EuroMegavacation Episode 9 - Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

After our stay in Füssen, we crossed the border into Austria to spend a couple of days in Salzburg.  This included a transfer at the main Munich train station, which was by far the biggest train station we'd navigated.  We had to speedwalk from track 9 to track 30 to catch our final train!  At the border, the Austrian federal police (Bundespolizei) boarded the train and checked our passports.  They pointed out that Matt had never signed his passport.  I can't believe no one else noticed before then!  I mean, we went through customs in Belgium and he used it as ID with the TSA at several American airports along the way.  So, they watched him sign it and off they went.  

A shady, wooded stairwell connecting the city to the clifftop views above.

Matt and I had another swell picnic lunch on the train, including some especially delicious Weinschorle (sparkling wine spritzer).  We were so smitten with train travel.  It is so convenient, comfortable, and easy!  We were really grateful our transportation was so un-stressful.

Taking a stroll down the Steingasse.  We passed under this old fortified gate on our way up this adorable little cobbled lane.

We arrived in Salzburg and set off to find our accommodations at the Gastehaus im Priesterseminar (Seminary Guesthouse) in the Neustadt (New City) part of the city.  This was one of the most unique lodging experiences that Matt found for us.  The Trinity Church and the seminary were built in 1693.  In 2012, one wing of the seminary was renovated into 50 guest rooms--singles and apartments.  The rest of the church and seminary are still in active use.  Priests are training and living on site.  I inadvertently walked in on a Bible Study meeting when I was checking out the Community Room.  We heard organ music from the church each day.  Unfortunately, since it was so unseasonably hot, we took the loooooooooooong way there.  We turned like 30 feet too soon and ended up having to walk allllllllllllll the way around the building.  And, on account of it being a church and seminary, it is a big building!

Matt checking out a lemon tree in the courtyard at the Gastehaus im Priesterseminar. 

Sticky and sweaty, but glad to have found the main entrance, we checked in at the office.  During check-in, the receptionist struggled at first to come up with the English she wanted.  There was "a little problem..." with our reservation.   In the end, she found the word she was looking for and told us that we were getting an "upgrade" since there was a problem with our original reservation.  All of a sudden, we had an apartment instead of just a single room!  Ha!  No problem at all!  In addition to a bedroom and bathroom, we had a second room with a kitchen (with a minifridge!), dining table, and a sitting room and office area.  

Matt lounging in the living room part of our apartment accommodations at the seminary.

The rooms were lovely and elegant in their simplicity.  The color scheme was calm, earthy, and neutral.  The furniture was sturdy and wooden.  There wasn't a bunch of art or superfluous decorative objects--just one simple cross on the wall over the bed.  It still had a very monastic aesthetic, but with modern amenities like wifi.  Both rooms have amazing, tall windows.  The light in there was fantastic.  We could look out over the cobblestone side street below.

The hallway outside our rooms at the Gastehaus im Priesterseminar.  Matt is looking down into the courtyard.

After settling into our space, we set off with our guidebook to explore the Neustadt district.  Mirabellgarten (Mirabell Garden) and Schloss Mirabell (Mirabell Castle) were right up the street, so we started there.  Mirabell Garden was laid out in 1730 and was Matt's first exposure to an elaborate garden of sculpture, fountains, and geometric plant designs on this large scale.  We meandered through the rose garden, though only a few early blossoms were open.  Perhaps the most well-known sculpture in the garden is a Pegasus reared up on its hind legs in the middle of a fountain.  The copper Pegasus figure was forged in 1661 by Caspar Gras, but it wasn't placed in Mirabell Garden until 1913.  

The Pegasus sculpture in Mirabell Garden.  And just look at that brilliant sunshine!! 

We also wandered through the Zwerglgarten (Dwarf Garden), an unusual collection of dwarf sculptures within Mirabell Gardens.  It was created in 1715 for Prince Archbishop Franz Anton Harrach.  There was a sign that said it was "Europe's oldest dwarf statue park," which cracked me and Matt up.  I mean, what a distinction.  It left us wondering how many dwarf statue parks there could be!

A beautiful, sunny day with the dwarves in Mirabellgarten.

We popped into Mirabell Palace and climbed the stairway of angels, hoping to see the Marble Hall.  It was closed up (probably for an event), so we just enjoyed the fabulous marble stairwell lined with angels.  This building now houses the office of the mayor and the Salzburg municipal administration.

A sculpture-laden stairwell inside Mirabell Palace.

Back in Mirabell Gardens, we strolled under the shady trees, admiring all the green around us.  There were lots of pansies making curved and scrolling designs through the grass.  Pansies have always been one of my favorites.  The arching sprays from the fountains sparkled in the sunshine.  We found a cafe with shady Linden trees near the Theater Imbiss, at the edge of the gardens.  We selected some comfy chairs with a view back towards the fountains and sculptures.  Matt sampled a crisp Austrian beer.  I was absolutely delighted to order my first Rhabarberschorle (rhubarb spritzer), something I'd read about, but never seen.  To my intense (American) delight--it was served with three ice cubes!  It was so refreshing on a warm, sunny day in the park.  To make the experience even more delightful, a Great Tit was nesting in a tree cavity near our chairs.  We watched this striking little bird make countless trips to and fro.  It was quite the nature show.

My very tasty Rhabarberschorle in the shade at Mirabellgarten.

Departing Mirabell Gardens, we continued on the New Town Walk suggested in our guidebook.  Our wander next took us through some delightfully narrow cobblestone streets near the river, in particular the Steingasse.  This tiny street has a history going back to medieval Salzburg.  It also still shows visible damage from WWII.  There were so many cool old doorbell pulls, like I'd just seen in Rothenburg odt.  One old wooden door is carved with symbols that are purported to be a sort of code for beggars after the Reformation, sort of like hobo signs.  

I loved the close feeling of the  Steingasse.  The street was so narrow and crooked.  The cobblestones were such an interesting textural element sandwiched between the rising white walls.   A perfect wandering street.  According to our guidebook, that gouge near the corner of this building is from an American GI who tried to drive a tank down the tiny lane to a brothel near the end of WWII.

We paused outside Mozart's residence, though we didn't go in for the tour.  We had a tranquil walk in the St. Sebastian cemetery, where I saw the oldest headstones I'd ever seen.  One family crypt had dates ranging from 1630 to 2017!  There were also some of the most elaborate headstones I've ever seen.  Several members of the Mozart family are buried (with decidedly modest headstones) in this cemetery.

St. Sebastian's cemetery

The mausoleum of Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich is the showy centerpiece of the cemetery.  We couldn't go inside the mausoleum, but the tilework, marble, and gold were still absolutely dazzling even when viewed through the gate at the entrance.  Talk about a grand final resting place!  We paused in our walk to listen to the churchbells across the city ring at the top of the hour.  

How about that tile, eh?!?  The mausoleum of Archbishop Wolf Dietrich.  His salt mines helped make the town prosperous.

We found a swell Indian spot for lunch--Spicy Spices Vegetarian.  This itty-bitty restaurant serves gigantic portions of organic, vegan food.  It was so much food!  Once again, it was difficult to narrow down our selections.  The way our plates were heaped made us think of Indian Feasts of our own making.  They also had a small fair-trade, organic, vegan market tucked into one corner.  I bought a white chocolate bar for later.  We left when the restaurant started filling up with dogs.  For real.  There were seven customers, including us, and four dogs under the tables.  This restaurant was the only place in Germany where I was served a beer I would describe as "warm."  My dad and a few others asked about this when we returned.  Most of the drinks--soda, water, beer--in Europe weren't as ice cold as I prefer and am accustomed to, but they were all chilled.    This beer at Sicey Spices was the only one that was warm. 

Dinner at Spicy Spices was amazing.

With very, very full bellies, we decide to walk it off with a climb up the "small mountain" called Kapuzinerberg for the expansive view of Salzburg.  We took the stairs up from Linzergasse, which took us past a fairly extraordinary depiction of the stations of the cross.   These six Baroque-style chapels were made by local artists in the mid-1700s and incorporate a lot of wild stonework with ultratextural volcanic rock.  It culminated in a large sculptural rendition of the crucifixion at the top.

An altar to the Virgin Mary at the Capuchin Monastery.  It also featured volcanic stone.

As Matt and I climbed the stairs, we encountered an elderly woman sitting for a breather partway up.  She asked us, in German at first, until I used my bumbling German to say we spoke English, about what was at the top exactly and whether it would be worth the climb since she was having a rough go of it already.  She asked us about our trip, "and when do you go to Vienna?"  and, as an Austrian, tsked-tsked us for only spending two days in the country, only seeing one city.  

Matt crossing the Mozartsteg (Mozart Bridge).

We all agreed it was just such a big, beautiful, interesting world though.  This gave us a reason to come back.  There was still so much to see.  We left her still sitting there.  I wonder if she decided to keep climbing.

The chapel in the Capuchin Monastery.

We visited the church at the Kapuzinerkloster (Capuchin Monastery), which was elegant and beautiful.  It was a very tranquil, bright space with earthy colors.  Afterwards, we followed the path to an incredible overlook of Salzburg and the Salzach river.  A remnant of a fortified wall was standing strong near the benches where we sat and gazed.  The view was tremendous in every direction--churches, river, city, fortress.  Hohensalzburg (Salzburg Fortress) stood on the opposing mountainside across the Salzach.  When we'd had enough of the glorious view, we made our way down the steep staircase back to Steingasse below.

The view from Kapuzinerberg above Salzburg.  A vine-covered lookout post in the city wall is at the right.

Salzburg has a lot of churches--and I mean a lot.  There are 38 Catholic churches alone!  So, it wasn't too surprising that on our way down the stairs, we stumbled upon another gem.  The door was open and so we popped inside St. John's on Imberg Church (Kirche St. Johannes am Imberg) and, oh boy, what a beauty.  Parts of this church are so old--first mentioned in 1319--that it is still named using the old name for Kapuzinerberg, which was Imberg.  It has been expanded several times, including adding some elaborate and enchanting baroque elements in the 17th century.  Details like the optical illusion ceiling that made it look like the church has an enormous dome, which Matt and I both absolutely loved.  It was such an impressive painting technique!  I subsequently learned that this false perspective, artistically rendered optical trickery is called trompe-l'œil.  We thought it was just the best.  I also couldn't get enough of the crystal chandeliers that tossed rainbows around the room in the sunshine.  It was a very beautiful church.

St. John's on Imberg Church.  Note the domed ceiling that is actually an optical illusion.  All of the three-dimensional trim and sculpture features on the ceiling are!  It is absolutely incredible artistry.

With darkness falling, we went back to the room to relax and call it a night.  We picked up a few beers for the minifridge along the way.  I also bought a Pepsi Zero Sugar.  This would be the one and only time we saw Pepsi products (my preference) while in Europe.  Pepsi Zero was no Diet Pepsi, but it was still delicious.  We showered and had a snack.  I caught up on journaling and Matt read his book.  We had Mozart playing and the windows open to catch the breeze.

Enjoying our breakfast at the Gästehaus im Priesterseminar.

We slept in and had a relatively slow morning, puttering around the room.  The breakfast area was pretty busy by the time we got there as a result.  The Seminary Guesthouse makes all its own jams in-house.  That was cool.  It was a good spread--including almond milk for my coffee--and we fueled ourselves well for another big day of exploring Salzburg.  The day's focus was on the Altstadt (Old City) part of town, using Rick Steves' Salzburg Town Walk as our framework.  Just like we did in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Matt and I would extend this into a full day of activity.  We'd get distracted from the suggested route (by an open church door or the need for lunch), but we always returned to it. 

This fountain in the Residenzplatz was modeled after the Triton Fountain in Rome, Italy.  The whole Residenzplatz was remodeled in an Italian Baroque style because Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich loved all things Italian.  He wanted to transform Salzburg into the "Rome of the North."  The sunlight danced on the sprays of water.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Matt and I crossed the Salzach at the Mozartsteg (Mozart Bridge).  Our first stop was Mozartplatz (Mozart Place) followed by the Residenzplatz (Palace Place).  The impressive and towering Salzburg Cathedral (Salzburger Dom) makes up one side of this large square.  The old palace (Residenz) and the new palace (Neue Residenz) frame two other sides of the square.  Neither is used as a palace anymore, it should be noted.  Matt and I thought Salzburg was an especially attractive city full of bright, beautiful white and grey stone buildings.  

A horse-drawn carriage passes through the Residenzplatz.

Near the junction of the Mozartplatz and Residenzplatz, we visited St. Michaelskirche (St. Michael's Church).  This church, painted a sweet yellow and white, was relatively inconspicuous compared to many of the churches we'd seen.  The interior was more gorgeous than the exterior would suggest.  We continued on our way to Kapitelplatz (Chapter Place) where we saw a fountain that stands out in my mind because I'd never heard of such a thing.  Maybe fountain isn't even the right word since it was more like a pond.  Neptune, god of the sea, stands over what is, basically a buggy car wash.  It was designed so that a horse and carriage could be driven into it for washing.  Who knew?!

A statue of Neptune watches over the buggy wash.  Salzburg Fortress watches over everything!

We encountered a water wheel that is part of a canal and water system that's been in use in Salzburg since the 12th century.  We popped into the bakery next door, where the wheel powers the grinding mill to this day.  Still full from our breakfast, we did not indulge in any of the baked goods.  It sure smelled great in there.  

Matt's dad has a fondness for water wheels and mills, so we thought of him when we came across this one.

Leaving the incredible smells of baked bread behind, we passed through a wrought-iron gate and entered Petersfriedhof (St. Peter's Cemetery), part of St. Peter's Abby, the "birthplace of Christianity in Salzburg."  It was founded in 696, and there are Benedictine monks there to this day.  

The interior of St. Margaret's Chapel at the cemetery at St. Peter's Abbey.

Salzburg was another "repeat" for me on this trip to Europe.  This was the first time I got a true sense of deja vu, however.  I knew I'd been there--St. Peter's Cemetery--as an 18-year-old.  It was the metal headstones spaced around the stone chapel, Margarethen Kapell (St Margaret's Chapel), at the heart of the cemetery, that triggered it.  Petersfriedhof is one of those almost incomprehensibly old places.  The oldest known grave at this point dates back to 1288, though the cemetery is even older.

St. Margaret's Chapel is in the background here.  As it turns out, I took a photo of a couple of my classmates at nearly this exact spot during my visit in 2002.

The Abbey Church at St. Peter's was truly phenomenal.  Ohhhhhhhh, that Rococo style just makes my heart sing!!  The white ceiling is a riot of pastel green swirls and curlicues, framing bold, colorful portraits.  The main aisle is lined with red marble altars.  The gold embellishment woven throughout sparkled in the sunlight streaming in through the clear glass windows.  While the church dates back as far as 1130, the fabulous Rococo facelift didn't happen until the 1760s.  There were a few faded frescos from the 13th century that had been preserved on a pillar here or an archway there.  The Abbey Church has an amazing onion dome steeple.  It was really cool to stand under it, looking up into the beautifully painted, light-filled dome.  It was such a gorgeous space.

Matt surrounded by the grandeur of the Abbey Church at St. Peter's Abbey.

We meandered our way past the Kolleg St. Benedikt (St. Benedict's College) to the Clemens Holzmeister Staircase.  At the top of the passage is a fantastic place to take in the view of Salzburg.  There were so many steeples!  Again, Matt and I marveled at what a pretty city it is!

The Salzburg skyline abounds with steeples and domes.  St. Peter's Abby is directly behind me.  The Salzburg Cathedral's double towers are at the center.  The Franciscan Church is at the left.

A little after 11am, we circled back to the Domplatz (Cathedral Place).  We made our way up the cathedral steps and bought an admission ticket.  At the suggestion of our guidebook, we got the add-on to attend the noon organ concert, too.  We spent the next half hour with our heads craned back as we soaked up all the beautiful baroque architecture overhead.  Matt was especially taken with the contrasting, dark antiquing on all the moldings and sculpture.  He talked about it repeatedly.  Once again, it was magnificent to stand under such a glorious light-filled dome.   We saw the large font in which Mozart was baptized. 

Looking up into the dome at the Salzburg Cathedral.

At noon, we found an open pew near the center of the church.  The organ concert commenced after the noon church bells finished ringing.  A priest was the master of ceremonies and gave brief introductions (in German and English) to the cathedral, the various organs there, and the pieces to be performed for us.  A different priest was the organist.  He played four pieces on four of the seven organs that reside in the cathedral.  Mozart served as a court organist for the Archbishop of Salzburg from 1779 to 1781.  He played the organ at Salzburg Cathedral every Sunday.  

Matt walking through the Salzburg Cathedral.

That concert--though only 30 minutes long--was incredible.  It is an experience I treasure.  I had no idea the myriad sounds an organist could produce.  At one point, it sounded just like birds chirping!  No fooling!  The glorious acoustics of the cathedral were mindblowing, especially on the deeper, richer tones that seemed to resonate, setting the entire room vibrating.  Matt and I both had shivers running down our spines.  When the organist struck the first note on the largest, main organ at the rear of the church, we both got goosebumps.  Just writing about it, I got goosebumps again!  It was a remarkable physical experience of music.  We loved every minute of it.  It was a powerful way to connect history and music viscerally.

The organist plays under the dome during the noon organ concert in the Salzburg Cathedral.

At the conclusion of the organ concert, a duo with an acoustic guitar moved under the dome to sing and play a little worship music.  Their message was about how "we are all the children of God," and offered repeated prayers for peace--naming Gaza and Ukraine specifically.  I was pretty moved.  As I mentioned in the Rothenburg essay, I was repeatedly confronted by the devastation of war during our time in Europe.   

A look up at the ceiling inside the Salzburg Cathedral.  The level of decoration and detail in the paintings and sculptures was just phenomenal.

Since we had a kitchen in our apartment at the seminary, we decided to shop and cook lunch instead of finding a restaurant.  We located a Spar and picked up some lunch fixings.  Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed checking out all the grocery stores in Belgium, Germany, and Austria.  We had a relaxing, mellow lunch back in the room.  That apartment upgrade sure was a "happy accident!"  

A very mellow and satisfying lunch in our room--tomato and sweet potato soup with sausages in a pretzel roll.

After lunch, we just went for a wander.  We knew we eventually wanted to get to the top of the cliffs at Mönchsberg (Monk's Mountain).  We just followed our heart for the route there.  Starting with--ice cream.  We'd just crossed the river from the Neustadt to Altstadt and there was a little ice cream kiosk there.  I took a gander at the ice cream case, just on the off chance they had something non-dairy.  And they did!  Several flavors, in fact.  Matt went for mango.  I got strawberry.  We walked along the river enjoying our cones.  

Taking the stairs back down to the river after our climb up to the Capuchin Monastery on Kapuzinerberg during our evening walk.

Since the churches are so prolific, we, of course, visited a couple more of them on this wander.  By this point in our megavacation, there had been so many that it's hard to keep them straight in my head.  We visited seven churches on this one day alone.  St. Mark's Church is 400 years old. It is currently home to a Ukrainian-Greek Catholic religious community.  It had more of those intensely three-dimensional mouldings and trim, like at the Salzburg Cathedral.  But without the black antiquing effect that Matt had liked so much.  There were a lot of icons in this church, lined up along the altar.

The interior of St. Mark's Church.

This was the day I saw the most Stumbling Stones (Stolperstein).  I'd first noticed these brass cobblestones in Rothenburg, but there were a lot more of them in Salzburg.  Stumbling Stones are a memorial to individuals who were deported and, most often, later murdered by the Nazis.  The brass cobblestone is inlaid into the sidewalk in front of the last place that victims of the Nazis "chose freely to reside, work, or study" before they were rounded up and subjected to Nazi terror.  Often, they were single, but there were also whole families represented by a dozen Stumbling Stones in front of one doorway.  Each block provides the basics about the victim.  Here lived so-and-so, their birthdate, the date they were deported or fled the country, where they were deported/escaped to, and the date they were murdered/died/or were liberated.  The name, Stumbling Stones, is a play on words because a person just stumbles upon them on the way to the grocery store, as I did.  But, also, they are supposed to represent humanity’s stumbling blocks.  I think they were rather powerful because I came upon each of them unaware.  I'd just be walking along some charming street... and then... wham... someone was ripped from their life, their home... right HERE.  It was intense.

A heartbreaking group of Stumbling Stones near where we were staying.

We followed a path on a gradual climb through the lovely woods on Mönchsberg. The views of Salzburg kept stopping us in our tracks.  It is such a beautiful town with an interesting (steeple-filled) skyline.  It was another sunny day.  It felt really good to be walking about in the sunshine and trees, surrounded by beauty.  We watched some people climbing on the cliffs.  We saw a few birds.

What a glorious landscape!  The Salzach River cuts through Salzburg, with the fortress and mountains in the background.  This was during our wander up Mönchsberg.

Near the top of Mönchsberg, we encountered a remnant of the city wall.  Built into this wall is a little cliffside restaurant called Stadtalm.  We got a table with a view--overlooking Salzburg with the Salzburg Fortress opposite--and had a couple of drinks.  

I drew a sketch of the Salzburg Fortress while enjoying refreshment and the view from Stadtalm on Mönchsberg. 

I tried my second Colaweizen--this time they poured the beer first and the soda second.  That's the reverse of what they did at the Taj Mahal in Rothenburg.  It made a difference, too.  Both were good, but I liked it better when the beer was poured second.  It filled the beer foam with cola flavor.  That Stadtalm was a great spot.  We got to hear an extended church bell ringing while we were there.  It echoed off the cliffs below.  We continued on down the path and eventually took some stairs back into the city to find some dinner.

Colaweizen is an idea that I've brought home with me.  We've had several since we've been back.

Lunch "at home" had been so fantastic, we decided to do it again for dinner.  We went back to Spar and got some white asparagus, vegan sausages, and beer.  It was epic.  White asparagus is, indeed, better than green asparagus.  It has the same texture, but a milder, less grassy flavor.  We did a little post-dinner research to see if we could grow white asparagus in our garden.  We tried to put in an asparagus patch when we first moved in, but it didn't take.  This white asparagus thing might have convinced Matt to try again.  

Matt was SO stoked to cook us dinner!

We had a mellow evening in the apartment, but we were pretty tuckered from our day galavanting around town.  It was just the relaxing vibes we needed.  I caught up on my journaling.  Matt texted his mom since it was her birthday.  We started leisurely repacking our backpacks.  Matt did some planning regarding the next day's travel back to Munich.  The windows were open and Mozart was playing.  Matt and I talked about how surprisingly affordable most things had been on the trip.  From the bed and breakfast in Bacharach that was only €85 a night to the cliffside beers at Stadtalm that were €5.50 or the vegan cheeze for less than €3 at REWE...Montana seemed suddenly a little more expensive.   We also talked at length about how great the Priestseminar had been.  The monastic beauty and quiet tranquility of that space in the middle of the city were simply fabulous.  The apartment upgrade was super nice.  It was also a really easy place to see from wherever we wandered.  The double green church domes made a swell landmark.

Since we were staying in a church, it was SO EASY to use it as a landmark from all around Salzburg. I circled the double bell towers in this photo. This is another view from the Stadtalm Restaurant.

The next morning we slept in until 8:00am!  That was the latest yet.  We walked to the grocery store to pick up fresh bread for our lunch on the train.  We enjoyed another lovely breakfast at the Priesteminar.  And then it was off to Munich for the grand finale of our Euromegavacation!

Looking towards the fortress from Kapuzinerberg, near the Capuchin Monastery.