Salzburg

My host family (for lack of a better term) bought me a rail pass for 25 euros which enables me to travel anywhere in Austria by train for free during the months of July, August and part of September.  So Saturday 8/15 I decided to put it to good use and jump on a train to Salzburg.  There are two parts to the ticket and I thought that I had both of them but discovered otherwise when I went to show them to the train ticket coordinator (again for lack of a better term).  His english wasn't so good and likewise my german so we could barely understand each other.  But finally I understood enough to know that it was a problem for me to be on the train without the other half of the ticket.  After a few minutes of useless arguing he said with a harsh accent that I could stay on the train but that he would have to take my ticket which meant that I couldn't use it more.  I'm sure it goes without saying but I was furious!  But unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it (barring punching the guy in the face and making a run for it which also would have been fruitless considering we were already on a moving train)  and you just can't reason with Europeans.  It wasn't the best start to my day trip but thank goodness the rest of it went pretty smoothly except that I had to buy my ticket back which cost almost 50 euros.  :(

The people of Salzburg are very proud of Mozart and the movie 'The Sound of Music.  There are statues and posters of both all over the city.  They are proud of Mozart because he was born there and they are proud of The Sound of Music because it was filmed there.    They even have a tour specific the movie where they take you to different scenes and settings that are shown in the movie. ( I was smart enough not to take the tour)  After a while of walking around and seeing all the posters and hearing all the music (do ra me blah blah blah....the hills are alive.......you are sixteen going seventeen da da da da da da) I pretty much wanted to throw up.  But despite the fact I was still able to see some amazing things.  Salzburg is a truly beautiful city surrounded by Austrian Alps with the Salzach river flowing right through the middle of it.  

History Lesson #...I don't know what number...is anyone counting?

Salzburg-  Salzburg was founded by Bishop Rupert, according to legend, who arrived with Benedictine monks.  The towns first cathedral was built by an the Irish Bishop Virgil.   The credit for the glory of Salzburg goes to three archbishops who ruled between 1587 and 1653: Wolf Dietrich, Marcus Sitticus, and Paris Lodron.    The most famous architect of the Austrian Baroque, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (mentioned in a previous blog) began his career in Salzburg.    My favorite attraction of the city was the Hohensalzburg Fortress.  It is a huge fortress/castle like thing that sits on the rocky peak of Festungsberg and overlooks the entire city.   It was built in the 11th centure during the wars between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy and was gradually extended.  It was served as a refuge for Salzburg's archbishops whenever they felt threatened.