Salzburg

The train was a short 2 hour ride from Innsbruck. This was one of our first packed trains in awhile, but we still found seats. This week is the St. Rupert's Fair, which is like a mini-Octoberfest. Local transportation is free, but we decided to get the Salzburg card anyway. These cards can be great value or a tourist trap, depending on the city, so you need to do some research. Even though the buses and trams are free, it's still a great deal for 48 hours. Go to 3 museums or sites, and it pays for itself.

We booked an apartment about 3 miles south of town, which is starting to hit farmland already. We wondered if that was a mistake, since we'd be shuttling to the fair on buses. We were met by Monica when we got off the bus after Deanne texted our ETA. She spoke broken English, but was very sweet. The apartment is only 2 years old and Monica has a nice design taste. It's perfect! A coffee machine with pods, plenty of room, right on the busline, and the best part was when she offered a dozen farm-fresh eggs. We didn't have time to stop at a store on the way in and it was as if she read our minds about breakfast.

We went back to town right away to meet up with our friend Louie and his friend Michael at the funicular to get up to the Fortress Hohensalzburg, the big fortress on the biggest hill in town. Louie's a like-minded traveler who takes breaks from his job as a pilot whenever he can. He met us in Barcelona this winter. His friend Michael is from Denver.

We walked through the St. Rupert's fest area to get on the funicular. Dirndls (traditional Bavarian and Austrian dresses) and Lederhosen are in! About half the people we saw were wearing them. I read an article in a newspaper this year that they had come back into fashion in the last 10 years or so after being NOT COOL for a few decades. I'd love to buy some Lederhosen, but they run $200-$500 and are kinda heavy. I'm gonna pass.

Unlike Octoberfest in Munich, this is a low-key family affair with rides for kids. There are beer and wine tents, but I'd say there were about 2,000 - 4,000 people drinking and eating when we got there at about Friday happy hour time. The fortress had great views of the city and there were several small museums tucked into corners.

On the way home, we stopped at the Augustiner brewery, which was right on our busline. It was our first Bavarian style brewery/ beerhall. Even though it was late, the experience was fun. After you walk in, you grab a mug from a shelf on the wall. Then you walk up to a cashier and pay. With receipt in hand, you walk up to the bartender who's one job is to "Fill up der Stein." He makes a show of sliding it across a metal table with holes in it to catch the foam. The beerhall was huge and has plaques on the wall for various drinking clubs, many of which give their hours: Stammtisch Pensioners - every 2nd Thursday of the month from 4:00.

The lights started going off at 10:45 and at 10:55 all lights went off and a guy walked around the room telling everyone to get out.. A table next to us had a group of about 8 teenagers drinking. They were probably 16 or so and were much better behaved in a bar than my friends and I at 25.

The next day, we all hung out and walked around town and saw the sights, stopped for wine at cafes and markets, and pretty much avoided the fair area. It was hard to get a beer and they didn't have bathrooms! There were no porta potties and just one public restroom that I could see and they charged 50 cents. The line was so long, we know better than to order a drink there, so we went to a restaurant.

After saying goodbye around dinner time, we went back to the Augustiner beer hall again, because, why not? What a difference it was to get there by 8 pm instead of 10:30. The place was packed. There are small cafeteria style kiosks on the first floor with various food items. I got some ribs and kraut and we drank a few steins. They had run out of brats already

I counted six large rooms on the first floor that were full. There's also an upstairs and an outdoor beer garden. This is all at the same time as the fair going on in the center. We know now that after grabbing mugs from a shelf, you're supposed to rinse them in cold water to cool the mugs.

On Sunday, we headed south of town to take a gondola up to a peak called Untersberg. The views were partially blocked by cloudcover, but what we saw was impressive. There was snow on the ground and we were right on the border with Germany. The small restaurant on top was cheap and delicious. We still can't believe how cheap the food is compared to the first part of our trip.

Afterwards, we took a bus to see Schloss Hellbrunn, the palace grounds of a Prince Archbishop who was especially playful. He had these trick water fountains installed that used hydrolic pressure to power toys and to squirt unsuspecting guests. The gardens were impressive and Deanne got to see the glass gazebo used in the film The Sound of Music where Liesl sang 16 going on 17.

Tomorrow we are checking our bags at the station for a quick tour of Munich and a few hours at Octoberfest. Rooms are full or too expensive, so we're spending the day there before heading to Fuessen for the night.

More photos and videos are here.

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