So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night

Cover of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

It is almost time for this fairy tale to end. We will leave today on the 4:01pm train back to Budapest. Last night, Ron had thought about a Mozart concert for 20 Euros, but knowing he would go alone, he nixed the idea. The compromise was going to mass this morning where there would be music. I intended to sit on the steps with a book I wanted to finish, but the weather turned nasty. I finally had to sit in one of the back side pews to read. However, before this, we went looking for a breakfast spot. It would have been easier finding someone who had never heard of The Sound of Music. Every eatery we came across was closed until we had almost given up the search. 

We finally came across a bakery we had passed a number of times before, but dismissed as the sign only advertised strudels. Desperation made us investigate. They were more than just tasty pastry, but every table was reserved. 

The pallor in our skin tone must have made the waiter feel for us; he offered us a table that was being held for 11am. We had 1 1/2 hours to order, eat, and get out. We could work with this. Twenty-seven Euros later, we wiped the crumbs of Ron's strudel and my open faced sandwich of ham and cheese, plus one latte and one cappuccino off of our lips. Since I am a multi-tasker, while wiping my lips I was also blowing goodbye kisses to the 30 Euros we had saved with the Salzburg Card.

Ron's religious fix was just 20 pages short of me finishing my book. I wanted him to go say a rosary or something so I could toss the thing, but he wanted to go to the Modern Art Museum. Entrance fee was 8 Euros. Actually, there are more than one, but the closest one we found due to the now pouring rain, (umbrellas nicely packed in the suitcase at the hotel) had a photo exhibit of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. It was engaging and took us up to the time we needed to buy our boat tickets for the river cruise included in our card to save us another 13 Euro.

Now this is where it got tricky. The 'cruise' was at 2pm and lasted for 40 minutes. We still had to return to the hotel for our bags, walk the 10 minutes to the train station, and stop at SPAR grocery store for train food, and get to our train by 4pm. It sounded doable. 

The river naturally runs low, so the cruise boats are especially constructed of aluminum and do not penetrate the water more than 38 centimeters, regardless of how many overweight tourists are on it. We took off and again the German commentary went on forever. The English was shorter than Reader's Digest. I really could care less as the rain was so heavy at this point, you could barely see out the window. I finished my book intending to leave it on the boat. We were 20 minutes out and still have not reached the point of dropping off Tour Group 2 at Hellbrunn Palace. Ron and I are both clock watchers at this point. 

Finally, we dump them, turn the boat around and head back. We see the port in sight. Then the captain announces that since the boat is docked in winter time, they have taught it a trick for other times. Crap, what now? He presses a button setting the boat to go in circles or what he called the boat dancing. It is what we called nerve wracking. Forty minutes went by, forty-five minutes, and we see trains passing by our eyes as the conductor is waving good bye to us. 

Finally, we got off the boat, waited for a bus, but ended at the train station. The bus that is closest to the hotel did not stop at our stop on Sundays. Ron went for the luggage, I went to SPAR. We made our train, but it is packed as it started in Munich. Until Linz, we sat separately, but then we were able to move across from each other. Finally by Vienna, we could sit and eat our train food together. 

In conclusion, with the Salzburg Card, we went to many venues we most likely would not have otherwise due to the expense. In the long run, we filled our 72 hours at a leisurely pace, had a great time and saved a bucket of money. 

To Salzburg, I say,

So long, farewell
Auf Wiedersehen, adieu
Adieu, adieu
To you and you and you

So long, farewell
Auf Weidersehen, goodbye
I leave and heave
A sigh and say goodbye
Goodbye...

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Maria, Where Art Thou?

Cover via Amazon

I alluded to The Sound of Music in the post title yesterday, but never addressed it. This 1965 American movie made Salzburg more famous than it could ever have dreamed possible. What is curious is that once you are in the city, there are disclaimers about the authenticity of the movie as opposed to the facts as written in Maria Von Trapp's memoir. There are dozens of Sound of Music tours, but almost similar to the Lord of the Rings tours in New Zealand, I don't need to pay someone to point to a mountain while saying that is where Julie Andrews sang the opening song.

We stopped at the Mozarteum thinking it was a museum, but it turned out it was a university. Shortly, thereafter, we did find the Mozart Residence where the entrance was 10 Euros each, but free with the card. I am not a classical music fan; I could have, would have shunned the place had not Ron wanted to go. It was simply interesting to me, nothing more.

This led to our taking the funicular to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. It was built in 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard, but enlarged by the clergy/princes who succeeded him. It is a fully-preserved fortress and the largest in central Europe. It has never been conquered by enemy troops. The panoramic views are spectacular. The photos will be in my photo blog in a few days.

The Marionette Museum is also located in the fortress as well as a exhibit of the history in photos and a sculpture of soldiers fighting a war. Loving marionettes, I enjoyed the museum, though it was much smaller than expected and all were related to operas. That said, the Marionette Theater was closed until November, so we could not catch any shows. I would have gone to an opera of marionettes even when I religiously avoid human performances. The combined ticket for the funicular, fortress, and museums was 11 Euros p/p. So far, we were able to deduct 21 Euros from our 40 Euro investment. Spending plenty of time here, not rushing at all, we continued onward.

On the funicular ride down at the base is Stiegl Brewery where our Salzburg Card promised a beer tasting. After climbing the hill to reach it and then a thousand stairs to get to the business area, we found that the actual brewery is in another location. After all of that exertion, we had to stay for a beer at least. I included a pretzel, which came hot from the oven. The food being served all around us looked delicious, but there was no time to stop for a meal.

We decided to go to the Residence. A Baroque structure, it was the home for the Prince Archbishops of Salzburg until the city was incorporated into the country of Austria. The building was originally erected in 1120, but major additions were created in the 15th and 16th centuries by other Archbishops. Contrary to our Salzburg Card brochure, the gallery closed at 2pm, not 5pm like it was shown. We were able to visit the museum there which featured a special exhibit on death. Varied pieces of sculpture mixed with paintings and other media, exemplified death in its many manifestations throughout history. On the other side was the permanent collection. The entrance was 9 Euros each.

With a time savings from not being able to visit the Residence rooms, we ventured to the Salzburg  Museum instead, since it is on the same square. The entrance would have been 7 Euros had we not had the card. Not fully understanding, we found one full floor filled with displays of religious art found in the city throughout the centuries. I had assumed this was all there was to the museum, but as closing time approached, we found this was a special exhibit with the main exhibit one floor below. However, by that time, they where shooing us out of the place, wanting to go home to their own dinner. We were on sensory overload anyway.

On our first full day, we would have spent 37 Euros each had we not had the Salzburg Card. However, this does not include the cost of bus rides. We had taken at least six of them by this point, which most likely put us over the top for the 40 Euro investment. Granted, I am not sure I would have been willing to part with those amounts of money at each stop, but knowing the card gained us access, it was a no brainer.

Related articles

• Salzburg, Can we stay? - Salzburg, Austria
• Soaked in Salzburg
• Salzburg Travel Journal part 1
• My Favourite Things

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Training for Long Distance

We had the foresight to shop at the grocery store, stocking up on food for the long train ride home. Seven hours can make a person pretty hungry and thirsty. A manned food cart comes through each train car offering beverages or snacks, but none of it is mouth watering. 

The train ride back gives me time to reflect on the week. It was spectacular even if it was overcast a few days, it never rained. It was cold, but not freezing. I had all good intentions of reading/editing/grading papers, but after the computer had high tea, that was not an option. Thus creating a double edged sword, this being the break,  I had intended to get the paper monkey off of my back, but it seemed I would have that passenger for some time longer; however, it did give me permission to relax and enjoy my surroundings not wanting to rush through to get back to grade papers. A teacher occupational hazard exposed.

Lest I forget, I owe Budapesters a bit of an apology. They are not the only group of people that love to stand in the doorways of the metros, trams, or buses blocking entry to anyone who is unlucky enough to arrive after they do. It seems that the Germans are just as adept at it. They also love to push past on the escalators leading to the metro as if there is a personalize subway just them and they need to reach it before it gets bored waiting.  It must be a people thing.

When it dawned on us that we had actually booked our rail ticket for a full 7 days, we kind of panicked. We generally go on short jaunts, so 7 days? What were we thinking? Ron investigated the castle tours, although there was no mention online about the October 31st closing. He had also checked out a possible side trip to Salzburg, Austria to see if the hills are really alive with the Sound of Music.  None of that was necessary. We found plenty to do and we were busy from the time we left the apartment, generally by 9am until we returned at 10pm or later.  As it is, there are still museums in Munich we did not get to that we would have liked to have visited. It is a rich city of culture interspersed with beer and pretzels.

It also was less expensive than I had anticipated. With each trip I start with great enthusiasm, but as the money goes flying out of my wallet, trepidation sets in. Our accommodation for the 2 of us, was 40 Euros a night including a grand breakfast. Due to some specials with the Hungarian train, MAV, the tickets were 58 Euros each way for both of us; for 116 Euros, we could not have flown for anywhere nearly as cheap.

Finally, thanks to my Press Pass, I did not have to shell out one Euro cent for admission to any museum or attraction, while Ron paid the concession senior fare. This too was a substantial savings.

Once home, back at the computer, it will be time to really get down to grading those papers signaling that the vacation is over and only a memory now. 

Related articles

• Sound of Music takes the stage in Salzburg (travelnews.britishairways.com)
• Taking the Sound of Music home (bbc.co.uk)
• Finding Time to Write: A Peak into the Day of an Aspiring Writer (Part 1) (thenightlypoem.com)

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