Travel days have become increasingly uncromfortable. Purely due to the heat factor. With packs on our backs we die from the extra weight in the heat. New issue to deal with, we don't mind the heat so much as the humidity. Yes we, Luke is alright with the heat as it is but isn't so loving the constant wetness you find yourself in. Something that I haven't had to deal with, an uncomfortable feeling, but certainly glad for Lululemons because they were made to deal with sweat.
Salzburg, the land where the hills are alive and the heat is strong. This is the town where Mozart was born and grew up in until he moved to Vienna in his teen years. They have a monument here of him, less pretty then the one in Vienna. It is the Rome of the north they say, or used to say. Salt has been a major thing for Salzburg, also wher their name comes from. The river is known as the salt river due to barges carrying salt from the mines through it. This is all fine and dandy but Rick Steves, calls it salts burg and it kinda drive me nuts.
We did a walking tour of old town Salzburg via Rick, which was not his finest tour, but a good way to get the lay of the land. In the top right picture here, you can see the castle. Later on you will see pictures from the castle, but this may be the only one I posted of it. It's hard to select the pictures to collage for the blog.
This is the main cathedral in Salzburg. Mozart was the organist here for many years. Although we didn't step inside, we got close and caught some of the air conditioned drift before continuing on our way. A neat place, with no stain glass, instead the windows light the pulpit creating a gradual lightness the closer you get to the pulpit from inside. This was neat, and also different. It you can't go in every church, especially when there is a fee to be had. Although the fees all go to restorations, it isn't always worth it.
Along the way today we walked and saw many things. One street we walked down was lined with old baroque rod iron signs on the sides of the buildings. Never seen a McDonald's sign so fancy. Not even on the Champs in Paris. Every store on this street must have these rods iron signs to keep the baroque style in Salzburg alive. I also took a picture of our shadows cause they aren't shiny and dripping in sweat like we were. Apparently the fountain in this collage is of Titan, and there is a similar one in Rome. Remember this is the Rome of the North so of course they need to have similarities. The top right is a picture of the Mozart statue. They other picture is m not sure of, but it had a large chess board beside it. Neptune or something? I don't know.
We went up and into to the castle to explore! We saw the wheel is from the torture chamber that we saw, don't know why all the sudden we are seeing so many of these but oh well. A pretty cool castle, although we didn't get to see everything due to timing we saw what we wanted and it was neat to see. We saw the progression over the years of the castle developing over many many arch bishops rule that was cool. It showed each bishops contribution to the fortress. Also it was never bombed, when the French were going to invade the Austrians gave the castle over to Napoleon so that it wouldn't be destroyed.
The views from all around the castle were extraordinary. Seeing so much of what is around. So cool to get such a panorama of Salzburg and the surrounding area. In the top right hand photo the Alps are in the back ground of Luke and I which is also cool as we will be seeing more of the Alps next week closer up.
A canon from on of the towers of the castle that they used to defend.
The top two pictures on the left are from St. Peter's cemetery. The graves here are extravagant, but they are kept up by the ancestors of the people that died. After 0 years if no one wants to continue to keep up your grave and the front the bill, you are removed. To who who knows where. We saw a grave here from 216, so this is still a real thing that they keep up with. Also a double decker bikade or bike parade, I mentioned them lots in Amsterdam cause it was crazy, but this is still a lot especially for Salzburg, a smaller place. The bottom left picture is in sun setting time on the one of the pedestrian bridges. Everywhere has a lock bridge. Also the top right picture is of Mozarts home that he grew up in. On that Main Street I mentioned with the rod iron signs.
The one thing we have noticed the last few days is that the pavement is so hot that the heat actually seeps through your shoes and begins to heat your feet. No joke, it is a little crazy to think about but it actually happens. We were also walking on the street and the sun had set and the side that had the sun for longer was still warm. We know this cause we crossed from the cooler side. It crazy! Again It's the worst when we have our packs on, but I love the heat and prefer it over rain any day.
Salzburg is a great place to see, but a place I feel I wouldn't come back to right away. If it was on the way to somewhere yes I would stop but I feel I have seen Salzburg, to the best of my abilities. Apparently the people of Salzburg don't understand why we love 'The Sound of Music' they don't see the draw or understand what the big deal is. They do have something here called the sound of Salzburg, it is one of the performances that they like to promote. Although I did see one postcard referencing the sound of music. But they do have a puppeteer show on the sound of music apparently. Pretty sure it is purely for tourists but we didn't go so I don't know.
Also, there are tons and tons of Asians tourists that we have seen on our journey. There have been many tourist groups that even tonight having dinner we saw walking by 3 or 4 groups. And that is in Salzburg alone.
To end our evening off right, after dinner we picked up some Austrian wine and chips and salsa and enjoyed an evening in Salzburg. I have been talking about chips and salsa for the last few days mentioning that I wanted some purely because I haven't had any in a long time. I am one of those easily influenced types where you say something an then I want it. Except this time it was all in my head because I was thinking about what foods I haven't had in a while.
Also thanks subway for always being there for us. You know sometimes you just don't want to think about what food you want to eat, or where to find something gluten free, or you are on the way to the train, and subway has always pulled through. Not to mention how cools is it that we can say we have eaten at subways across the globe really. North America and Europe. So thanks Subway, for not making me sick, being there when I am to frustrated to find a restaurant, or just want an easy out. P.S. We didn't have it for dinner but did pick it up to eat on the train today, and honestly it has so come in handy.
Tomorrow we venture back into Munich, the final part of our German adventure. Salzburg was a great stop along the way and I am certainly glad that we stopped here. Next stop Munich.
And so the adventure continues...
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