Bye Bye Salzburg – Mozart, Mirabelle Gardens and the Sacher Torte

On the train to Vienna after our final day in Salzburg. Jeremy and I decided that we definitely needed more time here–it went by so quick. We slept in today and headed into the city around 10:30. Our hotel was nice enough to store our luggage even though we checked out. First stop a Jeweler and watch store, but we didn’t buy anything. Then we went back to the “Christmas in Salzurg” store to buy blown Easter eggs/Christmas eggs. I wanted to hit up the pretzel stand I saw the day before – soooo many choices and I ended up with a savory and a sweet choice – HUGE chocolate pretzel and a HUGE bacon cheese pretzel. Walking the shops we came upon Mozarts Geburtshaus (Mozarts Birthplace) and used our Salzburg card to tour the museum. Mom will be excited to know lots of the shops have her Lamb cake in their windows (not iced as beautiful though!). We headed along the water towards the Augustine Brewery ONLY to find that it was closed with strange hours today. Soooo sad!!! We walked back towards the Mirabelle Gardens which were pretty except for the electricians big orange van blocking the great photo op for all the tourists… We knew we were close to Mozarts Wohnhaus (Mozarts Residence) so we toured that museum as well. Nearby was the Hotel Sacher so we had to go into the cafe to try the famous Sacher Torte. There have been legal disputes as to who has the rights to the name, with Sacher Hotel being the winner. We also decided to have lunch; Jeremy got a white asparagus pasta and I got chicken weinerschnitzel (sp?) with a salad and vinegar potato salad with cucumbers. Absolutely delicious!! We had cappucinos and a Sacher Caffee (with Sacher Liquor similar to Baileys) and split a sacher torte with cream (mit Schlag). We walked back through the old town a bit – went to look at some more watches of course. Then headed to get our luggage and head toward the Salzburg Banhof station. Now have about a 2 and a half hour ride to Vienna where will will meet Sandra and Bob at the Marriott.

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Salzburg

Arrived in Salzburg and walked to our hotel where we had an easy check-in. It was 3:00 pm so we immediately headed for the old town and sights where we bought a 24 hour Salzburg Card providing access to museums and other discounts. We walked through the Salzburg Museum and then through many fountains, squares and statues. Of course we went into the beautiful Dom/cathedral. There are lots of chocolate shops with tasty Easter treats and candies everywhere, and we found a shop with TONS of handmade Easter eggs painted in different themes. We even stumbled across a unique and very old Katacombs/cemetary. Along the way we saw signs for a Mozart evening concert. Instead of walking back to our hotel, we stayed in the old town and killed time before the 8pm concert. We didn’t want the dinner package, so we booked the cable car and concert only. Also, we had not eatten lunch and we were starving so looked for an early dinner spot. We looked and looked and finally found a cool place called Hagenauerstubn near mozarts guest house. The food being served looked yummy and everyone inside seemed local – the menu did not have any English translations. I chose a dumpling and pork dish and Austrian sparkling wine and Jeremy ordered a veal noodle dish with red peppercorns. Next we wanted to go to Cafe Demel but this location had closed so we went to Cafe Tomaselli (seit 1705) nearby that looked very busy. It ended up being a guidebook suggestion as one of the oldest cafes. A waitress brought trays around with pastries and desserts to choose (you pay immediately in cash) – I ordered an easter egg shaped custard cake and apple pie/strudel, while Jeremy ordered a layered cake with cream and fruit. You separately order drinks from another waiter in a traditional style and we got cappucinos for a pick-me-up. We made our way to the gondola which took us up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress overlooking the entire city. We had time to take photos and walk the castle before the concert which worked perfectly because the sun was beginning to set and the views were beautiful. We bought the cheaper tickets but it was not busy: we were three rows from the front of the stage and was almost like a private concert with about 30 people there. But amazing music. You can tell it is definitely the off season which we love, however there are some tourists – we are kicking it with the many many Asian tourgroups. On the walk back to the hotel we stopped at a great bar and wine shop and picked up a bottle of the sparkling wine I had at dinner. Calling it an early evening for once – lots of the city to see tommorrow…

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Photos

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Liechtenstein Sightseeing and Travel to Salzburg

We are on the train headed to Salzburg, Austria. Gebi and Andrea dropped us at the Feldkirch station and escorted us to our platform so we made sure we were in the right place and right train. We are tired and Jeremy especially since he stayed up with Gebi until 6 am drinking wine last night. We had another great continental type breakfast before we left for the station. Yesterday Gebi showed us some great sightseeing and beautiful countryside. Even the view out the front door is amazing! We began with a wonderful breakfast at home of scrambled eggs with fresh chives, bacon, ham, tons of breads and pastries, and coffee and tea. Then we had the tour of Gebi’s extensive motorcycle collection. We went up the mountain roads and to a nearby town where Gebi grew up and saw his childhood home. We then stopped by Gebi and Andrea’s property they recently began leasing for grape production and winemaking. Although a hobby for them, the area was much larger than expected with around 1147 trees. A unique fact was that driving around town we could see the blanketed grass/plants growing which were actually the greens that were an ingredient in our risotto the night before – they have an oniony smell/taste. We kept driving and along the way saw the Lichtenstein prince’s castle as we headed for the ski town of Malbun where we took the lift up – we should have brought our snowgear!!! Who wants to ski in Switzerland next year with us??!! Gebi’s friend owns a restaurant at the bottom of the mountain so we enjoyed some drinks (beer and cider) and some amazing black forest cake. He also brought us out a surprise shrimp pasta which was delicious. Lastly, he brought a taste of Pear Schnapps (wooooaaah strong stuff!!!) We headed back home and enjoyed a wonderful dinner of creamy vegetable pasta and chocolate cake with Gebi, Andrea, Gebi Jr, and Lisa. Before dinner, we got to visit Gebi’s custom winecellar where they are making their first batch of wine – its in the barrel aging and will produce around 150 bottles of wine once ready. Lisa and Gebi Jr left to go to see The Hunger Games movie (they love reading American books). We chatted, shared stories, and enjoyed more wine and local sparkling wine before packing and going to bed (me at 2am/Jeremy at 6am). We had such a great time and THE best hosts!!! On to our next adventure in Austria.