The Hills are Alive....

Salzburg.  What is there to say about Salzburg?

First off, I had to catch the train from Luxembourg to Salzburg.  This meant I ended up travelling toward Trier, but changing at Karthaus, then Karthaus to Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken to Mannheim, Mannheim to Munich, and then Munich to Salzburg.  I wouldn’t arrive in Salzburg until about 9pm after starting the journey at about 10ish.  To make it worse, on the Munich to Salzburg leg, a youngish girl became ill and had to have medical attention so the train was delayed for about 15-20minutes. Thus, I was the last person to check in at the hotel.  It was kind of scary when the receptionist said my name.  A look of shock and horror must have passed over my face because he then explained I was the last one for the day.  The day was exhausting.

On entering the hotel room, I was not impressed.  There were a few things not up to my expectations.  Maybe my standards had become a bit high after Ibis and Novotel.  Oh how I miss the Novotel.  But I managed to cope. 

The next morning I woke to a surprise.  Everything outside was covered in white.  Yay, more snow.  It made Salzburg look really pretty.  Four layers, 2 pairs of socks, and an interruption by the room maid, I was on my way to explore.  Exploring meant lots of photos of snow covered trees, buildings and banks.  The river was a nice contrast to the blinding white of the snow.  Again, I was aware I was smiling like a dork.  It was quite a hike from the hotel to the old city, but well worth it, except for a few near slip overs.  The Mozart monument was not what I was expecting.  It was smaller than what I had imagined, and was very touristy/ wintery with music playing and an ice rink.  My stomach was growling at me for not feeding it enough as well, so I had to hunt for something yumyums, which I found in a cheap meal of Chinese noodles.  They were so delicious that I went back the next day especially for them.

I didn’t do anything special in Salzburg.  It was just too pretty outside.  Next time (when I’m with someone) then I’ll drag them along to a few touristy things, like the Sound of Music tour and the salt mines.