weren’t worth the calories.

There was dancing scheduled in the lounge after dinner. We went up to look. The musical duo was sitting at the bar and no one was there. Hopefully a few people showed up. We decided to go to sleep.

Love,
Lynn