I have been
a little slow returning to my blog after the holiday season. January flew by in
the blink of an eye and I cannot believe it is already February! With all that
being said, it is high time to get back into blogging. First up is a recap of
our New Year’s trip to Salzburg.
The view of the center of Salzburg and the fortress from the Modern Art Museum. |
One of my
favorite things about living in Europe is the close proximity to other
countries. I will never get tired of the fact that within a few hours we can be
in a different country with a different language, landscape, and an entirely
different cuisine! We hopped in the car before sunrise a couple days before New
Year’s Eve and in less than 6 hours we arrived in Salzburg just in time for
lunch!
I have to
say I was surprise by the size of Salzburg. It is quite small seeing as it is
the 2nd most well-known city in Austria behind Vienna (the official
statistics report that Salzburg is the 4th largest city in Austria).
Andrea explained that it is often called the Jewel Box of Europe and I can see
why. There are beautiful buildings lining the river on the west side of the
city and each building is a different pastel color. Behind those you can see
steeples, towers, and roof tops rising
above the city center and behind that the giant fortress on the hill. The city
is small but full of sites to check out.
My favorite
site in the city center was the Residenz which served as home to the
Archbishops of Salzburg. The palace
is ornate with humongous paintings adorning almost every wall and ceiling, gold
detailing everywhere and no shortage of glittering chandeliers. After working
our way all the way through the enormous palace we discovered that if you go
through the gift shop and past the snack room then there is a door that leads
onto a large rooftop deck that used to connect the palace with the church and
from which you have great views.
Three different rooms in the Residenz. |
Of course,
whenever I travel anywhere my favorite thing to do is experience the local
cuisine which in Salzburg meant lots of Goulash (a hearty meaty stew), Wiener Schnitzel
(turkey, pork, or veal steak pounded thin and fried) with cranberry sauce, Frankfurters,
and lots and lots of beer. The food is definitely hardy in that part of Europe
and the portions are generous!
Check out my stronghold on that beer! Andrea's huge Canederli (dumpling made with bread or potato and speck) is almost as impressive! |
This is what our lunch looked like almost every day! Sausage, kraut, and beer! Yum!! |
Our afternoon treat at Café Sacher - Sacher torte and chocolate and raspberry cake! |
For New
Year’s Eve we returned to the same spot on the hill above the river to watch
the fireworks but some many people were shooting off their own individual
fireworks and creating so much smoke that it was impossible to see any of the
organized fireworks. We felt satisfied though with the show we had seen earlier
that evening and not all that surprised seeing as how we have bad luck with
fireworks on New Year’s Eve (someday I’ll put up the story of our first New
Year’s Eve in Paris).
On New Year’s
Day as is tradition in Austria, we went to two concerts. The first in the
morning was at the theater and the symphony performed three beautiful pieces.
The thing that stood out the most to me, however, was that some of the people
attending the concert were dressed in traditional Austrian dress (think of what
people wear to Oktoberfest). I have to admit I never knew that people earnestly
wore this type of clothing seeing as how I had only seen such clothing at
restaurants or in pictures from Oktoberfest where it seemed to be more of a
costume. The second concert was in the Residenz. There was a woman who sang opera
and a man who played a harpsichord (the same instrument that Mozart played).
The beautiful harpsichord that the musician played during the concert we attended at the Residenz. |
There is an
abundance of things to see in Salzburg and if you are a nature enthusiastic or
the sporty type than there is a whole other set of things to do. You can find
my complete travel guide to Salzburg here.
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