I arrived in Salzburg after an overnight layover in Amsterdam in which i properly curled up in a corner with earplugs, a jacket for a blanket and my backpack for a pillow. I surprisingly slept 5 hours straight. it was awesome. Landed in Salzburg, Austria at 9am in the morning with no map, no idea how to get to my hostel and no idea how to speak any German. I promptly ran away from the very drunk Spanish musician who sat next to me on the flight and professed his love for me over and over. I even had to lie to him and tell him i had a boyfriend so he would leave me alone. The whole experience was rather comical. Anyways, got off the plane and vaguely remembered that I could take bus #2 into town but i had no idea where to get off. So, I boarded bus 2, road for about 20 minutes and hopped off. Then walked into a coffee shop, drank an expresso and gathered myself. I was alone, with no directions and it felt amazing. The ground was snow covered, temps around freezing and it was misting slightly. After the coffee I left the cafe and just started walking in the direction of the most people. I eventually rounded a corner and saw Salzburg. And I laughed out loud. It was seriously like being in a movie. The city was snow covered and beautiful. I immediately recognized the skyline b/c of the Sound of Music (parts of the movie were filmed here). I walked along the river until I came into town. First order of business was to obtain a map. After that I was golden. I immediately found the Christmas markets after accidentally walking by Mozart's birthplace of course. If you don't know anything about these Christmas markets they are literally what I imagine when I imagine Christmas. It was the most Christmasy place I have ever been. Eventually, I went to the hostel, dropped my bags and headed back out for a tour of the town. I spent the entire day alone, wandering the streets of Salzburg and then went for a snowy hike above the city. The weather was terrible but somehow made the experience feel that much more amazing.
That night I met a girl from China and we discussed Chinese politics. It was, special. I went to bed at 9pm i was so exhausted. The next morning I woke up early for my 9am SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR!!!!! I could hardly eat breakfast b/c i was so excited. I love the movie and never thought in a million years I would visit Salzburg. The great thing was I booked the tour with Bob's tours. They take small vans of people on tours instead of giant tour buses. There was an Australian girl named Tish on my tour. She was my age. There was also a very snobby American couple on the trip. The weather was absolutely terrible but even that couldn't surpress my excitement.
I ate dinner in the hostel that night with Tish and we met more Australians. And that evening I took my first official verbal beating from a drunk Australian political science major about how terrible America is and how we need to get our act together. It was quite exhausting but i was quite impressed with myself.
The next day was Christmas Eve. And that was when I met Harry from England at breakfast. We ended up spending the next 2 days together. Super fun. Toured the fortress of Salzburg, went for coffee, rambled around the Christmas markets. Perfect. Also met 2 Australian boys who had just finished high school and were traveling around before college. I ended up eating Christmas lunch at an Indian restaurant with them. They wore light up santa hats all day. It ended up being a wonderful Christmas. Salzburg is a wonderful city that I hope to visit again very soon.
first view
Christmas market
Mozart birthplace
Sound of Music tour!!!!!!
SOM tour
yes, the gazebo
Red Bull Headquarters. i know, random
apple strudel in vanilla sauce.
churched used to film the wedding in SOM
interior
the fountain the kids danced around and sang "Do-Re-Mi"
The abbey where all the exterior shots from SOM were filmed
Harry and I atop the Fortress
we have many nutcrackers at my house in Texas. so I felt right at home
It was such a fantastic trip. One of my favorite parts was that Christmas Eve they have a tradition where they fire cannons off the Fortress walls for about 30 minutes. They are super loud and fun to watch. Also, all afternoon/evening of Christmas Eve and all Christmas Day the church bells are ringing all across the city. It was so very magical. I went to midnight mass in the oldest church in Salzburg. So perfect. I even got to skype with my family on Christmas Day. And then, Christmas night, I took a train to Paris. I know, totally awesome.
