Sounds of Salzburg
Trip Start
Jun 15, 2010
1
19
38
Trip End
Sep 15, 2010
Where I stayed
crappiest hostel ever - yo ho international
Salzburg, Austrian Alps, Austria
Friday, July 9, 2010
So, after having a rather hot and disgusting train trip to Salzburg from Munich (regional train, with heating on due to malfunction!) i got out my directions to the hostel (yes, prepared for once!) and made my way there. Not one for being negative, but it was probably the worst possible greeting I've ever had, or what you could get from anyone! Trying not to think like i was in work mode (which is hard to do sometimes) i found my sardine-tin sized room, and ventured to match-box sized showers, with the attempt to cool down - not to much effect, as the hostel had no form of cooling system whatsoever! (even half the windows were shut!)
Trying to keep my spirits up (something about a cold, hostile 'welcome' puts your idea of a place into another perspective) i decided to go for a wee walk, get some fresh air and see what was around - not much actually, as Salzburg is a rather sleepy town... and it was Friday night!
Opted for a 'happy hour' beer back at the hostel, shared travel stories with a couple of others i met, and then headed off to bed.
Was rather easy to wake up early (no air con in a room with 5 others makes for little sleep!) so decided to utilise my energy and go out for a venture, to climb the nearest mountain - not a mountain, really, at only 640m, but it was still nice! Quite a lot of paths to choose from and follow, so i slowly made my way around (36 degrees does slow you down somewhat!) had a picnic and then headed back down, and over to the old town. The sights from the top of the hill were quite breathtaking - the river is quite dramatic, and as the castle and churches look as though they are tiered on the way down, it just looks like a picture from a book!
On the other side i ventured up the other hill to the castle/tower/thingy, but chose not to pay the €8 entrance fee (I'd decided previously to be stingy in this town, for some odd reason) so followed some more of the walking tracks around, to the top of another hill, where the views, yet again, were amazing! After recuperating in the shade, i ventured back down the other side, and then wandered along the river bank, looking at the rather cool local stalls that were dotted all along....and feeling the temptation to just jump into the river! Such beautiful water, and being so hot looks so refreshing.... but i fear that if you ever did that you'd never be seen again! (water currents and fast flows, and all that!)
Next day i decided to go the locals way (with the normal bus) out to a place called Hellbrun - an old castle and grounds just outside the city. Quite pretty, and since the grounds were so vast (and free to walk around!) i chose that option first, walking up many a hill and getting fantastic views over Salzburg!! I opted to pay the measly fee of €2 to get into a wee museum on top of one of the hills, which was quite interesting, as it had information about the Hellbrun grounds, and also about this fabulous planned theatre, with drawings and models of it - only it didn't go ahead, due to lack of funding. And all of this was over 300 years ago! You could walk out and see where they started to lay the foundations of the theatre,and it was great - like part of it was built into a cave! Really, really cool!
More of the grounds had water features, and even a water garden, where they had this one bit where you could wade around (up to your knees) in the beautifully cold water (very welcoming in such heat!)
As my stomach was talking to me, i thought it best to go back into the town, and seek out a local place for budget food - unfortunately the place that did it's own beers was out of my price range, so i settled on a pizza and beer, and chose the backdrop of the river as my eating place - great spot! Glad i did too, as i met a rather cool guy from Yugoslavia, and we had a broken-English (And partly German) conversation for about an hour. Really interesting - only wish i knew German, and then i could've understood more!
Thought about settling in to watch the final of the football back at the hostel, (may as well, since i started to follow it, and i was wanting Holland to win!) but as the hostel was hotter inside than what it was out, i grabbed my camera again, and headed off to do some night photos! Another rather early night (for me, anyway!) and then actually glad to be going the next day - Salzburg was lovely, but the hostel was so rubbish, i just wanted to avoid it!! Anticipating Budapest.......
Tootles!
