Central Europe Day 9: Salzburg

It was 9:00 a.m. when our next shuttle driver arrived in from of our Cesky Krumlov hotel. His name was Andrew. He was a young man working on a Master's Degree at the university in business and economics. He drove for the shuttle service in the summer to make a little money. Andrew was Czech, but he spoke English very well. He invited us to talk to him as much as we wanted so he could practice the language. He also spoke German. He told us that he had studied as an exchange student in Salzburg when he was in high school. When he dropped us off in Salzburg I asked if he would like to stay with us and show us around. He looked me straight in the eye longingly, as if loving the idea, and said he would love to. Then snapped back to reality and declined as he headed back to his employment.

Before we took off from our Czech hotel, I asked Andrew if we were going to travel the scenic route through winding country roads, or if we would be using the expressway to arrive to our destination. He informed me it would be the expressway. Needless to say I was relieved, but I took a Dramamine just in case.

After another 3 hour trip, Andrew dropped us off at the front door of the Hofwirt Hotel and helped us in with our bags. The hotel didn't look like much from the outside, but it was in a perfect location within the city. It was also very clean with a large breakfast room that contained TWO coffee machines! Our room was somewhat modern with ample space. It had no air conditioning, but we really didn't need it. We were only on the first floor with a large window opening to the street. Consequently we dealt with some street noise, but no one really cared.

We once again had to store our luggage and hit the streets until our room was ready. No problem. We were getting really good at this by now. We took a walk around Salzburg trying to orient ourselves. Our hotel was on the northeast side of the Salzach River not too far from St. Sebastian's Church. It took no time at all to reach the bridge that crossed into Old Town (Altstadt). Here we wandered through Mozart's Square, Dom Cathedral Square, the Residenz Square as well as many side streets with shops. In the distance we could see the Hohensalzburg Fortress, so we headed to the spot where the funicular would take us up the steep hill to visit the fortress. No climbing up today.

     

Once in the fortress, we toured and climbed to various levels, snapping great pictures of the city of Salzburg on one side and the beautiful Alps on the other. We found a Marionette Museum that contained displays of marionettes used through the years to entertain. One, in particular, was very entertaining: the coffin of Archbishop Wolf Dietrich that was tucked away in a corner. Pam opened the door to this coffin and his marionette came out with a ghastly laugh. It was too funny. We opted not to go through the fortress apartments, as we had seen plenty in Vienna. Instead, we found a steep footpath out of the fortress and went in search of the Nonnberg Abbey - the very one that was used in the Sound of Music.

     

The Abbey was still in use and was really not very clearly marked. We entered on the side of the abbey and found ourselves in a graveyard. Finally, we came to the front gate and exited. I snapped a picture not realizing it was the gate that Maria was knocking on in the movie. From the abbey, we made our way down a pedestrian walkway that led to the city.

                                   

From there we returned to our hotel to get settled into our room. Since it was Sunday, most of the stores were closed in the city, including grocery stores. We munched on some of our remaining snacks for lunch before heading out again to look for Mirabell Palace.

The Mirabell Palace was actually built in the 1600s by the Prince Archbishop for his concubine. The gardens next to the Palace are actually more well known as one of the locations filmed in the Sound of Music. It contains statues of exotic animals, fountains, well groomed gardens and lattice tunnels. The famous steps where Maria sings Do Re Mi are also found at one end of the garden. It was beautiful!

      

From there, we headed back to Linzer Gasse, the street on which our hotel was located. We had noticed that it contained several reasonably-priced cafes offering a variety of foods. We chose to eat dinner at one called Alter Fuchs. Don't get excited! Fuchs is the word for Fox! I had potato soup, a salad plate that included greens, sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers, and german potato salad. Meagan had a plate of spinach dumplings swimming in garlic butter. Of course it all was accompanied by a dunkel (dark beer). Prost!

Central Europe Day 8: Cesky Krumlov

Hold onto your hats, boys and girls. You are about to embark on a very scenic drive from Vienna to a small town in the Czech Republic called Cesky Krumlov. You will travel through many other small towns on your journey in order to take in the picturesque scenery of winding roads as they twist and turn for about 3 hours through the rolling countryside of these countries.

Can you say Dramamine? I popped one in my mouth even before we left Vienna! I don't know how Meagan and Pam made the trip without any. We met our driver, Lucas (a young man from the Czech Republic). He picked us up in a van, loaded our bags, and off we went. It was such a pleasure not to have to be herded onto a bus with 25 other tourists. Our shuttles were arranged just for us, which meant we could easily talk with each other and with the driver. In spite of the fact that I was drugged up, it was so interesting to drive through small Austrian and Czech villages to get a sense of how people lived in the countryside. We also passed through an old communist check point, which was a stark reminder that not too long ago, the border between the countries had been closed. Finally, after many tight curves, we arrived at the Hotel Bellevue in Cesky Krumlov. By now we had learned that our resident math major, Pam, was so good at figuring tips. It was best that we let her handle this job  as well as navigating our trip. Thank you so much, Pam!

Why are we visiting Cesky Krumlov? It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose history stems back to the Middle Ages. This Bohemian town was ruled by 3 wealthy families who constructed and enhanced a huge castle within the city. The castle is even surrounded by a moat (now dry) that through the years has been guarded by a bear. The little town is filled with a variety of architectural styles and medieval structures. The Vltava River twists its way through the town, which makes it a great spot for locals and visitors to travel down the river in flatboats or canoes. We watched as many people took advantage of such activities and even walked about the town in wet bathing suits. Ew!

     

When we first arrived, we had a few hours to kill before our hotel room would be ready, so we parked our bags in the lobby (for anyone to take!) and set out to explore the area. I changed only $20 Euros to the local Korunas since we were only going to spend one night in town. Our local guide was to pick us up at the hotel at 5:30. Her name was Teresia (sp?) who was actually a French/Business major studying in Lyons, France. She and I had a lot in common! Her family still resides in Cesky Krumlov on the outskirts of the town, but she related that her grandfather lived in one of the houses close to the castle at one time. These tours are invaluable to help understand the history of the cities that we are visiting. I almost wish we had gone on this tour earlier in the day to better understand what we were seeing. Nevertheless, we enjoyed exploring.

Our room in the Hotel Belvedere was on the fourth floor of the building. The only problem was that the elevator only went up to the third floor. We had to carry all our bags up a set of stairs, but this was Europe. The room also did not have air conditioning, but it had a small set of windows that looked out over part of the city. Fortunately, it was cool enough that we were not bothered by the lack of air conditioning. I didn't even worry about bats coming through the window at night. The hotel served a nice breakfast with access to the all-important coffee machine. With the push of a button, our cups were filled with small cappuccinos or a melange. Yum!

     

I enjoyed this city. Next time I visit, I would like to find the old theater and take a tour of it. It would also be interesting to tour the castle. We did not have time to explore these places in depth this time.