Once again, another city and country was crossed off my list. This time, I traveled with a group of three other people who are also exchange students at WHU. (This group is the main group I will travel with for the rest of the semester. One friend that studies at UIUC with me and two others who attend Indiana University.)
Wednesday 3/22/17
After our German class on Wednesday around noon, we boarded a 7hr train ride to Salzburg, Austria. We arrived in Salzburg around 19:00 (7PM) and headed to the hostel. Let me tell you, that was the longest train of my life. Salzburg is a city in Austria near the border to Germany and has a population of approximately 150,000 people. Salzburg is famous for the medieval buildings of the Old City, birthplace of Mozart, The Sound of Music, and the views of the Eastern Alps. After we were settled into our hostel, we relaxed and prepared ourselves for the next day.
Thursday 3/23/17
On the first real day in Salzburg, we decided to take a Sound of Music bike tour. For those of you who are unsure about The Sound of Music, it is a musical based on the era before WWII filmed in Austria. On the bike tour, we were able to see several spots where Julie Andrews (Maria von Trapp in the film) once stood. Our first stop was in the Mirabell Palace and Gardens along with the Musical Steps and Pegasus Fountain. Most of the “Do Re Mi” song from The Sound of Music was filmed in this region. During the song, the children run through the garden and dance around the Pegasus Fountain and onto the Musical Steps. The palace was built in the early 1600s for the Archbishop and his mistress. Next, we rode to the Horse Bath where Maria and the children danced past it in the song “My Favorite Things.” It was actually used as a horse “carwash” in the past.
Close by was the Rock Riding School and Toscaninihof (Felsenreitschule) is a theatre and venue of the Salzburg Festival. In the film, the Captain performed “Edelweiss” and the family sang the song “So Long, Farewell” just before fleeing the country. This theatre was built in 1693 and was used for the Archbishop’s summer riding school. Today, it is used as a stage for performances such as plays and festivals. The Residenz Square and Fountain were involved in the film during Maria’s song, “I Have Confidence in Me” and she splashes the water in the fountain. The Old Residenz also had a large Nazi flag hanging during the movie. The Residenzplatz is a large square in the heart of the historic center. Next, we rode to St Peter’s Abbey Cemetery (Petersfriedhof). This is the oldest cemetery in Salzburg and looks like a garden. The film used this cemetery as inspiration for the location where the Von Trapps hid from the Nazis. The Palace Leopold (Schloss Leopoldskron) was just outside the city. The bike ride was gorgeous. The palace is located near a lake and is now used as a luxury hotel. The film used this location to depict the exterior of the Von Trapp home with the reflecting lake. Maria and the kids also fell into the water during the film. The Sound of Music used three homes during the production to depict the Von Trapp home and the inside of the home was filmed on a Hollywood studio. Not too far away was another piece to the Von Trapp home puzzle. The Frohnburg Palace was used to depict the gates of the estate. Today, it is used as a music
school. To conclude the tour, we rode to a replica of the pavilion used in The Sound of Music. Although the original one was created in Hollywood, Salzburg decided to replicate it for photos. After the tour, the sun started to shine and we made our way back to some of the locations we previously saw. We noticed that during our time in Austria, the sky would clear from clouds around 13:00 (1PM). After lunch, we made our way to the castle on top of a small mountain in the heart of Salzburg called Hohensalzburg Castle. The views were perfect because we could see everything Salzburg had to offer from the Old Town to the New Town. The castle was constructed in 1077 and of course has been refurbished. During WWI, it was used as a prison holding prisoners of war. We also went to the Nonnberg Abbey where The Sound of Music was filming for the convent. This is where Maria von Trapp stayed in the convent. Next, we decided to hike up the hill overlooking Salzburg. On the way, we came across the Mozart Bridge where in The Sound of Music the children and Maria skip across the bridge singing “Do Re Mi.” They also skipped across the grassy riverbank in “My Favorite Things.” Finally, we made it to Kapuzinerberg where we hiked to get a majestic view of the castle, city, and Alps in the background. After a long day, we had a traditional Austrian meal and headed back to the hostel.
Friday 3/24/17
Day 2 in Salzburg started fairly early around 8:00 because we decided to take a trip to Hallstatt. Hallstatt is a small Austrian village on Lake Hallstatt located in the Alps. The 16th century Alpine houses and alleyways draw people to the town. Hallstatt has an approximate population of 850 people. This was one of the best places I’ve visited so far! We boarded a bus from Salzburg to Bad Ischl, a train from Bad Ischl to Hallstatt, and finally a ferry across the lake to the village. Once we got to the village, we began to make our way to the skywalk. The skywalk was directly above Hallstatt about ½ way up the size of the other mountains. The walk up was supposed to take approximately 1 hr but it ended up taking us around 1.5 hrs. (We were a little out of shape haha.) When we got to the top, we were astonished by the views. It was breathtaking. I couldn’t stop taking pictures. We were all pretty hungry after the hike so luckily there was a restaurant at the top. It was so relaxing to eat so high up. After we spent awhile at the top, we made our way back down to the village. The village reminded me a lot of Vallendar if it was located in the Alps. We walked around the village for a while and it was time to head back to Salzburg since it took 2 hrs to travel to Salzburg. This day was definitely a relaxing day and a beautiful one.
Saturday 3/25/17
The last day in Salzburg began around 9:00. We decided the night before that we just wanted a relaxing day since we would be leaving at 13:00 (1PM) for a 7hr train ride. We went for brunch in the Old Town area where I ordered a waffle with caramelized walnuts and bananas on top (YUM). After brunch we strolled around Salzburg and finally headed for the train station where we boarded our train. We were supposed to arrive in Vallendar around 21:00 (9PM); however, our train was late so we missed our connection. Over 950 miles roundtrip later, we ended up arriving back in Vallendar around 0:00 (12AM). This night was also the last of the WHU parties thrown by the classes. The theme was WHU Kindheitshelden (dressed up as your favorite childhood hero -- I didn’t dress up). The last WHU party is April 1st and is hosted by the Tauschies (exchange students). I can’t believe how fast this semester is going. I don’t think I will be ready to leave. The weather was perfect for the whole trip with temperatures reaching in the 60s!
See you soon, but not too soon
-E