Train leaves at 5:38 but I’m getting nervous before hand.
The plan: Tine is going to pick me up around midday and we’re heading to buy
couple of last minute things. Then it’s off to her mom’s/step sister’s place to
drop off her car then get a ride back to my place to grab our stuff and head
for the train station (in walking distance).
My
backpack is heavy when I put it on but I’m excited to finally start my trip.
The train station is relatively calm considering it’s a Friday evening but the
train seems to be full. Tine and I manage to find couple of seats and it’s time
to let all the stress go. Whatever I forgot I forgot and there’s no getting it
now.
I’m
tired but spend the whole trip chatting with Tine. Arrive time: 9:45pm. One of
Tine’s friends loaned us an apartment in Salzburg and the quest starts right
away to find it. By the time we get settled in it is 10:30pm but we walk out
into town hoping to find a comfy place to grab a beer.
The
river Salzach cuts through Salzburg is beautiful and the lighted Burg and
churches look magnificent at night. We walk around for a while and all of a
sudden realize we are at Getreide Gasse; the street where Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart was born. It’s late and most places are closed but there are groups of young
teens running around headed for the clubs and bars still open. Did I mention
that Salzburg has the culture fest this weekend? This means that a large
percentage of them are rocking the lederhosen (leather pants) or for the ladies
they are rocking their Dirndls.
We
finally find a quiet bar that happens to be on the water level of the river.
Drink prices: expensive. We order some fancy cocktails and Tine’s friend, Baumi
meets us there. Conversation is relaxed and nice. Baumi (George is his real
name) is a pretty cool guy. It’s late we head back to the apartment.
Sleeping
in is not overrated in the least especially when you wake up to already made breakfastJ, Tine got up early and
headed to the store. Weather wise we got lucky, Salzburg is famous for its rain
but the weekend is sunny and warm.
We head
to Salzburg and decide to head to the Schloss Mirabell first, and then head to
the “Festung” or fort and downtown Salzburg. The garden at the castle is magnificent;
we had fun watching and laughing at all the guided tours, some in English and
some in Chinese or Japanese. We walk
thru the garden and head toward the “Festung”, which is easy to spot since it
is on top of a mountain. On our way there we stumble across Mozart’s house…you
know the great composer; and just across the way we spot the house of Doppler,
they guy that discovered the Doppler Effect.
Both houses are small and nothing out of the ordinary but it’s still
pretty cool to see them. Tickets to enter the house are way too expensive so we
just stopped and took picturesJ.
We finally make it to downtown and what an absolutely
beautiful city. It’s full of history, even the McDonalds in Getreide Gasse is
beautifully built and decorated. Once in Getreide Gasse we stumble across the
house where Mozart was born.
Looking
up at the Fort or “Festung” Tine and I decide it’s worth climbing up it rather
than take the lift since the lift ticket is a) too expensive and b) the line to
get on it is pretty long. The decision was the right one because on our way up
we got some spectacular views of the city of Salzburg; just amazing and
wonderful city. I tried to take some good pictures but my camera isn’t the best
and well, pictures just don’t cut it. Ticket’s into the “Festung” again way too
expensive so we head back down to grab a beer and relax for a while. Baumi and
his girlfriend Stefanie meet up with us for a bit and we decide to meet up at
the Augustiner Brau (Augustiner Brewery) later. Tine and I decide to head back to
the apartment to get some rest since we were pretty exhausted.
A
couple of hours later we walk to the brewery dressed in “Trachten” or
traditional clothes. Tine in her Dirndl and me in a pair of jeans, a
traditional dress shirt, vest and jacket, we look pretty good I must say ;-).
It is the first traditional brewery that I visit while I’m here in Europe and
I’m pretty amazed at the place. First of all it is humongous, the entrance is
almost hidden and you decent a long stairwell. All of it showing signs that
it’s been there for many many years. Thru some doors at the bottom of the
stairs and there is a long hallway with food “Stands” or kitchens on one side
and doors to big rooms full of tables, chairs and people. Another pair of
stairs down and it opens up to a huge “innenhof” or courtyard with more food
kitchens, behind the stairs is where you get the beer.
Ok let me explain a bit more…Basically it’s a bit of a self
service type thing. Each kitchen offers different types of food; you pick what
you want and order it there and pay for it right away. But the coolest part was
getting the beer. There is basically one type of beer and it depends on the
season; you go and you pay for either a Liter or a half liter. Then they give
you a empty Stein and you walk to a fountain where you rinse out the Stein,
next you walk over and give your Stein to the beer server who fills it up for
you…..I know it doesn’t sound so exciting but I guess you have to experience it
in person….The only bad part: the beer wasn’t that good L Tasted a bit like it was the
last of a batch…..
Beer Museum (Hell
yeah!)
Next day we decide to visit BrauWelt (Brew World) and the
Stiegl brewery. A very famous Salzburger Brewery. It was on the other side of
the mountain so it took a bit long to walk there.
Museum Tickets: 6.50euro each…not bad and it included 3 beer
tastings (each .25 liters) and a gift (small beer glass). Not a bad deal right?
The museum is the biggest beer museum in Europe so it took
about a half a day to walk thru it. The cool thing was that we (Tine and I)
were the only people there. The museum talked about the brewing process and how
each type of beer brewing differed. Not surprisingly it talked about how
Stiegl’s brewing process was the best in the business. Still it was great to
see and learn about Stiegl’s history and the history of beer brewing.
Afterwards we sat down to eat and drink our beer samples/tastings. The food was
pretty good J
Then it was off to meet Baumi and Stefanie again before we
headed to the train station. Both of them were so nice, and Baumi even drove us
to the train station. Tine headed back to Graz and I waited there for Phillip,
and Flo to pick me up and head to Munich. Marita decided last minute to join us
too which was a great surprise.
Said good bye to Tine L
and headed off to my next adventure…..
