We left the windows open overnight in our hotel room in Fussen, and it really helped cool things down. There did not appear to be much air-conditioning, if any, in the hotel.
Though American style breakfast options were available in Fussen, I decided to embrace the German way and had various cold cuts (I think they were all pork-based, but no description), cheese, and bread. Some of the cold cuts seemed like pancetta, capicola, and mortadella, and maybe they were. I had a couple wedges of cheese with herbs on it as well, and hausbrot.
We boarded the bus and headed out of Bavaria for Salzburg, Austria. I still found Bavaria the most appealing of the places we’ve been so far, and spent a lot of the bus ride thinking about how I would design a Bavaria-style house. Maybe someday if I have money, I’ll build one back in Missouri.
Our bus stopped one time for gas near Austria, but I did not get off. We passed right across the border without stopping for inspection, although Thomas told us that sometimes busses get stopped since migrants try to enter countries and claim asylum via bus.
We were fortunate to be able to ride our bus right up to the hotel in Salzburg, which we had originally thought would not be possible since the old city is closed to busses. The rooms were ready early fortunately, and we got checked in a decompressed for a couple minutes before reporting back to the lobby for a 1230 walking tour.
A local guide was required, Thomas said that the rules for tour guides are more strict than other positions, where people can work anywhere within the EU without much hassle. Our local tour guide was Igor, who lead us around Salzburg. We started walking through the Mirabell gardens surrounding the Mirabell palace. Many scenes of The Sound of Music were filmed in and around these gardens, and elsewhere in Salzburg.
We crossed a bridge covered in love locks, similar to the original love lock bridge in Paris. At this point, Shannon and I had learned enough about the Sound of Music and decided to go our own way. It was also quite hot and the tour was very much in the sun.
We walked along the river, which was fast-moving and tan in color. This is the Salz river, which, according to Igor, gets snow runoff making it too cold to swim in, even if you could deal with the fast current.
After going back across the river on another bridge, we passed by the only Lutheran church Igor said was in the area. I think this was the one he mentioned anyway, it said it was Evangelical. There appeared to be a wedding or other event happening there, people were coming in and out wearing traditional dress of lederhosen and dirndl. Other weddings were definitely happening around the Mirabell gardens also, we saw several groups getting pictures taken.
It was time for lunch, so we went to Cafe Konditorei Furst, which Igor had commented on when we went past earlier in his tour. This place was famous for a certain Mozartkugel, or Mozart Cake. We ordered a Berliner Kaffe, which was a frozen coffee dessert with whipped cream and cocoa powder on top, and a slice of the Mozart Cake. The inventor of this cake won an award in 1900 or thereabouts. The texture was quite smooth, and the bottom layer may have been somewhat like the ladyfingers of tiramisu. Then there was a layer of pistachio material, and more chocolate on top, with a final harder layer of chocolate icing on top. The cake was fine, but coffee drink was better. Apparently there is also a bite-sized candy version of Mozartkugel which may have been better than the cake version, but we didn’t get to try it.
Continuing down the street, we decided we needed an actual lunch, so we ordered a bacon double cheese burger and what turned out to be sweet potato fries at a second shop. We took this food back to our hotel room to eat while cooling off. This has definitely been the warmest day so far. The fries came with a sauce reminiscent of tziki sauce like you get with Greek food. I ate more sweet potato fries today than ever before in life, since normally I don’t care for them. But these were good, and so was the burger.
After relaxing for 45 minutes or so, we went down to the coffee shop that adjoins the hotel. We both got iced lattes, first time we have managed to find an iced coffee drink on a menu anywhere. This wasn’t exactly the street side cafe experience I’ve been looking for, but the coffee was good, and the venue was nice. At some point we moved to an upper floor near an open window and the cool breeze was nice.
Shannon worked on some of the paperwork she has to do for her colloquy before she can begin the program. It sounds like a lot of endorsements and back history are required. The program begins in July, so we need to get the ball rolling for her to get a scholarship as well, if possible.
At 6pm, the group set off for the Mozart concert and dinner that the Luther Tours had arranged for us. We ended up walking through a lot of the same areas covered in the portion of the walking tour we skipped, so I think the only thing we really missed was a bunch more Sound of Music references. It was definitely a full 15 minute walk to get over there. This restaurant and show occurs inside a building that I believe used to be a monastery or some other type of church building. The room the dinner was in was very ornate. Super high ceilings, with a light blue trim on top of white. I think there were some gold accents as well.
The performance did not begin until approximately 7:30pm. There were 4 separate Mozart works performed, and most of them were from Operas. I recognized some of the music, and the finale was from the Magic Flute. I’m glad we did this, because I never would have come up with it if planning this on my own.
The highlight of the meal was the extremely fresh bread with honeybutter. Shannon had a glass of prosecco and I ordered a water, which of course was not free! The first course was a bowl of chicken broth with a dumpling of ground up chicken and cheese curds with lemon. There were also tiny green onions in the broth. I ate the dumpling, and some of the soup. Then the main course was chicken on top of polenta, with some roasted squash and carrots. The chicken was good, seasoned with herbs de provence. The polenta was like a sweeter version of mashed potatoes, and could’ve used more of the chicken juice/gravy. It was a touch too sweet of an accompaniment for the savory chicken in my opinion. If there had been salt and pepper shakers on the table, I would have added some of each, and probably finished the polenta. Finally dessert was basically 3 puffs of meringue, and tasted like a high end s’more without the chocolate or graham crackers. There was a very small portion of raspberry jam at the bottom. More would have been better. Shannon did not like the dessert.
We walked back in the rain via a different route than how we had gotten there, but did make it to the hotel, perhaps more quickly than the trip out to the location.
Salzburg is an impressive city. The Salz of course means salt, and in times past salt was a source of the city’s riches, although apparently there was gold here too. There is a fortress/prison atop a hill, and many churches and monasteries around. The old city on the south side of the river has many little court yards and passage ways that connect different areas. Many of the roads are these narrow “gasse” passages that are more like alleys than streets.
Tomorrow there is an option to have a “leisure day” in Salzburg doing whatever you want, or a trip up the the Eagle’s Next and Obersalzberg, as well as the church where Silent Night was composed and first performed. I think we’re going to take that option, which means meeting in the lobby at 8:45.