Salzburg (10 June 2006)
"The hills are alive, with the sound of music..."
Famous line from a famous song from a famous movie, all of the same name. Salzburg is famous for three things:
1. The birthplace of Wolfgang Armadeus Mozart
2. The setting of "The Sound of Music", both the film (starring Julie Andrews) and the musical
3.The Salzburg Festival, baroque architecture, Alps, blah blah blah
So anyway, Salzburg is the name of the state (Salzburgerland) as well as its capital city. Located in the western part of Austria, Salzburg is just across the Austrian border with Germany (approx 150km east of München) and is situated north of the Alps on the banks of the River Salzach.
Off on a bright Saturday morning to Hauptbahnhof and the hopped on to a Regional Express train to Salzburg. Never knew that the Bayern Ticket was so useful (it takes you to any stop within Bayern and 1 stop outside of Bayern). Took 2 hours to get there, so the 0848 train reached around 1045.
"Welcome to Salzburg: No World Cup here"
Getting out, I saw a sight seldom seen anywhere else in the world:
A city bus that uses overhead electric cables
OK, it's NOT TRUE that World Cup fever hasn't hit here yet
So first stop was to get the ticket for a guided tour in the afternoon. To do so, I had to drop by Mirabellplatz, which is the area just outside Schloß Mirabell with the beautiful Mirabell Garden (more on that later).
From the road, you can see the magnificent Fortress Hohensalzburg (Deutsch: Festung Hohensalzburg/Translation: High Salzburg) on the hill
A glimpse of Schloß Mirabell
So now that I've got the ticket, I still had 3 hours to explore the city. So far so good, I thought.
Edelweiss-shaped pastries
OK, getting close to the river, and across the river is the Altstadt (Old Town)
I was like "Wow"...
Not bad, almost as good as Innsbruck, but would be better if it wasn't so cloudy
Across the bridge is the Old Town, where many historical buildings are located.
And out into the Residenzplatz, the Dom is in the background
A really touristic area, as you will see...
Capitalising on Mozart...
And this phenomenon across the border in Deutschland...
Maybe to entice the fans who are watching on this giant screen to buy
Most of the big buildings are located here in the Residenzplatz.
There's a beautiful fountain...
With water coming out from unusual places...
And strong men to carry it
It's a city near the mountains
OK everyone! Don't panic! This is an example of "Modern Art"... Looks more like "Modern A*s" to me
Nearby is a statue of Salzburg's "Most Famous Citizen"
The front of the Dom
Close-up of the statue
Inside the Dom, with plenty of intricate carvings, I thought it's simply beautiful
Really beautiful, aren't they?
Nearby, there's also a Neptune Fountain
A nicer shot with the fortress in the background
And after this was a very stupid yet satisfying move... I climbed the hill to the fortress!Notice the view as it gets higher:
Until I reached the first gate of the fortress
Going around the bend, it's easy to see why it was a stupid decision
And the retrospective view after all that huffing and puffing
So I went in...
And I started kicking myself...
I have no idea how any enemy can successfully capture this fortress. They'll be dead just by climbing the path!
View of the courtyard
The view from UP THERE
Time's up! Had to go back down to make it for my tour. Going down was easy because it was simply "losing potential energy".
On the way, saw 2 people playing giant chess
And I specially made a small detour to walk past 9 Getreidegasse, Mozart's birthplace
Managed to get back to Mirabellplatz in time for the tour I mentioned earlier: "The Sound of Music" Tour. Let's just say that I think this tour is worth every dime! It's like a huge behind-the-scenes documentary with photo-ops at various locations seen in the film. The guide even gives a wonderful description of what happened during the filming, as well as plenty of background knowledge. A must-go if you've every in Salzburg!
Got on the crowded bus, with the soundtrack playing over the speakers... First stop in town:
Nonnberg Abbey ("Nonn" means "nun"), the place where Maria (Julie Andrews) was a nun
This next place is the Leopoldskron Lake (translation: Leopold's Crown), although the building was never seen in the movie, the lake certainly was
Nonetheless, a close-up shot of the beautiful palace
The Untersberg, where the von Trapp family supposedly escaped over to Switzerland in the movie... only problem was the other side of the mountain isn't Switzerland... it's GERMANY!
I think many of you who've watched the movie should recognise this pavilion... No dancing allowed though
What can I say? Everyone else was taking pictures here!!!
OK, that was it for the city area. Now, the tour moves out of town into the nearby Lake District.
The opening scene, a splendid view of Wolfgangsee... Too bad it was a little cloudy
Luckily the sky cleared up when we reached Mondsee, which is the name of both the town and the lake
We're here to see this beautiful church where the wedding scene was filmed, the Collegiate Church
The altar, where many people took pictures here too
Anything with the bright summer sun looks good
So that was the last stop of the tour. It looks short here, but you'll have to go for it yourself to experience it fully. We were given time to walk around Mondsee, which gave me a wonderful opportunity to take in the scenery.
Time's up! Had to get back to the bus before it left (we really left ONE person behind because that mysterious person went MIA). Back to Salzburg, where I had about 2 hours before I had to catch my train back to München.
The tour conveniently ended at the Mirabell Garden, where we could go in and take a look at where they filmed the song "Do-Re-Mi". Right through the arch of Schloß Mirabell , there's the Pegasus Fountain.
The Pegasus Fountain
And the arch...
And the dwarves...
But I must say, the garden is beautiful in its own right
1 more scene from the movie
This was a good time, the sun's come out and yet it wasn't blindingly bright
Back across the river into the Old Town once more
The famous landmark, Mozart's birthplace
From here, I took an elevator up to Monchsberg, a hill on the side of the Old Town, to the panoramic platform.
Not bad eh?
Back down again (I could have walked down, but I bought a return-ticket for the elevator) and into the Old Town for a last walkthrough before I had to catch my train.
This is the Mozartsteg bridge, or Mozart's Foot Bridge, the bridge where Mozart used to walk
And finally a parting shot: The Salzburg Hauptbahnhof
Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (Note: It's already 8pm)
Photobucket: Salzburg
Famous line from a famous song from a famous movie, all of the same name. Salzburg is famous for three things:
1. The birthplace of Wolfgang Armadeus Mozart
2. The setting of "The Sound of Music", both the film (starring Julie Andrews) and the musical
3.The Salzburg Festival, baroque architecture, Alps, blah blah blah
So anyway, Salzburg is the name of the state (Salzburgerland) as well as its capital city. Located in the western part of Austria, Salzburg is just across the Austrian border with Germany (approx 150km east of München) and is situated north of the Alps on the banks of the River Salzach.
Off on a bright Saturday morning to Hauptbahnhof and the hopped on to a Regional Express train to Salzburg. Never knew that the Bayern Ticket was so useful (it takes you to any stop within Bayern and 1 stop outside of Bayern). Took 2 hours to get there, so the 0848 train reached around 1045.
"Welcome to Salzburg: No World Cup here"
Getting out, I saw a sight seldom seen anywhere else in the world:
A city bus that uses overhead electric cables
OK, it's NOT TRUE that World Cup fever hasn't hit here yet
So first stop was to get the ticket for a guided tour in the afternoon. To do so, I had to drop by Mirabellplatz, which is the area just outside Schloß Mirabell with the beautiful Mirabell Garden (more on that later).
From the road, you can see the magnificent Fortress Hohensalzburg (Deutsch: Festung Hohensalzburg/Translation: High Salzburg) on the hill
A glimpse of Schloß Mirabell
So now that I've got the ticket, I still had 3 hours to explore the city. So far so good, I thought.
Edelweiss-shaped pastries
OK, getting close to the river, and across the river is the Altstadt (Old Town)
I was like "Wow"...
Not bad, almost as good as Innsbruck, but would be better if it wasn't so cloudy
Across the bridge is the Old Town, where many historical buildings are located.
And out into the Residenzplatz, the Dom is in the background
A really touristic area, as you will see...
Capitalising on Mozart...
And this phenomenon across the border in Deutschland...
Maybe to entice the fans who are watching on this giant screen to buy
Most of the big buildings are located here in the Residenzplatz.
There's a beautiful fountain...
With water coming out from unusual places...
And strong men to carry it
It's a city near the mountains
OK everyone! Don't panic! This is an example of "Modern Art"... Looks more like "Modern A*s" to me
Nearby is a statue of Salzburg's "Most Famous Citizen"
The front of the Dom
Close-up of the statue
Inside the Dom, with plenty of intricate carvings, I thought it's simply beautiful
Really beautiful, aren't they?
Nearby, there's also a Neptune Fountain
A nicer shot with the fortress in the background
And after this was a very stupid yet satisfying move... I climbed the hill to the fortress!Notice the view as it gets higher:
Until I reached the first gate of the fortress
Going around the bend, it's easy to see why it was a stupid decision
And the retrospective view after all that huffing and puffing
So I went in...
And I started kicking myself...
I have no idea how any enemy can successfully capture this fortress. They'll be dead just by climbing the path!
View of the courtyard
The view from UP THERE
Time's up! Had to go back down to make it for my tour. Going down was easy because it was simply "losing potential energy".
On the way, saw 2 people playing giant chess
And I specially made a small detour to walk past 9 Getreidegasse, Mozart's birthplace
Managed to get back to Mirabellplatz in time for the tour I mentioned earlier: "The Sound of Music" Tour. Let's just say that I think this tour is worth every dime! It's like a huge behind-the-scenes documentary with photo-ops at various locations seen in the film. The guide even gives a wonderful description of what happened during the filming, as well as plenty of background knowledge. A must-go if you've every in Salzburg!
Got on the crowded bus, with the soundtrack playing over the speakers... First stop in town:
Nonnberg Abbey ("Nonn" means "nun"), the place where Maria (Julie Andrews) was a nun
This next place is the Leopoldskron Lake (translation: Leopold's Crown), although the building was never seen in the movie, the lake certainly was
Nonetheless, a close-up shot of the beautiful palace
The Untersberg, where the von Trapp family supposedly escaped over to Switzerland in the movie... only problem was the other side of the mountain isn't Switzerland... it's GERMANY!
I think many of you who've watched the movie should recognise this pavilion... No dancing allowed though
What can I say? Everyone else was taking pictures here!!!
OK, that was it for the city area. Now, the tour moves out of town into the nearby Lake District.
The opening scene, a splendid view of Wolfgangsee... Too bad it was a little cloudy
Luckily the sky cleared up when we reached Mondsee, which is the name of both the town and the lake
We're here to see this beautiful church where the wedding scene was filmed, the Collegiate Church
The altar, where many people took pictures here too
Anything with the bright summer sun looks good
So that was the last stop of the tour. It looks short here, but you'll have to go for it yourself to experience it fully. We were given time to walk around Mondsee, which gave me a wonderful opportunity to take in the scenery.
Time's up! Had to get back to the bus before it left (we really left ONE person behind because that mysterious person went MIA). Back to Salzburg, where I had about 2 hours before I had to catch my train back to München.
The tour conveniently ended at the Mirabell Garden, where we could go in and take a look at where they filmed the song "Do-Re-Mi". Right through the arch of Schloß Mirabell , there's the Pegasus Fountain.
The Pegasus Fountain
And the arch...
And the dwarves...
But I must say, the garden is beautiful in its own right
1 more scene from the movie
This was a good time, the sun's come out and yet it wasn't blindingly bright
Back across the river into the Old Town once more
The famous landmark, Mozart's birthplace
From here, I took an elevator up to Monchsberg, a hill on the side of the Old Town, to the panoramic platform.
Not bad eh?
Back down again (I could have walked down, but I bought a return-ticket for the elevator) and into the Old Town for a last walkthrough before I had to catch my train.
This is the Mozartsteg bridge, or Mozart's Foot Bridge, the bridge where Mozart used to walk
And finally a parting shot: The Salzburg Hauptbahnhof
Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (Note: It's already 8pm)
Photobucket: Salzburg
posted by Chiu Weng | 9:57 PM
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