April Photo Share

A view of Salzburg with a glimpse of Deutschland in the background.

You know your picnic and mini-hike are good when a monk passes you on the trail, and you say "Grüß Gott" and he replies with "Servus."  

The fountains have escaped their glass enclosures to give spritzes and delight.  

 

This may be blasphemous, but the gelato in Munich was better than the gelato in Italy.  Kokos- Mandelcreme, or coconut-almond creme?  The. best.  His was a lemon variety, and also quite good.

Did I just become a snob?  Maybe.  

This is the way to do pizza so you don't end up feeling completely guilty.  But when you eat half of it...

Also, the two times we've been to Munich, we've had Chinese food and pizza.

I just don't know. 

A different view of the Neues Rathaus.  The figures in the middle of the tower spin around and such at different times of the day.  We still haven't managed to see it. I guess we'll just have to visit again.

Schmetterlinge. 

And good, old Festung Hohensalzburg sits pretty on a brilliant spring day.

I'm still enchanted by it all: the castle on the hill, the fountains, the bakeries, alles.  When I'm on the bus, I can't help looking at the castle and at the snow-capped mountains while other passengers text or blankly stare ahead.  It's still fairytale-esque.      

Wanderings around Kapuzinerberg

Kapuzinerberg, oh, how elusive you've been the past few days, but here we go! 

Not only is Steingasse home to the birth-house of the man who wrote "Silent Night," but also Shrimps Restaurant!

Taking a right after the crustacean, we climbed stairs until my muscles ached and I felt a little woozy.  Suddenly, we beheld a sight: a mini-kitty sat on a step and peered down at us.  Ben thought that the mini-kitty would be hostile, but I saw a gentle creature. 

After seriously considering whether we could tuck the mini-kitty under an arm and whisk her away to our room, we tore ourselves away, discussing the pets that we would have one-day when we return home and live somewhere that allows animal-friends. 

More climbing

No caption needed

Remember when I wrote about the take-care-of-yourself mentality of Austrians.  Here's another example.   No guard rail, no problems?

It did offer a great view with no protective barrier to ruin the picture.  

Ben thought that some mythical creatures were living in the hole under the stump - maybe just some rot and sludge?

Stolpersteine and a Walk Back

It's difficult to imagine what life was like years ago.  

In towns that we've visited, we've come across Stolpersteine.  It translates as "stumbling stones" because when you least expect it, you just might stumble over one.  They're small, golden squares embedded into cobblestones or concrete that commemorate victims of the Holocaust.  When you find one, you'll read the name of a person or of a family, and learn of their fate.  They're placed in front of the buildings in which the victim or victims lived.  Sometimes you will find one, look up, and see a building standing there, a building like any other.  It doesn't cry out of the pain and confusion its occupants felt when they were deported.  Without the Stolperstein, you would have walked by without taking a moment to stop and reflect.

Even more unsettling is when you find a Stolperstein and no building exists.  In Wiener Neustadt, we came across one and when we looked up, there was a parking garage.  No amount of squinting could bring the home of the victims into focus.  But, we paused and then moved on.  I guess that's the point of Stolpersteine.  

What all of this is introducing is a walk down Steingasse.  Steingasse runs parallel to a major road on the eastern side of Salzburg's old city.  We got off the bus, and in one minute, we were walking down this street.  And, it was eerily quiet.  We encountered very few people, and for a little while, it felt like we stepped back in time.  The buildings towered overhead and I could imagine people opening their windows to shake out a rug or to say hallo to a neighbor across the street.  

It's usually so hard to imagine what the world used to look like in days gone by, but on this street, somehow, I could.

             

The Inner Stone Gate from 1634.

 

Then, we came upon this building and plaque.  "'Silent Night, Holy Night' Joseph Mohr was born in this house on December 11, 1792.  The words that he wrote in 1818 are sung today by people all over the world."

We didn't find any Stolpersteine on Steingasse, but wandering a bit farther, we found a couple.

Steingasse links to Kapuzinerberg, and I'll write about our little jaunt there soon.

We ended our outing by crossing the bridge to the Alt Stadt and I finally took pictures of the memorial of the bridge that we cross nearly every day.  

It was because of Adventure.

Yesterday, we decided to tackle one of the items on our to-do list: hike up Kapuzinerberg to frolic and enjoy ourselves in the fall fancy.  "Hike" overstates our trek as we just walked up some stone stairs, and I feel like I need to tell you this because I want there to be a bit of transparency.  And, if you ever visit Salzburg, know that although the walk up is rather tame, venturing elsewhere requires sturdy walking shoes.  And a heart as solid as steel, as I shall explain.

Like many places in Austria, Kapuzinerberg has religious affiliations.  Monks still live on the mountain as they have for centuries.  We decided, however, that instead of visiting the monastery gardens, the bust of Mozart, and the Wohnhaus of writer Stefan Zweig, we would walk around the perimeter of the mountain.  

First stop: A scenic overlook.  Salzburg's old town is across the river on the western side and the new side of town ("new," of course, used loosely) is in the foreground here on the eastern side.  Much has been said about the old town, but let's take a second to admire the new!  

 In the last photo, you can see some of the hedges of Mirabell Gardens.  That place is extensive.  And, yes, I am in love with that dome.  Ben and I have a thing for cupolas.

After taking in the view, we walked on.  We came to a sign that offered us several options, none of which we took, because Adventure.  Adventure required that we took the side path with the sign promising that Salzburg would not be responsible if we hurt ourselves in our aimless wanderings because they no longer maintain that path.  How could we resist?

We walked.  We talked.  We laughed.  The sun made its slow descent.  No paths down the mountain presented themselves.  We worried.

Here, Ben points out a natural shelter we can use if we don't make it off the mountain.

We found mushrooms.  This is one of them.  There were no Alice's Adventures in Wonderland moments.  At least, none that we remember.  

 

 But! The trees were spectacular, putting on their fall best!  They lured us further and further in...

These lookouts sprang up several times on our walk.  We noticed blankets pushed into the windows of one and discovered that it was someone's home.  "Brisk" would be a good word to describe our walking pace from then on. "Lightning-fast" would properly describe our pace after we found a dismantled tent and some plastic bags on the side of the path.  Just kidding, we took pictures next to it because the leaves and colors were just TOO good.  Then we ran.

These two photos were admittedly taken after the fact, today actually.  I didn't take a picture of the little home for fear that we would disturb the homeowner. 

Then Ben had a Mistah Kurtz moment in which he felt he had dominion over the mountain.  

I saved him by telling him there was another overlook ahead.

We made it to another lookout and took more pictures.  This is the Museum der Moderne where we saw the Chuck Close exhibit.  People have criticized the building, calling it something like "a big, concrete block" since it doesn't really fit in with the classic architecture of Salzburg.  There isn't one dominating architectural style in the city, but this certainly stands out.  

   
And more photos of the old town.  It's stupid pretty.

In the end, we ran out of sunlight and knew that we had to turn around.  We walked all of the way back to the sign that suggested "approved" walking routes and took more stone steps that led into a shopping street.

 From Adventure to Safety, all within Salzburg.