Destinations

June 9th, 2011

I am really debating with myself whether I like Salzburg the best because of Salzburg or because I have more time to take it all in and really enjoy Salzburg.  Either way, I am really enjoying Salzburg.  I have been lucky with weather the entire trip, although it was overcast and cloudy today, it didn’t rain.

This morning started with me just walking around.  I stumbled on to Mozarts Geburtshaus (Mozart’s Birthplace) where Mozart spent the first 17 years of his life.  There is also a Mozart Residence where he lived later on in life but I haven’t found it yet.

In just about every gift shop, there is something Mozart and/or something Sound of Music.  Mozart Chocolates, and Mozart Fragrance (for men and women) sit in between displays of yodeling teddy bears, Bavarian style of hats, mustards and cuckoo clocks .

Having had Bavarian food for the last few days, I decided to have lunch at a McCafe when I saw the gold arches tucked into a classic sign.Surprisingly, the menu is very different, no Big Mac, no Quarter Pounder and in addition to indoor seating, they had “Garden” seating – an outside courtyard where they sold the local beer called Steigl.

I headed back to the other side of the river to get my afternoon tour that I booked, “Austrian Lakes and Mountains” where we would see Lake Fuschl – St.Wolfgang – St. Gilgen – Krottensee – Mondsee.

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June 10th, 2011

I am wrapping up this vacation and amazed at how much I saw in such a short amount of time. Today was another full day – I hopped on the Hop On and Hop off bus tour in Salzburg and went all over the city. The day started with driving by by Mozart’s residence.  I had walked by this building a dozen times but never read the sign.

After riding around the Hop On Hop Off route a complete time it was time to get off.  First stop was the Hohensalzburg Castle.  This along with every other major palace in Salzburg (and there a lot of them) was built by one of many arc-bishops.  Parts of the fortress date back to the year 1077.

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June 8th, 2011

After a long busy day, my friend and I stopped at a traditional restaurant to get dinner. Stiegal Beer is the major beer in Salzurg.

June 8th, 2010

Yesterday, I took the train from Munich to Salzburg yesterday afternoon.  I cannot get over how easy it is to get around.  The trains run hourly from Munich to Salzburg and I was enjoying the ride so much that I lost track of time and was in Salzburg in no time.

After arriving in Salzburg, I headed out for a walk and after giving up on trying to figure out where I was on the map, I saw an old looking building and headed there.  On the way I ran into a few goodies and as I looked around, I realized that I was standing on one location where the Sound of Music had been filmed.  No wonder why they used this location. It is incredibly beautiful.

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“Work Will Set You Free”

June 7th, 2011I knew that this was going to be a downer of a day.  You cannot go to Dachau and not be affected by it.  As much as I tried to stay away from the WWII topic and focus on more pleasant things you cannot pretend it isn’t a big part of world history.

Dachau is considered the parent of all concentration camps – it was a proto type built by Himmler in 1933.  Originally intended on holding political prisoners, Himmler convinced Hitler that the concentration camps that could provide Hitler with the labor resources needed to build his new empire and the buildings that he desired.  According to the tour guide, Hitler was a big fan of architecture and buildings, and Himmler knew how to push the right buttons.

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June 6, 2011

I am not sure why I looked forward to seeing this place, but I did and it didn’t disappoint.  Maybe it is because it embodies what we think of when we hear about the black forest and the Grimm Brother Fairy Tales. Walt Disney modeled Sleeping Beauty’s castle after it – it was the castle where Chitty Chitty Bang Bang flew into to rescue the children. There is no other castle like this.  Ironically, Ludwig II built a castle that inspired Disney who then built Disneyland and Disneyworld that helps drives the tourists to see the castle in Germany.

This is in fact not a real castle.  It was built to look like a medieval castle in a tribute to Wagner.  The name itself means new swan castle references the swan knight, one of Wagner’s characters. Each room depicts scenes in Wagner’s operas Although it looks medieval, It was built in the late 1800’s at a time when castles no longer provided a strategic advantage. Continue reading →