-6 C to -3 C
It is the beginning of another bout of very snowy days. We checked out of Conrad and bade Munich good bye, to her people and good food. At munich Hbf, we purchased from the machine a Bayern ticket ( group ) for 29 e. This allows travel for 3 of us into Salzburg and even back.
We hopped up RE79013 at platform 9 ( lugging the luggage past mounds of snow ) at 9.42 am, bound for Salzburg Hbf. There was not much scenery on the 2 hour train ride because of the blistering snow all the way into Austria.
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| Salzburg is colder than expected this December. Meanwhile travel chaos was building up in northern Europe. |
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| Der Salzburger is located beyond Forum Mall and bus terminus, 2 junctions away. |
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| This key may be very big and bulky, but it is often forgotten and left at the hotel's breakfast tables. |
12 noon. At Salzburg, a hard wall of cold hit us right in the face and caught us by surprise. Our clothing was not fit for a snow blizzard at -6 C. We were lost because of the renovation at thetrain station. We inched forward with our luggage accumulating slush every step forward. Finally, we found our bearings from the tourist information desk nearby. Our hotel, Der Salburger Hof ( main building ) was 2 traffic junctions east of the bus station / Forum mall.
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| A very charming triple room, all for 130 euros |
Der Salzburger staff was efficient, courteous and spoke excellent English. Everything about the hotel was ideal except for the walk from the bus terminal, an issue in winter. Another issue that miffed Pat was the sensor tap in the toilet which was annoying.
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| Mirabel garden, one of Salzburg's top attraction |
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| In Salzburg,you get your bearings by using the Festung Hohensalzburg fortress as reference |
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| Permanent residents at Mirabel garden, a landmark at the right bank. |
A point of observation : Salzburg does not clear snow and slush off its pavements like Munich. It was like walking on cold sand, gritty and dirty. After lunch at the Forum, I made a poor judgement call - walking to the old town in the snowing weather. It was a cold and difficult walk and we got lost again. A kind soul at the petrol station got us back on track and we made it to Mirabel castle gardens, the universitat Mozarteum, stadt brucke, Old town's Rathaus and Mozartplatz. Everywhere was covered in deep snow and the sky extremely grey for the early afternoon. Many tourists joined us in the old town, braving the elements. At Getreidegasse, I bought a couple of Swarvoski crystal products, souvenirs and bags, a rare but decisive behavior.
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| I never got to see how it looks like. Salzburg was completely snowed over. |
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| The Solitar Saal concert hall is located separately in this grey section of the New Mozarteum |
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| Staatsbrucke over the Salzach is a pedestrian only foot bridge, linking right bank to Old Town |
From Mozartsteg ( the stop off Mozartplatz ), we crossed the Salzach, took bus line 25 ( 2.10 e from the bus captain ) and got off at the bus terminal. 6pm and we had to call it a day. Dinner was at the hotel's restaurant, a 2 hour affair. Portion was big, price reasonable, service slow but friendly and ambience, cozy.
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| Salzburg's nearest mountain range is the Monchsberg, on which the Modern Art Museum and Fortress sit. |
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| This cafe at Salzburg's famous shopping alley,Getreidegasse, serves great tasting cakes. |
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| Christmas markets are found at every available plaza |
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| Mozart, Salzburg favorite son, carved his career in Vienna |
A very cold introduction to Salzburg but I trust, tomorrow will be a cheerier day.
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| As can be seen, Mozart is very much loved by the businessman here |
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