Salzburg and around

[anshjain97]

I thought I'd post a bit about Salzburg. I spent 4 nights in 2011 and this amount was good enough to really appreciate this amazing city.

We arrived by train from Munich.
Here is our hotel.


Salzburg is divided into roughly north-south by the Salzach river. The southern bit is occupied by the beautiful Old Town (Altstadt in German). Our hotel was in the northern part of town, around 15 min walk.

We started walking towards the Old Town. Here, still not in the Old Town, the tourist area began:




Here is the river.


(I have pictures of the Old Town skyline from the riverside, will post them later)

And now, in the Old Town


Walking is the best way to explore the relatively compact core. Car access is restricted to only a few roads; most roads are as narrow.


And here is the first square we reached, called the Alter Markt (Old Market).



More later.

[waterhazardjack]

Good show, Ansh.

Keep 'em coming...

[htmb]

Yes, very nice start, Ansh!

[anshjain97]

Thanks, guys.

This building is the Salzburg cathedral:


The next square we visited was called Residenzplatz, home to the Salzburg Museum (which we didn't visit). The white building is the museum.


Around the square...



We then went to this chocolate shop/cafe right on Mozartplatz (Mozart's square...right opposite his statue).


Here is the statue itself:


And here is the statue from another angle; you can see the cathedral and museum as well.


Here is a typical Salzburg street sign- it looks good but not the easiest to read.


There's a fortress called Festung Hohensalzburg which hangs above the Old Town. It can be reached from a funicular from somewhere in the Old Town- so we were trying to find the funicular. Here you can see bit of the fortress:


And a random streetview:


Finally we found the funicular and went up to the fortress. Really amazing views from up there; here is the Old Town, and the other part of town beyond the river (also the area where the main railway station is- another 20 min walk north from our hotel).




A look around the fortress. We had taken an audioguide but I wasn't interested in the fortress really, just came for the views.


And views from the other direction.

[Deleted]

When I see lovely pictures like this, I always tend to remember that one reason that these cities look so nice is because they were rebuilt after the war.

"Allied bombing destroyed 7,600 houses and killed 550 inhabitants. A total of 15 strikes destroyed 46 percent of the city's buildings especially around Salzburg train station. Although the town's bridges and the dome of the cathedral were demolished, much of its Baroque architecture remained intact. As a result, it is one of the few remaining examples of a town of its style."

The pride of their heritage caused certain cities to make a special effort to retain the style that made them so distinctive before they were destroyed, especially when there were enough vestiges left to use as a base for the reconstruction.

Other cities were so totally pulverized by the war that they mostly look like they sprang up from nothing starting in 1950. I can think of a number of cities in Germany, France and Belgium that lost all of their heritage, but I'm sure that the problem is not restricted to those three countries. If London looks like such a weird mishmash of styles now, a lot of the reason can be attributed to rebuilding after the blitz.

[Deleted]

Interesting photos. You have sure been to many places, ansh!

[anshjain97]

Thanks, guys. Good to know about the history. I have regrettably not read much about the historical context of a place before visiting- one of those things to change in the future.

We descended from the fortress by foot- here's a view from somewhere on the path.


Now, back to strolling around the Old Town.



Very close to our hotel was the Mirabell Palace and gardens, one of the site for "The Sound of Music." Here is the palace:


And here is the garden, the view behind has the fortress above.

[bixaorellana]

But Ansh, where is the picture of you in lederhosen?

This is a really lovely look at the city. You got some great pictures -- super angles in many of them.

[anshjain97]

Ah Bixa as you probably noticed, it was too warm for lederhosen! In fact on my school visit to Bavaria last year, my host family wanted to buy some traditional clothes and so the shop catered to locals. Very expensive things, and no opportunity to wear that in Bangalore's weather- so didn't buy anything.

The next day we took a day trip to the capital of the state called Tirol, Innsbruck, located right in the Alps.

Leaving Salzburg by train...


A view from the train:


Reaching Innsbruck's station


The Alps can be seen clearly: loved the view:


Here is a tram in Innsbruck:


Around the Old Town:

[anshjain97]

Continuing through the Old Town:





Unfortunately my parents had decided to take a Hop On Hop Off bus. At least one good thing that came out of that was visiting the Tirol Panorama, which you guessed it, is a scenic viewpoint, close to the Bergiesel, the famous ski lift.

Views from there:



Now a few photos from the bus:

[anshjain97]

Then we reached this building, the Congress Innsbruck (no idea what it is used for though)


Here we took a train which went up a hill just outside the center: the entire thing was called Innsbruck Nordkette. Views from the train:


Then, the final leg to the top was by a cable car of sorts.

[Deleted]

Wonderful views, ansh. You went up in a a cable car to where?

[anshjain97]

The cable car was to the top of the mountain.

[Deleted]

So do people go up there just for the view? Is that the purpose of it?

[anshjain97]

Actually there were a few people who went up with mountain bikes and were planning to cycle down the mountain. But besides that, and maybe hiking, didn't find anything there except for a buffet counter with benches right at the viewpoint/near the edge of the mountain.

[bixaorellana]

Stunning views, Ansh. Gad, the idea of cycling down that mountain makes my blood run cold.

What a beautiful area. Yes, I can see it must have been warm when you were there. Was this pure vacation, or maybe a stopover?

As far as that goes ~~ Bavaria for a class trip?! Wow.

[Deleted]

It's nice seeing all of these pictures, because I have been in Austria very little. On my first trip to Vienna, I found myself totally allergic to the city for some reason and left after only one day.

However, I did go to Austria for a ski trip once, and I found the Austrian Alpine villages really wonderful. I haven't actually been to any of the other cities like Salzburg or Innsbruck, so I am glad to be able to see them here.

[anshjain97]

Bixa, this was a vacation. 9 nights- 2 in Munich, 4 in Salzburg and 3 in Vienna. Regarding the school trip to Bavaria, it was an exchange program.

[lagatta]

kerouac, I know others who have had that reaction to Vienna. I've never been there. One of my dear friends in the world is of Viennese (secular Jewish) descent, though born in Sao Paolo as his leftist and non-Aryan parents had good reason to leave. He is still very Viennese, though he has lived many other places and never spent much time there. There is something strange about Vienna. I've recounted our other friend who moved back there after 30 years and pretty much killed himself.

[anshjain97]

I liked Vienna but it was just so bloody crowded it made walking around in the center a little daunting. The good thing was even one block from a crowded area could be completely empty.

[anshjain97]

Here is a cable car on the rails:


Now, it was time to leave. Our next stop was where my mom had wanted to visit: the Swarovski Kristallwelten (World of Crystal) at Wattens, a small village near Innsbruck.



We had taken a taxi here. I thought it would create a problem getting back since the only way was by bus- didn't think any taxis could be found anywhere- and if we didn't arrive by bus, there was no knowing of how to get to the bus stop.

A few wonders made of crystal inside...quite remarkable, actually.




Unfortunately there were too many tour groups with their incessant shouting to a group/family member somewhere in front...

Indeed, the transportation thing did create a small problem.
Here is just outside:



No taxi in sight, no clue of the bus stop, we just decided on walk on the highway (illegal?) towards Wattens. Around 5-7 min later, we were in Wattens and went inside a bakery to ask someone directions. Friendly people, they came outside and pointed towards the bus stop. The next bus was around 20 min away.

And...right across, in plain view, was the Swarovski Kristallwelten...there was a path from the bus stop leading right to it.


Seemed to have rained while we were inside:


Now in the bus, just looking around



Back to Innsbruck station, we took a train back to Salzburg. Because of a delay, we reached back only at midnight.

[lagatta]

Only the very central (touristic) part of Vienna is so crowded; otherwise it is like any other major European city. I lived in Rome for several months; it was like that. In many districts there were few if any tourists.

[anshjain97]

Yes- but even then I found the centre of Vienna much more crowded than Rome's. In different years, I was in Rome around Easter and Vienna at late June.

The next day in Salzburg: a church near our hotel:



Here is back to Mirabell's Palace:


A band was playing there:




A view of the Old Town from the riverside:


And, just wandering around the Old Town:









In the afternoon we decided to take a tour of the nearby Lake area- Salzkammergut. More of that later.

[anshjain97]

Leaving Salzburg that afternoon...



The first town we reached was called St Gilgen (a tiny town with a population of around 4000). Here is Mozart's House:


It is on the Wolfgangsee (Lake Wolfgang). From St Gilgen we got on a ferry.


View from the ferry:



And here is the town of St Wolfgang, population 2000, famous for its Gothic church (in pic)


A few pictures of the town:

[Deleted]

Nice villages, but I see that your luck had run to an end with the weather!

[bixaorellana]

Apologies for taking so long to come back to see the wonderful stuff you've added.

Wow, you really got some great pictures. I admire the way you find things of interest to photograph even though you're traveling on someone elses schedule. The photo of the band in the park is great, for instance, & the rainbow is a knockout. It seems as though even bad weather produced lovely pictures.

One of the things that fascinates me most are the fancy, "important" buildings in the old section that are butted right up to the sheer rock.

[anshjain97]

Thanks, guys. Luckily the heaviest rain occurred when we were in the ferry rather than in the towns.

[anshjain97]

Here is the church in St Wolfgang.


Then we drove to the town of Mondsee, on the Mondsee (Moonlake). The town is famous for its church used for the wedding scene in The Sound of Music.
The town:


Here is the church:




More of the town:



That was it for that day: we returned to Salzburg later in the evening.

[anshjain97]

We had no idea what to do next day. We had explored Salzburg to our satisfaction and had one full day before leaving to Vienna. So, as we had rail passes we decided to visit the city of Linz. I didn't what what to do there but thought of just seeing a new city. No one I know has gone there; the city isn't too much on the tourist radar.
Linz is Austria's third largest city with around 200,000 people.

Pictures from just outside the railway station:



We entered the main street called Landstrasse. My mother found lots of nice shopping to be done, so lots of time was spent here. Pictures of the street:




More of the street:




Entering Hauptplatz (Central Sq)...



An overview of the entire square:

[Deleted]

It looks like a city without graffiti, but that can't possibly be true...