Day 30

Day 2 in Salzburg! Well, since some of the attractions that we planned to do were closed yesterday (or unavailable to the public) we had some extra time on our hands. Instead of using that time to hit the town nice and early, we decided to sleep in a little bit. We woke up at 7, a step up from 6:30, and took some nice warm showers. The bathrooms were even equipped with hairdryers. So of course, I had to test them out. My hair has not seen any electronic device in over 4 weeks. It felt good. After we were all showered and dressed, we left the hostel to see the rest of the city. We walked through a little market along the way to see if they had anything tasty for breakfast. Just when we thought all hope was lost, we found a nice big pretzel for only 1,50. It was very delicious. We left the market and walked a little bit more into the city, still hungry. We stopped at the Billa and I picked up a nice package of mixed fruit to munch on. We walked over towards St. Peter's Church and cemetery and went inside (the church). It was really nice inside, but I can't think of a better way to describe it, then by saying it had vaulted ceilings, marble columns and paintings everywhere. We left the church and started the hunt for some good lookout spots. Adam had come across one the other day so he took me up it. I don't know if the 200 stairs was worth it. But the view of the city was really nice. You could see everything from up there! We had a clear view to the castle, of the river, all of the churches, the whole skyline. We spent some time up there and decided it was time we saw Hohensalzburg. We walked to the castle and were relieved when we saw the funicular railway. After 30 days, my legs are just about done, so I have to save them whenever possible. We went up in the funicular and as soon as we got to the top, we started exploring. The view of the city was nice, but we knew it would be better once we got up into one of the towers. We got ready for our guided tour and then we were off. We saw one of the main chamber rooms, but all that was inside was paintings of the archdukes of Salzburg and what their contributions to the castle building. We left that room and went up to the "torture chamber." But we soon learned that no one was actually tortured in that room. Instead, it was just where they held prisoners and their torture weapons. We left that room and ascended one of the towers to get a beautiful panoramic view of the city. You could even see as far as Hellbrunn Palace (the place we went the day before)! Everything was so beautiful, and even though the sky wasn't clear, it didn't matter. I spent a while upstairs and reluctantly went back down when our tour left. We walked through the watchman's hallway and ended up at the end of the tour. We then had free roam of the castle, at least the outer part. We spent some more time up there climbing some towers and taking more pictures. We finally left the castle and went down to St. Peter's Catacombs. Now, I'm not sure what the difference between Catacombs and Casemates are, but they kind of looked the same. These catacombs were much smaller than the ones in Luxembourg however. They provided a nice view of the city and it was included in our Salzburg Card. After the catacombs it was time for lunch. And you guess it. We went to an all you can eat Chinese Buffet. They didn't have potstickers or won tons, but they did have fried rice and egg rolls, and that's all I really needed. It was delicious, but I think it might be the last time I eat Chinese food on this trip. I can't imagine myself craving it anymore. We left the restaurant and perused the streets for a bit, poking our heads into shops to see if there was any souvenirs worth buying. I found a few things. After that, it was almost time for our Lakes and Mountains tour. We went over to our pick up spot and waited for our bus/van to come. It was right on time. We left Salzburg and traveled north to the Lake District. This district has over 70 natural lakes, many of hem created right after that last ice age. We made one stop along the way to take a peek outside, but it was pretty cold, so I jumped right back in the van. We continued to travel deeper into the district and made it to St. Gilgen. St. Gilgen is a famous city in Austria because it was where Mozart's mother was born. They made her house into a museum and it is now open to the public. We spent a little bit of time in the city but then got back in the van to travel to our next destination. We drove almost all of the way around Wolfgangsee (Wolfgang Lake) to the little town of St. Wolfgang. We were given 45 minutes to walk around the city. During that time we took pictures, went inside the local church, and even stopped for some ice cream. We tried a new flavor too. Hazelnut. It was pretty good, and I don't think I've ever seen it in the states, but now I'll be on the look out. It is also Adam's new favorite flavor. After our ice cream stop, we went back to the dock and boarded our boat. The boat was going to take us across the lake and back to the town of St. Gilgen. It's a good thing we boarded first, because there were a limited number of seats inside and it was very cold outside. The ride was relaxing and the lake was beautiful. We arrived in St. Gilgen 40 minutes later and got ready to head back to Salzburg. We drove past Mondsee (Moon Lake) and were told that we were now in what was considered Upper Austria. I think that means I've been in all 4 regions of the country now. We left Mondsee and made it back to Salzburg relatively quickly. After we left our tour guide, we headed back to the hostel and settled in for the night. Hallstatt is tomorrow!