Family tour of Graz and Salzburg

   I just said goodbye to Mom and Dad at the train station here in Graz after two and a half days in Graz and two days in Salzburg. Tuesday morning we snagged some Kuchen at the market and took the tram out to Schloß Eggenburg and toured the museums and houses. The gardens around the big yellow building are full of blue peacocks. In one corner of the grounds there was an archeology museum with pieces from the Hallstatt period through the Romans. Dad had a great time translating grave stones! The palace also had beautiful "State" rooms, an art collection, and a coin museum because the builder was head of the Hapsburg mint.
   On our way back into town, we stopped by the "Friendly Alien" for a quick walk through the modern art exhibits and a lovely view over Graz. (click "read more")

   Wednesday morning Mom and Dad took a walk around town and then we went up Scloßburg. The sunny day and gardens were lovely. The rest of the afternoon was spent touring Graz. Mom, Dad, and Ruth went into the Landeszeughaus while I replaced the cell phone that I lost somewhere between Vienna and Bilbao.
   Thursday morning we took our rented Skoda Fabia and drove south to Leibniz for a quick visit to the only Roman ruin in Styria and to pick up bread for our picnic later on. Then we turned around and drove northwest through the Salzkammergut to Salzburg. We dropped our bags at Hotel-Pension Adlerhof and then went up to the Mozart Geburtshaus (birth house) and the castle Hohensalzburg.

   Friday we were up early, had breakfast at the Pension, and walked through the Mirabell gardens on our way to the Panorama museum... visited the old catacombs built into the Monchsburg... ate Bretzen in Universitätsplatz... saw the horse fountain, which is the medieval equivalent of a modern car wash... shopped... visited Mozarts living house...
   The first of our last two stops on the way out of Salzburg was at the Untersbergbahn, which we rode up to the top of the mountain. To the east the Monchsberg and castle looked almost flat, but to the south and west the Alps were at eye level. Ruth's and my phones both informed us that we were practically in Germany!
   Our very last stop was at Schloß Hellbrunn. This time we did not do the trick fountain tour, but just enjoyed the grounds. Mom was a little sad that the Sound of Music pavilion was locked, but the grounds were still wonderful!

   Well, now Mom and Dad should be on their plane heading west. Hugs to all!

Sunny Salzburg

   Only one week into Easter break and I am ready for it to slow down a little bit! I got home at 8:30 pm last night after three fantastic days in Salzburg with Petra, Pavel (Russ.), Gabriel (Deu.), and Marietje (Belg.). After spending the first afternoon wandering around the city, we decided to buy a 24 hour "Salzburg card" for the next two days, which gave us access to more than we could possibly see in that amount of time...
   In lieu of a long-winded, blow by blow account of our adventures, here is a summary and I'll let the pictures fill in the rest (If the slideshow does not start, click here to go to the photo album)

(Thanks to Petra for sharing her photos with me! The album will be expanded when I swap with Marietje, Pavel, and Gabriel)
Day 1:

• 4.5 hrs on the train from Graz to Salzburg, met Gabriel there, found hostel.
• Lunch at a really nice place on the east side of the river
• Wandered around town, over the Mönschburg, along the river
• Bought bread, cheese, olives, and wine for a picknic-style dinner at the hostel
• Evening walk through town...

Day 2: 

• Breakfast at the hostel buffet
• Fortress Hohensalzburg tour and museum
• Mozarthaus
• Cathedral
• Lunch at a Pizzaria with a crazy waiter
• Tried to go to more museums, but they were closed- so we jumped on the bus and went to the zoo!
• Repeat of last night's dinner
• Belgian pub

Day 3 (so hot!)

• Schloss Hellbrunn (the original Disneyland!)
• Water gardens tour
• Palace tour
• walk through the gardens, up to a theatre cut from the rock, bus back to town
• Linner
• Train back to Graz with Petra, the other three off to Innsbruck

   Honestly, I had low expectations for Salzburg and was blown away by how beautiful the city is and how accessible. It didn't hurt that there were medieval castles visible in nearly every direction and that the weather was absolutely fantastic! We were on foot nearly our entire time there and didn't even touch the busses until the very end of the second day. Hoofing it up and down the hill in the center of town and through the cobbled streets left us exhausted at the end of every day! Unfortunately, I now have tendinitis in both of my achilles- totally worth it, though! Salzburg is a tourist magnet but manages to not sink to the level of tourist trap. A green-blue river cuts its way between the conglomerate walls of the valley, where buildings from the 12th c. to baroque seem to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. From the tops of the hills you feel like you can see from the Salzkammergut to München, the ragged edges of the alps jutting up through the green carpet of the valley.
   The tourist season has not quite started yet, so the streets, sights, and restaurants were not too packed. Even so, my "American alarm" seemed to go off every 30 minutes. I finally realized that for the other travelers I met it was probably nothing new to meet other Americans on the road, and that I am happier than ever to be studying in Graz!

   I am looking forward to being back in Salzburg in a few weeks with Mom and Dad- so much still to do!