19 May 2018, Saturday
After two days in Vienna, it was time to head west to Salzburg, the fourth largest city of Austria. Salzburg was one of the places I was really excited about, because like many others, I grew up watching the classic 1965 film The Sound of Music, and the songs from the film provided the soundtrack to my childhood. It would be a dream to visit the locations where the film was shot and see the cinematic images come to life.
After checking out from our Airbnb apartment, we took a 5-minute walk to the Wien Hbf railway station. We arrived at 8:50am, well in time for our 9:35am ÖBB Express train 19790 direct to Salzburg. The 2nd class seat costs €22 (S$35.75), including €3 for seat reservation. The train journey took about 2 hours 50 minutes and we arrived at Salzburg Hbf at 12:25pm.
For our accommodation in Salzburg, I booked a hotel because there were very few good Airbnb options available. I chose Der Salzburger Hof because it was located very close to the railway station, just a 5-minute walk away. It was a little pricey but that was the going rate for hotels in Salzburg so it was the best choice.
Der Salzburger Hof hotel
Address: Kaiserschuetzenstrasse 1, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
Room type: Triple Room
Price: S$978.10 (inclusive of 13% VAT) for 3 nights
Additional city tax of €1.55/person/night to be paid in cash at hotel
Website: www.dersalzburgerhof.at/en
The hotel was very nice and comfy. I particularly liked the décor in the lobby, with its row of cinema seats, upturned grand piano and warm lighting. After staying at various Airbnb apartments for the past 17 days, it took a while for us to get used to the size of the living quarters. The room was normal sized for a hotel, but there was definitely much less space than an entire Airbnb apartment. The room’s walls, and indeed, all around the hotel corridors as well, were plastered with images from The Sound of Music, as you would expect from all the hotels in Salzburg. Milking it for all it’s worth.
After settling down our luggage, we headed out at about 1:05pm to look for food. We weren’t feeling very adventurous so we settled for a quick meal at Burger King. Following that, we went to buy a 24-hour transport ticket for €3.80 ($6.20). It was cheaper than the one in Vienna, which costs €8.
We wanted to take it easy today so we decided to visit the Designer Outlet Salzburg first (click here). Furthermore, it is closed on Sundays so we had to visit it today. We took a bus from Salzburg Hbf and the ride took about 20 minutes.
Designer Outlet Salzburg has over 95 stores, including the usual suspects like Boss, Calvin Klein, Asics, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren and more. The design of the mall is quite nice, with the shops all housed within the same building. However, the prices were not so nice. We spent about an hour here before leaving empty handed (phew!).
We then took a bus back to the city centre and alighted near Getreidegasse, the bustling heart of Salzburg’s Old City. “Getreide” is the German word for “grain” but this street has nothing to do with grain. It was originally called Trabegasse, where the verb “traben” means to trot along, but over the years, it gradually got changed into Getreidegasse and the name stuck.
Getreidegasse is the main pedestrian shopping street and it is narrow and flanked with shops on both sides. More importantly, No. 9 Getreidegasse was the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the most famous and influential classical music composers ever. The no. 9 building has been converted into a museum housing artefacts and instruments used by Mozart himself. Besides The Sound of Music, Mozart is the other big thing in Salzburg that you simply cannot escape from. You’ll find shops selling chocolates and memorabilia bearing Mozart’s name and image everywhere.
As we walked along Getreidegasse, we saw many people eating ice-cream so we traced the source and it brought us to a shop called Eisgrotte. There were many flavours available and a scoop of ice-cream on a cone costs only €1. It was really good. No wonder so many people were eating it!
We continued walking down the street and soon reached Mozartplatz, aka Mozart Square. In the middle of the square is the Mozart Monument, a bronze statue of Salzburg’s most famous son, unveiled in 1842.
Located right next door is Residenzplatz, which is named after the Salzburg Residenz building. This was where the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg used to reside in since the 13th century or even earlier. Adjacent to the Residenz building is the Salzburg Cathedral, the most important church in Salzburg.
In the middle of Residenzplatz stands the 15m-tall Residence Fountain, the largest Baroque fountain in Central Europe. In The Sound of Music, Maria stopped at the fountain and splashed water at one of the fountain’s horses while singing I Have Confidence In Me, as she made her way to the Von Trapp house for the first time.
When we visited, the area was a little messy due to ongoing construction works. The weather was gloomy and the fountain wasn’t in full flow, so we didn’t witness the Residence Fountain and Residenzplatz in their full glory.
At 5:30pm, the shops were mostly pulling down their shutters and the historic city centre started emptying out. We decided to have an early dinner. We popped into a restaurant called Saran Essbar and went for their €9.90 (S$16.20) Wiener Schnitzel. Unfortunately, today’s schnitzel was disappointing as it tasted like something you would get at a school canteen. It was a pork schnitzel, and not like the original veal schnitzel we had yesterday at Salzamt in Vienna. Well, you pay for what you get.
After dinner, we took a leisurely stroll back to our hotel. By 8pm, we were safely ensconced in our hotel room, ready to unwind and pack our bags for tomorrow’s day trip to Berchtesgaden. Exciting day ahead tomorrow!