Austria, Day 2…Salzburg’s Old Town

I can’t seem to stop singing, wherever I am.—Fraulein Maria

This was the way I felt in Salzburg.

Day two in Austria started with coffee on our deck looking at the awe-inspiring Alps outside Golling an der Salzach where we rented a house for our family.

Some of us slept in late because of the time change and jet lag. So I took this opportunity to take a walk with my almost-two year old granddaughter, that lives far away from me, and get to know her better.  We found a bridge over a little stream so she could throw some leaves in the water.  We had three children under two years of age, so we knew this would be a challenge to go into Salzburg.

When traveling with children this young, your mindset HAS TO BE..patience, flexibility and adaptability.

Since we were getting a late start, we made a decision not to go to Hallstatt.  We decided to spend a day and half in Salzburg to give it enough time, knowing we would not be able to see all we wanted…well you know children travelers and all.

We started with a late breakfast or early lunch at Tomaselli Cafe.  This is one of the oldest  and continuous cafes in Salzburg. It is in the heart of the Old Town on the Alter Markt.  We had a meal of sausages with mustard and fresh horseradish and various breads and jams.  We sat under the wall with old paintings of former Salzburgers.  We had a nice start to our day here.

We began our day touring in the Old Town. We started in Mozartplatz, we knew we were there when we saw the statue of Mozart.  After dodging through the bicycle tours, or I should say after the bicycle tours dodged us since we were just as formidable with three strollers, we wandered through the Old Town.

As a side note, my wife and I would have never considered taking our children to Europe when they were two.  We always went to the beach, since you can’t tear up a beach. But our adult children don’t think like we do.

We came to this conclusion…if the Nazis or the Allied forces couldn’t destroy Austria, what could a couple of two-year old girls and a 4-month old boy do?  They were too busy picking up rocks and cigarette butts and anything else they could get their hands on and put into their mouth.  This is the way to build an immune system.

Salzburg is a beautiful, old European city.  The Salzach River bisects the city.  There are numerous bridges crossing the river and we crossed these bridges a lot.  My favorite is the Makartsteg Footbridge that is plastered with lovers locks.

We hung out outside the Salzburg Cathedral and Domplatz and ate some good ice cream on the steps of the 247-yr old Maria Immaculata statue. The granddaughters were quite impressed with the small rocks in the Domplatz. The cathedral was completed in its present form in 1628. It still has the baptismal font that was in use to baptize Mozart.

We saw St. Peter’s Abbey and the cemetery and catacombs.  From the catacombs, there is some incredible views of the cathedral towers. We crossed the bridge and walked through the beautiful Mirabell Gardens

When it was time to eat our evening meal, we drove out to WieherWirt.  This was a most enjoyable meal.  We sat at a table outside where we could view the lake.  Across the lake sat the Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron. This was used as the Von Trapp Mansion in The Sound of Music.

We started our meal with sheep cheese with herb nuts and cranberry sauce.  This was so good.  I also had Austrian meatballs with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables.  My wife had weinerschnitzel, potatoes, and cranberry sauce.  All the plates were very good. Our day ended with this delicious meal and we headed back to our rental house and Golling an der Salzach.

Cafe Tomaselli on the Alter Markt in Old Town Salzburg.

The sausage was good but the fresh horseradish and mustard was very good at Cafe Tomaselli.

Mozart statue in Mozartplatz, a good place to begin your tour of Old Town Salzburg.

 

Residents Fountain in Residenzplatz.

Residenzplatz.

Old Town Hall.

Pfarrkirche St. Andra.

Locks on the Makartsteg Footbridge.

Big chessboard in Kapitelplatz.

The Golden Sphere in Kapitelplatz.

Salzburg Cathedral with Maria Immaculata.

St. Peter’s Catacombs.

View of church steeples from the catacombs.

St. Peter’s statue and fountain in the St. Peter’s Abbey courtyard.

St. Peter’s fountain was a good place to hang out and rest for a while.

Inside St. Peter’s Abbey.

Fountain at Mirabell Gardens.

Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron used in The Sound of Music.

Very tasty appetizer of sheep cheese, herb nuts, and cranberry sauce at WieherWirt.

Austrian meatballs on mashed potatoes with grilled vegetables with a good Riesling at WieherWirt  was a good end to a good day in Salzburg.