Salzburg

To prove that I am alive and well, I am posting this slightly fuzzy picture of me at Festung Hohensalzburg. The fuzziness is a result of the intense humidity (and my hair’s reaction to it) and also my failure to realize that if I autofocused my camera, and then put it on the tripod and used the remote to click the shutter, the focus would not adjust to my face.

Salzburg has been all that Ruti promised; a lovely little town that you can see most of in about a day. There are clearly things further afield that I haven’t seen, but I’m ready to be on my way this afternoon.

Yesterday I walked around the old town and saw Mozart’s birthplace, as well as a bunch of churches and other lovely buildings. On my way home, I stumbled onto a performance of traditional Austrian dancing in Mirabell Gardens – where part of the Sound of Music was filmed. It struck me as a combination of Scottish country dancing with Rueda Salsa. It’s nothing short of incredible that all of these partner-changing, circular dances spread across the globe.

I got up early this morning (to avoid the life-sucking heat) and went over to the Mirabell Gardens again. I walked around and took some photos, and enjoyed the cool weather. From there it was still a bit early to head up to the fortress (Festung Hohensalzburg), so I meandered through the old city. In my walking, I found some stairs that appeared to go straight up the cliff, so I climbed, not certain where I was going. It turned out I was scaling Monchsberg, one of the hills in Salzburg, and unwittingly heading up the hill toward the fortress. I kept walking and although I missed the funicular ride up the hill, I did get to see some pretty neighborhoods in Salzburg. The fortress was notable for it’s elaborate state rooms and lovely collection of torture implements.

On my way down the hill I stopped at Nonnburg Abbey, another setting for the Sound of Music. As far as I could tell, the cloisters are still cloisters so visitors can’t go in, but I did go in and see the church.

Finally, I stopped and had lunch at Spicey Spices, a vegan Indian restaurant I noticed yesterday and which was also recommended by the Lonely Planet folks. It was lovely and delicious, and now I’m back at the hostel checking e-mail, etc. I’m about to catch the train back to Vienna, where I will check into my hostel and perhaps take a nap (still a bit jetlagged) and then finalize my plan of attack for the conference and Vienna.