Backpacking (Central/Eastern) Europe

Travel time: August 2008  |  by Christina E.

Austria: Salzburg

Worded verbatim from my journal entry:

Salzburg- 12:00am

"Salzburg is a quaint and nice little town, save my 1st impressions were tarnished by a wrong way, one-way bus ride into the opposite end of the city, followed by a 1.5 mile walk back the other direction (with our heavy packs on!), and feeling dirty, disheveled, disgruntled, THEN not being able to find this damn little hostel which happened to be on top of a mountain, inside the woods, contained within a FORTRESS!"

Walking 1.5 miles in the OTHER direction...grrrrr!

Walking 1.5 miles in the OTHER direction...grrrrr!

The benefits of staying on top of the mountain-- the view of the city, of course

The benefits of staying on top of the mountain-- the view of the city, of course

We weren't kidding about the hostel being in the middle of a forest!

We weren't kidding about the hostel being in the middle of a forest!

Finally, we found this hovel, er-- hostel

Finally, we found this hovel, er-- hostel

View from inside our closet

View from inside our closet

Upon arriving to our hostel, located atop Monchberg ("the mountain") meant that either we had to climb some very long and steep stairs, or we had the option of taking the Monchberg lift.

Gone are the days of spacious German hostels...

Gone are the days of spacious German hostels...

Cute

Cute

We leave our mark...

We leave our mark...

After unpacking, changing and resting up a bit, Adam and I decided to explore a little bit of Salzburg.

Very talented musicians... including the one w/ the oversized guitar-banjo

Very talented musicians... including the one w/ the oversized guitar-banjo

Beautiful floral deco on the doorways

Beautiful floral deco on the doorways

A cool monument

A cool monument

In the middle of the Salzburg square

In the middle of the Salzburg square

Birthplace of Mozart

Birthplace of Mozart

From gasthofschorn.com:

"The Mozarts lived in 9 Getreidegasse from 1747 to 1773, and their son Wolfgang Amadeus was born there in 1756. Today, the home of the Mozart family is a museum where famous exhibits are displayed. Among other attractions, visitors to the museum can see the violin played by the world-famous musical genius as a child, his concert violin, his clavichord, a pianoforte, portraits, and letters of the Mozart family.

The Mozart family lived in the third floor of the house for a total of twenty-six years.

The masses standing in front...

The masses standing in front...

After walking around town for a little while, we found a Nordsee seafood place. All this trip, I've eaten nothing but sausages, potatoes, and sauerkrat, so I longed for a morsel of the sea.

Lobster, yea, a bit out of my backpacker's budget...

Lobster, yea, a bit out of my backpacker's budget...

But this snapper, potatoes and seasoned vegetables does the trick

But this snapper, potatoes and seasoned vegetables does the trick

The tiny cute cafe in the corner...

The tiny cute cafe in the corner...

Mozart would roll over in his grave if he only knew...

Mozart would roll over in his grave if he only knew...

Look straight ahead, then to the top of this picture, there, that's our hostel.

Look straight ahead, then to the top of this picture, there, that's our hostel.

Slightly afro-disiac

Slightly afro-disiac

The operator of the Monchberg lift was nice enough to let us go up and down for free

The operator of the Monchberg lift was nice enough to let us go up and down for free

Cool mosaic of Salzburg, including Monchberg on top

Cool mosaic of Salzburg, including Monchberg on top

Walking in the middle of the woods, in the dark, at nighttime to find our hostel was NOT fun

Walking in the middle of the woods, in the dark, at nighttime to find our hostel was NOT fun

It's like something out of the Blair Witch Project

It's like something out of the Blair Witch Project

Adam finally had a reason to use the flashlight he brought on this trip. LOL

Adam finally had a reason to use the flashlight he brought on this trip. LOL

Say hello to our leetle friend

Say hello to our leetle friend

Eeeeeeks

Eeeeeeks

CREEPY!!!

CREEPY!!!

Amazing night view

Amazing night view

It's the pretzel of all pretzels

It's the pretzel of all pretzels

August 21, 2008:

We awoke bright and early this morning, exchanged information and chatted with our fellow bunkmate, Kitty, a traveler whom happened to have her camera stolen while in Croatia, and had a breakfast of bread, jam and butter, while slapping the yellowjackets away from us and our food.

Shortly thereafter, we walked down Monchberg's stairs, through the cobblestoned streets and across the bridge to the other side of Salzburg. From there, we walked to Mirabell gardens and enjoyed the rows of manicured lawns and flora, then off to the Hofbanhof for our ride into Vienna.

Gemuse: kidney-- for some reason, I found this significant enough to write down in my journal. Maybe I should be worried...???

Do I blend in or what??? he he

Do I blend in or what??? he he

This damn van is blocking us from getting outta here...

This damn van is blocking us from getting outta here...

Crossing over to the other side

Crossing over to the other side

Forget trying to ditch a fellow member of this group!

Forget trying to ditch a fellow member of this group!

At Mirabell Gardens, where they filmed 'The Sound of Music'!

At Mirabell Gardens, where they filmed 'The Sound of Music'!

Ahh, the essence of Austria

Ahh, the essence of Austria

Adam cradles his 20 lb bundle of joy

Adam cradles his 20 lb bundle of joy

What a relaxing morning...

What a relaxing morning...

From Wikipedia:

"There are two versions of the winged stallion's birth: One is that they sprang from Medusa's neck as Perseus beheaded her, a "higher" birth, like the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus; Another says that they were born of the Earth as Medusa's blood spilled onto it, in which case Poseidon would not be their sire. A variation on this story holds that they were formed from the mingling of Medusa's blood and the sea foam, thus including Poseidon in their making.

Bellerophon caught and tamed Pegasus, and presented him to the Muses at Mount Parnassus. After he became the horse of the Muses, he was at the service of the poets."

So, there you have it

So, there you have it

Next stop: Vienna, home of the Vienna sausages (which, is an outright lie by the way... there is no such thing as vienna sausages in Vienna)

Dreaming of the little cocktail wieners...

Dreaming of the little cocktail wieners...

© Christina E., 2009
You are here : Overview Europe Austria Salzburg
The trip
 
Description:
"Good Pants, Bad Pants"; Czech Republic pick pocketers; Kutna Hora...THE BONES; Chocolate Factory; German sausages and Hofbrauhaus/Biergartens; Austria bike riding; Pub crawls; tons of new friends and an amazing journey....and, one too many potato dumplings and pork knuckle
Details:
Start of journey: Aug 13, 2008
Duration: 3 weeks
End of journey: Aug 31, 2008
Travelled countries: Czech Republic
Germany
Austria
Hungary
The Author
 
Christina E. is an active author on break-fresh-ground. since 17 years.
Picture of author