Salzburg, Austria (part 1)

Salzburg is the fourth largest city in Austria. It is very close to the German border, only 150 km away from Munich. From Prague, it is a gruelling five-hour drive, but the beautiful Austrian landscape, uncompromised by irritating billboards, makes the aches and pains worth it all.

The city is noted for its Alpine setting. The old town reminds me that of Prague's, dominated by baroque buildings. The huge "Festung Hohensalzburg" or "High Salzburg Fortress" sits imposingly on a hill. It is massive. It's the biggest castle I've seen, and I live in CZ where castles are almost everywhere.

Like anywhere else in Austria, the city is very clean. I hate to admit it but it's starkly different from CZ where you can see a plastic bottle here and there, graffiti hurting your eyes and ruining the view, garbage disposed where it shouldn't be. Austria is first world at its best.

Here are some pics from our trip:

The Mirabell Palace and Gardens. It was a delight to find this place when we were actually looking for a WC right after arriving in Salzburg. We were like, "Oh, this is pretty! Wonder what this place is called?" It was only later when I remembered it from a scene in the movie. (The Sound of Music, of course.) I rummaged for the travel guide inside my bag, and there it was, written as one of the must-see places in the city.

The massive Salzburg Fortress sits imposingly on Festungberg Hill. It's easy to find because the city is quite small and the tourist attractions are mainly in the center. You can climb the fortress on foot or you can use the funicular railway available with a fee, of course. We chose to climb it on foot but didn't enter the castle. We aren't great fans of castles' interiors so we just marvelled at the view below. I have no doubt the view is even better from the tower. Maybe next time, if there will be a next time, we'll enter it. Entrance fee is 7 euros/adult.

The streets of Salzburg are narrow, like in Prague. The locals go on a bike to get around. Bikes are parked everywhere. It's a healthy choice or is it a choice at all since driving in Salzburg is a challenge? Parking is another story. It took us almost half an hour circling the city just to look for a parking space. You can park along the streets for 1 euro/hour. We were lucky because it was a holiday on our first day there so parking was for free.

Each place has a charm but what makes it more charming and your visit memorable is of course the people. I loved it there. The locals are friendly, very polite--- and customer service is everywhere! This is something I really missed, something that is sorely lacking in Prague.

In a pizzeria there, the waiter/owner asked me if I didn't like my pasta because I didn't eat everything. I said it was good but the serving was just too big for me. He then good-naturedly reprimanded me for not telling him earlier to give me only half of the serving. He said he didn't want me to waste money on food I couldn't finish eating. It was amusing. First time in Europe someone made a fuss about me wasting money, hehe. What's more, he actually charged us only half of the price for my food! Now that's what I call customer service.

More to come about Salzburg and St. Wolfgang, another place in Austria we visited. Till then.