The secret of combating jet lag is to immediately take on your target destinations’s time zone without question (but with plenty of grumbling). After losing nearly half a day to time zone differences, Lauren and I managed to stay up until 7:30 the previous night and woke up shortly after seven this morning. With our internal clocks reset, we set out on our 40 minute walk to Wein hbf (Vienna central train station) to catch our 9:30 train to Salzburg. Could we have caught a closer train to take us there instead of hoofing our sore and what we thought, in shape bodies? Of course we could, but we didn’t and instead wondered through Aldi to pick up raspberries for breakfast and a cafe to get a coffee and croissant (I LOVE croissants). Fast forward the uneventful two hour train ride, and we make it to Salzburg shortly before noon.

Most will likely know Salzburg from The Sound of Music or as the birthplace and home of the Wolfgang Mozart (Amadeus!) and it’s the former that was the focus of our day here. Our hotel was a very short walk from the central train station where we got checked in and settled in short order before heading out into the city. The Salzach river cuts straight through the city and is extraordinarily useful when getting one’s bearings and helps avoid getting lost in the winding roads of the city. A pedestrian and bicycle path runs along it and provides easy navigation to the old city center.

We leisurely strolled along the river until we ran into our first stop: Mirabell Palace with its well manicured gardens. The palace was built in 1606 by prince-archbishop Wolf Dietrich and today is primarily used for government offices including the office of the mayor of Salzburg. The accompanying gardens were added in 1690 with its geometric patterns typical for the baroque period. These gardens were also the site where they filmed the do re me song in The Sound of Music! (A drop of golden sun! 🎶)

Our next site on our list was Stift Nonnberg, the nunnery also featured in the filming of The Sound of Music. This nunnery was consecrated in 1009 and is still in use to this day. It’s closed off to visitors but the outside grounds are still accessible and has an great view of the city.

Salzburg is home to the largest fully preserved fortress in Central Europe, known as Fortress Hohensalzburg, which sits atop a a hill over 1500 feet from the city below. After leaving the nunnery, we made our journey to the base of the fortress…by foot…from the base of the city….all 1500 feet…on a 30% (at least) incline.

After we caught our breath and yearned for a protein bar, we paid the admission and entered the fortress. This sprawling complex was originally built in 1077 but the then archbishop to protect the city and the archbishops from outside attacks even though the city of Salzburg was already heavily fortified. The fortress has stood for almost a millennia and has never been captured by foreign troops.

The fortress houses several museums outlining the history and people that lived and died within its grounds, all nestled inside of the labyrinth of the fortress itself. One of the main watchtowers is accessible to tours where you can see a 360 degree views of the city (featured image)

We took the vehicular down the hill (mountain?!) back to the central part of the city where a large celebration of Oktoberfest occurring where Lauren and I shared a Bavarian pretzel stuffed with prosciutto and Gouda and a nice cold beer to celebrate. In order to balance out the cultural revelry we swung by a local McDonalds to taste the local chicken fare which unsurprising wasn’t much different than you could get in the US (but with sour cream and sweet and sour sauce!)

Jacket Watch

While walking through Salzburg, we popped into a Jack Wolfman shop where Lauren tried on a number of various puffy jackets. After much debate through the course of the afternoon, a decision was made to wait until Innsbruck to visit the Patagonia store. This marks the second day without a jacket for Lauren (she says she’s ok and won’t take mine, even after profusely offering).

Featured Image: The panoramic view of Salzburg atop of Fortress Hohensalzburg

Accommodation: Hotel Hohenstauffen