My last Sunday Photo was taken in Salzburg, which at only an hour and a half from Munich is easy enough to visit for a day, or even just an afternoon if you’re feeling ambitious! We went with my Mum at the weekend, and no prizes for guessing from the title how long we actually spent there!
Having only ever visited a ski resort in Austria before (under duress), I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I did however imagine Salzburg to be a large city, and hopefully full of places selling Sacher Torte, having been introduced to it many moons ago by an English friend with an Austrian husband. Happily I was right about the Sacher Torte part, and of course we had to pay homage at the home of the cake itself at Hotel Sacher. It was worth it too, the staff are friendly, speak excellent English, and the coffee is pretty darn good if you don’t like chocolate or cake!…
Salzburg is not huge, but it is beautiful. With its large stucco buildings and ornate statues at every corner, it has a real Italian feel. According to the Two Small People, it is actually a “fairy tale” city, and features all of the fairy tale “requirements” they deem necessary!: – Large white castle on top of a hill complete with canons and dungeons – check! Mythical Shop signs – check! Horse drawn carriages seemingly the main form of transport – check! Tiny cobbled streets, and bells loud enough for Quasi Modo to hear – check! Eggs laid by Golden geese (see picture below) – check! And enough confectionary, cake and chocolate shops to keep Hansel and Gretel happy (no witches serving though, well at least I didn’t see any!)…
Of course being his birthplace, Mozart features heavily here, and his golden balls are plentiful and everywhere to be found (!)… Try them if you are a chocolate fan, they are very good! There are also Mozart street artists a plenty! Look out for the floating Silver Ghost of Mozart in the square who deserves extra points for effort!
As we were there on a Saturday, the market was in full swing, selling everything from the most amazing array of pretzels (sweet and savoury), to Easter goods including long branches with lots of Spring foliage at the top, and flowing ribbons attached. If anyone knows the real name for them, and whether they are displayed in or outdoors, or are part of some sort of Easter costume I would love to know!
Ducking through the narrow streets we followed the sunshine to a large square where an even larger Golden Ball takes pride of place. It fits surprisingly well here though, and you could easily lose a few hours watching the locals play chess on the oversized chess board below. After watching a very serious match for several minutes, we decided to venture to the Castle-on-Top-of-the-hill by means of a very sweet funicular train. This was far more my comfort level when it comes to heights, and there was still a spectacular view at top with the whole of Salzburg in front of you and the imposing mountains behind! The castle of course went down very well with The Five Year old, and even the Seven year old thought it was great, especially when we discovered the very compact but sweet Marionnetten Museum tucked away inside. Maria (in Julie Andrews form) was my favourite puppet, and you can even buy her if you would like to put on your very own Sound of Music at home…
Talking of The Sound of Music, we did have a wander around Mirabell Gardens where a few of the scenes were filmed. It’s a baroque garden worth visiting whether you are a fan of the film or not, and it is full of Spring flowers at the moment. If you are lucky (or perhaps not) you might even spot tourists trying to re-enact various Sound of Music Scenes. We saw a family complete in Austrian traditional dress doing the Vonn Trapp “group run down the path”!!
A bit like Maria, I have a list of favourite things, and I am going to add Salzburg to my list of special cities that are small, friendly, and beautiful. And to quote another famous Austrian, I’ll be back. Definitely…
Just catching up with blogs. Saltzburg sounds and looks beautiful. I should have pinched your ‘ball’ photos for my #FriFotos entry this week. The theme was balls!
I don’t like marzipan either but I love chocolate and cake and music.
Three out of four aint bad! :) I have added this to your travel round up for Britmums too xx
Sadly no one has commented on the reason for the sticks with spring foliage on the top decorated with ribbons! I will vouch for it being a beautiful city though! Mx
Patience Mother! ;) It was lovely to go there with you xxx
Oooh sacher torte is so famous im green with envy here did it taste as good as it looked. Looks like a wonderful place to visit.
Thanks Helen… It was very good. Not sure I could eat a whole one in one sitting though! :)
I’ve always wanted to go! Think my hubby (under duress!) will be coming along for a long weekend. Ax
I think he will like it honestly! The beer is excellent as well ;)
I love Saltzburg and I don’t like marzipan either! It’s a beautiful city and I love your photo’s which bring back all sorts of lovely memories! The only time I’m there these days is on a fleeting visit on our way to a ski resort! Terrible, I know! And I only eat Mozarts Golden Balls if there’s no other chocolate to eat!
Thank you :) Can’t believe we have another Marzipan hater though!! I will have your share of Mozart’s balls ;)
Wow that looks amazing! I’ve never thought of adding to my list of dreams locations, but it’s on the list now!
That’s great! I am sure you will love it… and if you don’t the cake’s pretty good :)
i want six hours in salzburg! ok, i want a bit more. and with my mother. it’s been on the list for a long time, because the first movie i ever saw on the big screen was ‘the sound of music’, with ma, when i was four, in a cinema hall in kolkata. the hills were alive, and i was mezmerized. and with your post, i was there before i was there.
You must go, and if you go for longer than six hours I will come and meet you and show you the way to the Sacher Hotel! :) Thanks for the lovely comment as always xx
Sounds like a very good choice for a city break and you do a great promotional post on it! Sound of Music, eh? I’d love that…can just imagine the re-enactments! We did a Fame style Grand- Jete lap of a fountain in Dublin’s Stephens Green once!
xx Jazzy
Thanks Jazzy! Would have loved to have seen that! :) xx
I was going to ask if that’s where the sound of music was filmed. You mentioned cake and chocolate like there are people in the world that don’t like them, really? No?! No, surely not!
I’ve just put Salzburg on my todo list :)
Yes, sadly there are a few poor misguided souls that claim not to like either chocolate or cake. Their lives must be hell. You must go if you can, I am sure you would love it :)
Love Salzburg, but am not a big fan of Mozartkugeln! In fact, I’m not a huge fan of marzipan at all. My favorite thing in Salzburg was actually the catacombs, even though I’ll grant you the rest of the city is extremely charming. ; ) We did not go to the Marionettenmuseum when I was there – but I wish we had! Love your photos!
Thanks MsCaroline. You don’t like Marzipan??? I LOVE the stuff. In fact I have been admiring marzipan easter-eggs in the hope that the Osterhase will bring me one! ;) We went to Salzburg on a whim so weren’t prepared at all. Next time I am definitely going to the Catacombs though, they sound really interesting! :)
This made me remember the time Mr P and myself went to Salzburg, a long time before before kids and marriage. I had completely forgotten about that holiday….Certainly is a beautiful little city
Thanks Frankie… Funny the things having children makes you forget isn’t it? :D