We awoke today (at 6 am sharp due to our ever punctual little
alarm clock!), to a flurry of snowflakes outside our window. When we left the
house at 8:40, a good amount of snow dusted the roads and houses.
 |
| We apparently like to travel in packs of red Camrys. Here my friend helps improve our driving visibility through the snow covered windshield. |
In the hopes of saving on parking expense, we parked at the airport
Park and Ride and rode the bus into the old town (For the record, it was not the cheapest option, don't try it). Once in Old Town Salzburg,
our first destination was the impressive Hohensalzburg Fortress, pictured
below. This Fortress is the largest fully-preserved fortress in central Europe
and dates back to the 11th century.
 |
| It was so cold there that my camera was having difficulty working! I ended up removing it from my backpack and wearing it under my jacket layers in the hopes my body heat would keep it working when I removed it for pictures. That was a good plan and it seemed to work with less difficulty after that! You can see our fortress destination on the hilltop behind us. |
Several archbishops, starting with Archbishop Gebhard and
later expanded upon by the following archbishops, built this grand castle. In
order to reach the fortress from the city below, one can hike the footpath, or
take the funicular from Festungsgasse. If you look to the right here,
you can see the track in which the funicular travels up the mountain. We had
originally planned to hike up to the fortress and back down, but due to the extreme cold,
snow, and intense winds, we opted to take the funicular both directions.
The funicular, built in 1892, was a tram, traveling up the hillside in minutes, with large glass windows offering breathtaking (and sheltered!) views of the surrounding city below us. With the purchase of our Salzburg card, (which I mentioned in yesterday's post) the Funicular and other entrance fees at the Fortress were already included. The card also allowed us to 'fast pass' the line and jump directly onto the funicular, saving us wait time and allowing us a choice spot for viewing as we rode up the mountain.
 |
| Here is one of the pictures I took on the Funicular ride up! Center bottom you can see one of the trams traveling down the track back to the station, and above you can see a wintery view of Salzburg. |
After leaving the Funicular station at the top, we walked
along the fortress exterior, making our way to the main entrance. It was
enthralling to be at/in a fortress and feel immersed in medieval Austrian history!
The picture at left is one of the doors and stairways we
went through. The symbol above the doorway the fortress symbol: a lion with a beetroot/turnip in it's paws. They told us on one of the tours why the turnip became a part of the symbol, it was something about possibly being the crop one of the Archbishop's home towns grew. Though another story was that he was beat with the turnip by his father. Whatever the reason, it is the symbol and you would see it in various locations throughout the fortress. I tried to snap as many of these fascinating details my freezing
fingers would let me! On the other side you can see my hubby standing with our LO on his back.
 |
| One of the shots of the view on the walkway. |
 |
| Welcome to the fortress! Once inside the wall, we entered into an interior road dotted with many buildings which were small shops, museums, or places to dine. It was also well decorated for the Christmas season. So pretty! |
 | ||
On one of the tours, we were led up to the highest lookout tower. The view was spectacular, even with the winter storm swirling around us. I can only imagine how fabulous it would look if the skies were clear!
|
The tower was a neat place to be, but we didn't get to explore it long as it promptly started
hailing. We then fled back into the safety of the castle walls.
We went on a self-guided audio tour, which was fairly
interesting, though made slightly difficult by fussy little ones. My husband
missed nearly the entire audio guide and I only caught bits and pieces, however
we still got to walk through the rooms and explore the history for ourselves.
This picture is of the battlement walkway; A long hallway running along the exterior
fortress wall, with frequently placed lookout spots or windows, allowing one to
see what was going on around and below.
We also visited where prisoners and criminals were kept and viewed commonly used torture devices. Let me tell you our modern day criminals are lucky to be in modern prisons!
Despite being well outfitted for battle, the assets of this fortress were never used since
it was never attacked or conquered as it’s appearance itself was
foreboding enough to ward off enemies.
This courtyard (pictured above) served as the main square
for the fortress community, which was home to around one thousand people. If necessary,
this fortress could be entirely self-sufficient and was home to bakers,
blacksmiths, and other various craftsmen. The well in the far left of the picture, connected to
a rain-fed cistern and provided ample water for the people. We stopped here and procured some Glühwein to drink. Glühwein is a warm, spiced wine, and is a common beverage here. My hubby tried it and wasn't fond of it, our traveling mates however, loved it. Whenever we bought some sort of warm drink, it was served in a unique mug which was meant to be kept. As such, we now have several Salzburg themed mugs.
 |
| A small but ornate chapel off of the courtyard. |
 |
| Us, on a balcony off of the courtyard. My friend took this one of us! Another benefit of group traveling, you get more family pictures than you would by yourselves. Thanks! And just in case you couldn't tell, I am smiling under all my warm layers. Hubby is holding his mug of warm spiced wine. |
 |
| My hubby has a great smile, but here his face was mid-thaw. (Did I mention it was freezing outside?) |
We lunched at a restaurant in the fortress
that was decorated in renaissance style. If you look very bottom right of the picture above, you can
see that our LO has fallen asleep in his carrier. He slept for two hours! While we appreciated his sleep, it was a bit of a bummer because I really wanted to put him in that highchair on
the right. However we were very thankful that the carrier arrived just before
our journey. It made it so much easier to travel about, and he would sleep in
it all the time!
The next few pictures are for the foodies, those who want to know all the details of our dietary intake in other countries. You know who you are ;) The dish right was what my husband ordered, some pork loins with a dumpling served over cabbage. Austria and Germany both were very much a meat and potatoes sort of people. Austria was also very fond of cabbage, and a bed or bowl of it seemed to be included in every dish.
This plate at right was my dish. Yes, I took some liberties with
my diet. Not always intentionally, but I did all the same. However none were as
much as I wished I could have. It was more like, I’d let myself have salad
dressing on salads (I normally eat them plain) and here I have veggie patties,
which were mostly potato (and potato isn’t normally on my diet). So while I
took some liberties, they were almost all considered vegan, so they weren’t a
far stretch from my normal dietary intake. And let me tell you, those few
things, like salad dressing, tomatoes, and potatoes, were deliciously flavorful!
I may not have gotten to have roast suckling pig and dumplings, but I got to
have some exciting foods without going too far away from my diet. 
I don't recall the name of this dish, but our friends ordered and shared this large platter of mixed meats with dumplings over a bed of - you guessed it - cabbage! They said it was quite good, and I got to eat their wee salad on the far right. Yay for even more veggies!
 |
| My knight in not-so-shiny armor is a lot shorter than I had thought he would be... I think I'll keep the hunk at far left ;) |
After lunch, we departed the fortress in order to explore
the baroque styled city below us.
 |
| Leaving the Fortress and heading to the Funicular. I love how everything is built around rock and stone! |
I leave you with this final picture I took of the beautiful city of Salzburg. Thank you for bearing with my on this long picture filled post. I have much more coming if you're interested, so stay tuned!
 |
| This was a view off of a balcony at the fortress (when the snow let up for a bit!). Salzburg with it's baroque elements was very picturesque. The ribbon of water weaving through the city is the Salzach River. |
Previous Post:
Next Post: Hidden Bakery
No comments:
Post a Comment