Our Last Day in Salzburg

Yesterday we got up around 7:00 and got ready and packed up our things. After checking our items at the desk, since we were checking out before we were leaving Salzburg, we went around the corner to a little bakery and Mary picked up my breakfast, since I had paid for her water the night before. So, I chose a yummy apricot pastry and Mary picked a chocolate cinnamon roll. We went back to the hotel lounge and had some complimentary espresso and juice to go with our breakfast. Mary and I ended up splitting the pastries so that we could each have a bit of both.

After breakfast, the whole group went to Hellbrun Castle, just outside the city of Salzburg. We took a bus to get there and had enough time before the tour started to explore a bit of the grounds. Our tour included many outdoor statues, fountains, and entertaining areas. Apparently the archbishop who created the castle was a bit of a trickster, so he installed trick fountains in several seats, along walkways, and in the corners of some outdoor buildings. The thing that amazed me most was the mosaic work on many paths and floors outside that used river stones. The castle interior was also quite beautiful, and had several interesting paintings. One of the things that I learned while listening to the audio guide in the castle was that during the time that the archbishop was ruling in this area of Austria, it was common practice to bring rare specimens of living things to the residence and surrounding ground. As a result, there were several exotic birds, plants, and mammals, especially deer-like ones, living on the grounds. Several of the paintings in the castle were of some of these creatures. This raised for the question of what may have happened to the grounds when these were introduced. For example, did it introduce new invasive species?

After leaving the castle, Dr. Veltze invited Lyme and me to join her for lunch at a typical Austrian café along the river. She had been given her breakfast for both days free, since her TV did not work, so she offered to pay for our lunch with that money. Lyme and I took her up on the gracious offer and had a wonderful lunch and a nice time to get to know Dr. Veltze better. Lyme ordered breakfast food, eggs, toast, yogurt, and fruit, and I ordered a mozzarella salad with tomatoes and basil. Dr. Veltze ordered a very fancy version of mac and cheese that was seasoned with some sage, which she let us both sample. After a wonderful cup of coffee, Lyme and I left and went to find our way to the fortress.

We wandered our way through the streets, grateful for the beautiful weather, and Lyme picked up some wonderfully illustrated children’s books. After leaving the bookstore, we found some street artists, so I found a piece that I purchased for 10 E that is quite lovely. After leaving the street artist, we stumbled upon a large chess board marked off in the square and a few people playing with these almost two feet high pieces. As we stood there taking pictures, we heard a marching band coming, so we stayed to watch the Austrian band play. When we finally left the square, we wandered toward the fortress, taking in the views along the way. The trail was very steep, but the views were worth it. When we got to the gate, we turned around and headed back into town in search of a WC (restroom). Once we found one, we both realized that we didn’t have any change between us, since we’d spent it on the bus earlier in the day, so we couldn’t use the WC. So, we headed back to the hotel to use the one in the lobby there. It was fun getting to know Lyme better in our ramblings around Salzburg, learning her story and what she enjoys. It's been nice to be able to bounce from person to person throughout this trip to get to know each person individually.

When we got back to the hotel, we met a few others and decided to go grab a bite to eat with them. Mary and Amanda split a wonderful cheeseburger and fries at the river café they found, while Matt ordered fried chicken and potato salad. Lyme just ordered a drink. I have learned with this group that it’s better just to be on “clean up duty” if you’re not that hungry, so Lyme and I enjoyed some fries, olives, potato salad, and fried chicken when the others were all finished. Then we all went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and went to the train station to go back to Munich. When we got to our platform at the station, we ran into a group of high school students who were from the Charlotte area, so we visited with a few of them. We boarded the train at 5:45 and were back in Munich by 8:30. I arrived back at the house at 9:30, after a wonderful walk home enjoying the sunset. After chatting a bit with Benny and unpacking, I fell into bed at 11:15 for a restful night’s sleep. Overall, Salzburg was wonderful and I’d go back again if I had the chance.