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Hohensalzburg Fortress
After a great buffet breakfast at the hostel, we were ready to explore Salzburg in earnest. Yesterday's adventures in the rain has whetted our appettite for more. Our first port of call today is the Fortress that towers above Salzburg.
The furnicular railway station to ascend to the Fortress was only 10 minutes walk from our hostel. We got to the station before it opened and I took the opportunity to take a few photos in the area which is sandwiched deep in the back lanes of the town. The signs to the station were neither prominent nor obvious.
1. Like much of Vienna and Salzburg - many contrasts between the old and the new. 2. This narrow street that hugs the side of the cliff reminds me of the Daytona arcade racing game - especially the courses set in Europe. The Fortress was built in 1077 is perched high on the hill overlooking Salzburg. The furnicular railway was installed in 1892.
3. Hohensalzburg Fortress For a thousand year old fortress, it does come across as a pretty comfortable place to stay compared to some of the fortresses and palaces I saw in Japan which were very utilitarian.
4. Panorama of Salzburg - the largest building in the foreground is the Dom or the Cathedral of Salzburg.
5. Views from above. 7. The interior of the Fortress looks like a resort ! But I'm sure it wasn't used as one during its working life. The Fortress was in fact used as a prison.
There were a number of different museum exhibits within the Fortress including the state rooms, a marionette museum and a museum which charts the past history of the Fortress. The latter was quite interesting and like the Austrian museums that we have visited thus far, very well presented.
One particular room depicted a medieval battle scene using life-sized stick soldiers in various poses. There was also an exhibit of the various instruments of torture employed during the Middle Ages.
8. Convicted criminals were subjected to torture as a part of their punishment and the instrument of torture typically reflected the nature of the crime. The large stone die and card must relate to some form of gambling crime ! 9. A model showing the construction of the Fortress. 10. We're being attacked (by a stick army) !
We could've stayed for much longer at the Fortress as there were quite a number of museums or tours we had to skip due to time constraints. One which I particularly wanted to see, but couldn't, was the marionette museum.
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Hellbrunn Palace
From a Fortress to a Palace. We took a bus to the outskirts of Salzburg to visit the Hellbrunn Palace. The key attraction here are the Trick Fountains. The Palace was built by Salzburg's Prince-Archibishop in the 1600s and unlike the other regal palaces and gardens we have visited thus far, the Prince distinguished his Palace by installing an elaborate system of Italian water games (giochi d'aqua) throughout his Palace gardens.
It is quite amazing that these mechanical contraptions installed 400 years old are still operational today. The water jets are very carefully hidden and camouflaged through the garden to be activated upon unsuspecting guests (present company included !).
The Trick Fountains were only accessible through a guided tour and we had quite an enthusiastic and you might say maniacal tour guide who relished the opportunity to unleash the water tricks on us. My digital camera had a few near misses but I caught one of the water tricks straight in the pants and I looked like I had pee-d myself (not funny ...). It was impossible not to get hit - as I walked through a doorway, the jets shot out from underneath me and got me right in the you know where. Got a few other people too. :)
11. Hellburn is more like a very big mansion than a palace in the traditional sense. 12. One of the more obvious trick fountains in operation. There were many more facetious ones hidden throughout the grounds. 13. One of my favourite photos - a little outhouse hidden behind a row of trees.
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Residenzplatz
Wow - what a busy morning ! We got back to our hostel at around 3pm. We decided to split up for the rest of the afternoon. Part of the gang rented bicycles to cycle around Salzburg. Jimmy and I decided to go for a walk around town instead.
We walked through Mozartplatz near our hostel to the adjoining Residenzplatz. The Residenz is the former residence of the Prince-Archibishop of Salzburg.
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Getreidegasse
Our visit to Salzburg's main shopping street yesterday, Getreidegasse, left an indelible mark and we had to visit it again. In contrast to yesterday's rain, we had a beautiful blue sky day to enjoy this very unique street. Many of the shops along this street had very ornate signage that extended above the street.
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Mirabell Gardens
Across the river from Getreidegasse is the Mirabell Palace and its gardens. We didn't go inside the palace itself, but we took a breather from our walk to admire the gardens. Like the Fortress and Hellbrunn Palace, Mirabell Palace was the creation of one of Salzburg's Prince-Archibishops.
16. Mirabell Gardens
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Kapuzinerberg Lookout
The main reason of our walk to this side of the river is to climb up to the Kapuzinerberg Lookout which offers an unparalleled panorama of the Salzburg town. Finding the entrance to the stairs that lead up to the lookout was much trickier than we had anticipated. There were no signs !
Jimmy and I traversed the entire length of Steingasse looking for this elusive entrance. We knew we were on the right street because the guidebook mentioned that the entrance was on Steingasse.
We were finally able to locate the entrace. It was quite a low key entrance to the left of the house of Josef Mohr, who penned the hymn, Silent Night. The climb up was a killer !! It was a good thing that there was a sort of a halfway point where we could stop to catch our breath.
When we finally made it up to the lookout point, the views definitely made the hike worthwhile !
17. Picture postcard views from Kapuzinerberg The other side of the lookout looks over the newer parts of Salzburg where Mirabell Palace is located. This area is quite pleasant to walk through, a bit quieter than the other side of the river.
18. Views from other side of the lookout 19. One of the numerous clock towers all over Europe
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Salzburg has been everything that I've expected and a bit more. This was the city that I was looking forward to the most on the whole trip. Every since I first watched The Sound of Music many many many years ago, I had always wanted to visit Salzburg. A dream realised ! :)