Salzburg, Day 2

Posted on October 28, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

The Sound of Music Tour

Saturday started early with the much anticipated Sound of Music Tour. I heard a lot of great things about it online and it seems like a lot of other people did too, as our 9:30am bus was completely full, even on a kind of dreary day. There were even some gals from UGA sitting behind us (music majors spending the semester abroad), were not not shy at all to sing each and EVERY song our guide mentioned!

Sound of Music tour bus

Salzburg was the main filming location of The Sound of Music in 1965, but even if you didn’t see it or hated the musical, the tour was amazing because it basically was an extended tour of Salzburg, the countryside, and a neighboring town, Mondsee.

Our guide, Peter, was the best. He showed off the sites, told jokes with the driver, gave great Salzburg tips, and had a lot of really interesting trivia.

Like, for example, The Sound of Music (which runs non-stop on a loop on one of the television stations in Salzburg) was translated into German only ELEVEN years ago, so basically no one in Salzburg has seen it, or really cares about it! Though our bus was filled to the rafters with American and British tourists who were singing the songs as we drove through the hills. I honestly felt like I was going to some kind of adult show choir camp (personal fantasy!!) or convention for musicals nerds. It was great!

We saw the Von Trapp Family house, and the pavilion where Liesl and Rolf (the bad Nazi boy) sing, “I am sixteen going on seventeen”. You used to be able to go into the pavilion, but a tourist (80 years old according to Peter) broke her hip trying to dance around the seats like Liesl did. We saw the hills in the opening scene, the road where Maria rides her bike to the house, the convent and of course the church where Maria and the Captain get married at the end.

The wedding scene was filmed in a nearby town called Mondsee. It is about 30 minutes from Salzburg and if you have a car, it is definitely worth visiting. Very quaint and cute. The church was kind of severe, as medieval Catholic churches tend to be. And we were kind of hungry by that point, especially after Peter had put the little seed into everyone’s head about one of the town’s specialties…

So we headed over to the café, where most of the rest of our tour bus was sitting, and ordered.

And we feasted on apple strudel with vanilla sauce. The café was strangely quiet, as everyone was eating the same thing. I can’t describe it. Is it bad to say that maybe the highlight of a tour is apple strudel? But don’t worry Internet, I had my medicheck yesterday in Szeged and my cholesterol, blood pressure, ekg, and ultrasounds are all quite good, according to the docs. So all of you long-time readers out there, you can rest your concerned hearts for me for right now.

After the tour was over, we walked through the Mirabell Gardens. This is where almost the whole Do Re Mi song was filmed, and it’s a really beautiful part of Salzburg.

Mozart

We didn’t linger long in the gardens because we had a really packed day planned. So we went back into old town, and straight to Mozart’s birthplace on Getreidegasse 9. You weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, so unlike our usual covert pictures, we decided to just enjoy the museum and not try to sneak around. But it was a cool museum (which has been open since 1880, by the way). They have his small child’s violin, his clavichord, pianoforte, some of his clothes, letters, original sheet music, etc. All pretty neat stuff. And the third floor of the house, which is where the family lived, was surprisingly big for that time period. Probably three times the size of my apartment in Budapest!

The Fortress

Since we hadn’t really eaten anything except the apple strudel, we got a famous pretzel and headed up to the fortress via funicular. If you’re afraid of heights, it might not be the best thing to do in Salzburg, but even though the ride up was steep and high, the funicular basically sling shot up mountain at a break-neck pace so by the time you had a chance to have a panic attack you were already at the top.

Unfortunately the clouds blocked the view of the Alps and Untersberg Mountain, but the sites of the town was still beautiful.

Inside of the fortress there is a museum, look out points, and a small cobblestone courtyard where the government of Austria pays for artists to live and work (kind of like Yaddo, only government-granted and in a fortress in Austria).

After the fortress, we walked across town to have a beer at Augustiner Abbey & Müllner Bräu Brewery. Hermits founded the abbey in 1605 and it is the oldest (and most famous) beer garden in Austria.

I adore these traditional Austrian steins.

And since we were exhausted, hungry, a little cold, and at a loss for somewhere else to go, we decided to head back to our (now) favorite restaurant in Salzburg, Die Weisse, to warm up and have an amazingly delicious pork and potato soup.

As we walked from the restaurant back to Old Town to catch a cab back to the hotel, we marveled at how old and charmed the city looks at night. It wasn’t majestic like (for example, um,) Budapest at night, but it was quiet and peaceful. And even though it was a long day packed with activities, it was certainly one of my best days of traveling yet.

Salzburg, Day 1

Posted on October 26, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

I’m sitting here staring at a blank document just trying to find good words to describe Salzburg, and honestly I keep coming back to fairy tale. I mean how many thousands and thousands of dollars went into that MFA, and “fairy tale” is the best I can come up with? But it’s either that or blank page. And blank page won’t suffice either because I want to express clearly how incredible our weekend was in Salzburg. So it will have to do: Salzburg was a fairy tale.

We left on Friday morning. It was a little cloudy in Budapest, and remained so for the majority of the trip. And you have to understand that cloud cover really does make you a little unsure of the place, especially since an hour after crossing the Hungarian boarder into Austria, you should start to see some mountains. If you haven’t been, trust me, you’ll know the Alps when you see them. The Alps (latin cognate, Alex, “albus”—white!) are very very. Not that you can see the Alps that far across the boarder, but the terrain and the elevation begins to change drastically. Unfortunately we couldn’t really tell because of the weather. I did however spend a little time explain advection fog to Györgyi and was surprisingly perplexed when she fell asleep in the passenger seat.

But despite fog and construction and Germans driving 200 mph, we got into Salzburg without much fuss about five hours after we left.

We stayed at the Castellani Park Hotel, which I booked partly because of our IPrefer membership and partly because we really love this group of hotels. They are not paying me to write this, but we have always had good experiences, in Poland, Czech Republic and now Austria with these hotels so I really recommend them. Also, sigh up for the IPrefer membership rewards number and you get all sorts of extras. They gave us free cakes, fruit, wine, and a free upgrade to a Junior Suite on this particular trip. And even though the hotel was about five minutes outside of Old Town (5 Euro cab ride if you don’t have a car), the view was beautiful, the neighborhood was quiet, and the hotel and its staff were lovely, gracious and helpful.

Salzburg is on the banks of the Salzach river and on the northern boundary of the Alps. And it is not a big city (only a little over 100,000 residents). But it is clear to me now why it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. We set out from the hotel around 4pm so it was already getting dark.

So while I want to show only the sunniest, Alps(iest), greenest pictures, I’m going to post in order of what we did. And when we were in the old city at 4, it was dark, a little cold, though not raining. These facts did not seem to deter anyone though from their evening strolls through the medieval part of the city.

One of the first things that we saw was the huge crowd swarming in and out of the chocolate store. So even though we have been trying to watch our chocolate intake of late, we didn’t think it would be right not to go in for a few morsels. I mean I didn’t want to personally insult Salzburg on my first visit.

And because her hands were cold (and only because), Györgyi got a cup of hot chocolate. Just imagine taking the most delicious chocolate bar you have ever had, melting it, warming it up so it steams, and then putting it in a cup to drink. That’s what it was. Swoooon.

We strolled around the old town for a while, just looking at the beautiful buildings and taking in the town. Even with the fog and gray, the sites were lovely. And there were so many people outside walking around, eating chestnuts, sipping cappuccinos at outdoor cafes and practicing their German phrases.

I don’t know why, but I’ve never had a roasted chestnut before. So finally I tried some because there were many street vendors selling them. One bag, 3 Euros. So delicious. Nutty, soft and sweet. It’s not really that much of a tradition in America, and it’s a shame because they seem like the perfect fall/winter street food.

As we were walking, we heard “Hey, Kent State!” We happened to stumble upon some Ohioans enjoying a cake outside at one of the sidestreet café. They were a young couple who went to Ohio State and now live in Belgrade with their four small children. We chatted with them for a while, and when I walked away I was just smiling really big and wide. Not only was it nice to meet up with some Americans, but the more time I’m away, the more I realize how wonderful the Midwestern attitude for friendliness is. I said to Györgyi, “that’s Ohio,” and now that’s she’s been home with me, I think she knew exactly what I meant.

So we bought the chestnuts outside of Mozart’s house. Though because it was late, the house and tour was closing, so we had to save it for Saturday. Which gave us the perfect excuse to head back across the river, to the restaurant I had picked out for us for the night.

Before I travel anywhere, I check tripadvisor for restaurant recommendations. If you’ve never used it, I really give it high marks, and seem to always find a local place with good food and drink.

Sometimes this means having to get out of the touristy city-center, but in my experience it is always worth it.

So based on the recommendation of travelers around the world, we headed to Die Weisse (website in German only). Rupertgasse 10, +43 662 8722460 Reservations recommended for sure, especially during high season. The reviews said it was the best beer garden in Salzburg and they had good food to boot. And honestly it was a total blast. The waiters wore these leather Austrian shorts and were very friendly. And their homemade light and dark wheat beer was so delicious. Even Györgyi, a real non-beer drinker, kept wanting to go back for more.

Györgyi ordered what was essentially Austrian mac & cheese. So it was dumplings, cheese, bacon, and herbs baked in a little pot and served hot. Where the cheesy dumplings met the sides of the pot, they were a little crispy. Oh there was also a salad, but I think it was just there to ease the conscious a little bit. And I’ll have to check with her, but I’m pretty sure this is her death row meal now. I ordered an equally incredibly delicious meal, which was the Wiener Schnitzel and a side salad that included cucumbers and cabbage. I highly highly recommend this restaurant. Yes, that was two highlyies. The next night we met an Irish couple in Old Town and practically forced them to go there after they asked where we had eaten and if we had any recommendations.

So as it had already been a long day, we headed back to the hotel for a nightcap (i.e—Steigel beer) at the cute hotel bar. After our beer, we went back to the room and had a few chocolates while watching The Sound of Music. Why, do you ask, did we watch the Sound of Music? (As if it being the best movie musical ever isn’t enough of a reason.) Because…the next day…we had to be up bright and early for the Sound of Music tour of Salzburg.

For the Freedom Fighters

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

Last year I wrote about the October 23rd, 1956 Hungarian Revolution, so I won’t repeat myself in length here. But I’m going to be in Salzburg tomorrow and I didn’t want the day to pass without some mention of it.

Thousands of people died toppling (for at brief time, at least) the Stalinist regime in Hungary.

And even though the rest of the world turned their backs on Hungarians when the Soviets came storming back into Budapest a month after the revolution (Eisenhower recommended strongly against helping), what these students, activists, and so many others sacrificed, both on that day and during the swift Soviet retribution, eventually was responsible for the collapse of the Eastern Bloc.

Tomorrow is a national holiday and everyone has the day off for remembrance of those sacrifices. It wasn’t as clear to me last year how complex the political and social systems are here in Hungary, still, and generally in Central and Eastern Europe. Then again, the wounds are still fresh ones. For the Hungarian people, who have gone from top to bottom so many times throughout the last 1,000 years, one generation isn’t that far removed.

Anyway, the spirit of the people is what is important in remembering. I’m very proud of those people who had the guts to stand up to something so much bigger than themselves. I’m humbled by the idea alone.

Do These Windows Detach?

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

So like a lot of people who live in a big city, I don’t care for the tourists.

But unlike a certain new tour company:

I don’t want them dead!

Yes, that’s a bus. And yes, it’s in the Danube. The tour company is advertising this feature of the tour as the first of it’s kind in Europe. I can think of a few reasons why no one else has done it yet.

Curls

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

The weather has been so cold, though hopefully will warm up this week. Hopefully just in time for Salzburg so that I can actually run through the Austrian hills like Fraulein Maria.

I have so many posts in my backlog, pic & stories, but I am at least a day behind.

Until then, I’ll post the same pic that I posted on barnabasinbudapest, because his hair is growing back in again, to it’s little soft curls. Damn cute.

Bean Soup and Robert Capa

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

Because we were already in City Park at the zoo, we decided to walk over to Pántlika, which is a little retro restaurant/beer garden, and a throwback to the socialist era. In the 70s, it was an information building handing out socialist propaganda information, and from the air, it is designed to look like the red star. But it’s still more retro-style than good-old-days-propaganda. They play fantastic music and have a very hip inside. Even their website is cool.

Even though it’s technically in City Park and close to the Szechenyi Baths, zoo, Hero’s Square, museums, etc., it’s not something that your average tourist would just stumble upon because it’s a little further out of the way. But it is definitely worth going to, even if it seems like a locals-only joint. They speak English, the decor is totally retro-fab and the food (at least what we had) was very good. And because it’s set in the woods, a fall outing is the perfect time to go.

They claim to have the best bean soup in the city, so that is what I ordered, and it was excellent. There is an option to add meat, so I might try that next time, but as far as bean soups go, this is the best I’ve had. And how can anything suffer from the addition of little dumplings?! Györgyi was going to also get soup. Then she saw the neighbor table order the sausage and potatoes, and so her little Hungarian heart guided her to her choice. Debreceni sausages, potatoes with sour cream and cheese. Pretty much the most Hungarian lunch you can have, and she said it was also excellent.

After lunch, we headed over to the Ludwig Museum to see the Robert Capa exhibition. We were kind of tired, but it was the last weekend that the exhibition was open, and we definitely didn’t want to miss it. And I’m glad that we didn’t. I obeyed the rules and didn’t take pictures inside of the museum, but you may recognize these famous Capa photographs:

Robert Capa was arguably one of the best war photographers of the 20th century. He was born in Budapest in 1913 as Endre Ernő Friedmann. After being arrested in 1932 in Budapest for being an anti-government protester, he eventually moved to Paris where he adopted the American-sounding Robert Capa name (in Hungarian, cápa means shark).

He was with the first soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, and heroically captured it on film (along with 5 other wars). The exhibit was fascinating and silencing. Especially the prints of the “blurry” D-Day photographs. I didn’t know it, but the reason why the photographs are blurry (like the one on the left, which was the cover of Life Magazine), was because in the haste to get the photographs developed and printed, the fifteen-year-old lab assistant, Dennis Banks, accidentally overfixed the negatives.

The exhibit at the Ludwig was lovely, despite there being just about every other person in Budapest there on the same afternoon. From Life Magazine covers, to hand-written letters, to the photographs themselves (including his last photograph before stepping on the landmine that killed him), I really have to congratulate the museum on the exhibit.

Addresses:

Pántlika Söröző/Bisztró
1147 Budapest
Városliget (opposite Herminia ut 47)
222-2929

Ludwig Museum
Komor Marcell utca
IX. kerület, Budapest

The Budapest Zoo

Posted on October 15, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

On our epic tourist Saturday, we visited the Budapest Zoo. Györgyi had only been once and I wanted to go to see the baby rhino, Lisimba. We kind of thought that it wouldn’t be that crowded, since it was a touch cold and threatening rain. But we were wrong. As the second oldest zoo in ALLLLL of Europe, and located in City Park, it was crowded, like it always is.

So here’s the deal with the Budapest Zoo: Whatever animals probably won’t kill or chew on you, you can pet and feed. As you can see from the picture there, Györgyi was feeding the baby camel. There was a bigger camel locked up. And I mean BIGGER, like morbidly obese, so the other camels didn’t really fight for the food since he wasn’t there. And when they took the little food pellet out of your hand, they sort of wrapped their lips around your entire hand and then dragged their wet gums away. It felt really bizarre and cute.

I was kind of partial to this fat prairie dog eating grass, though.

There was a whole “Hungarian farm” exhibit space so that kids could go inside with the goats, the sheep and cows and DELICIOUS mangalica pigs, etc.

But then the cage-ness started to bother me so we decided to get to the good stuff, and by good stuff I mean seeing the baby rhino:

As you can see, it wasn’t much of a baby anymore, but in terms of rhino-size, this cutie was pretty little. Obviously you can’t feed the rhinos at the Budapest Zoo.

So then we went outside of the rhino house and stumbled upon a big crowd feeding the giraffes. First of all, let me just say, I have never been so close to a giraffe in all of my life and it is an absolutely amazing animal.

But they’re not horses, which was a concept that some of the people there were having a hard time grasping. When they bent their long, amazing necks down to get the food people tried to pet their faces like you would a horse. (By the way– a giraffe is usually a very very docile animal, but that 550 pound neck that it holds up can kill a lion, if it feels threatened of course). Of course the giraffes didn’t like it, they kept shaking their heads away and people kept petting their faces.

So Györgyi took it upon herself to demonstrate the correct way to feed a giraffe. Let the giraffe’s tongue come to the food!

After the giraffe habitat, we decided to start heading out of the zoo. We made one last stop at the indoor monkey habitat, where this employee sat down by the glass and suddenly all of the monkeys flocked over to him.

I don’t know if it was because he feeds them, or if it is just because they think he is one of them, but it was such a great moment. Even though the pic isn’t that clear, I’m glad I was able to capture it. I love how the monkey in front is like, “Oh, cool, you’re back.”

After Györgyi posed for a few pictures, we felt our stomachs rumbling a bit, and decided to head out of the zoo and back to City Park to eat some soup. More on that, and more, tomorrow.

St. Stephen’s Basilica

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

On Saturday early morning we found ourselves full of energy for exploring the city and doing so many of the touristy things that people who live in a tourist town never do.

Our initial plan was to go to the big flea market, the Ecseri flea market, which is known for being the place to find just about anything. And I love browsing for kitcsh in the fall, so being that it was kind of an overcast day we headed over there. Unfortunately when we got there we saw signs that it was closed for the day. This was a bit suspicious, since it’s never closed, but as it is the largest flea market in the country, and is known for attracting some unsavories, there was probably something illegal that shut it down for the day. Oh well. So we formulated plan B on the fly, drove around Szechenyi Baths and then somehow meandered back downtown to have a bagel and coffee outside of St. Stephen’s Basilica. That was when it occurred to us that we had never been inside.

St. Stephen’s Basilica (Szent István-bazilika) was finished in 1905. It is neoclassical and it took 54 years to complete because in 1868 the first dome collapsed and it had to be scrapped and built again. It was built for St. Stephen, the first King of Hungary, and the man who brought Christianity to Hungary. It is also home to his szent jobb, “holy right hand”, which is his actual mummified hand and a holy relic. The Basilica is also the largest church in Hungary, with a capacity of 8,500 people.

The whole church was greatly damaged during World War II and it was used during that time as a military barracks but also to house important documents and art work. Renovations and reconstruction didn’t begin until the 1980s and they took about two decades to complete.

Since I grew up Catholic, I have a little bit of Catholic church immunity. And what I mean is that usually I can appreciate the architecture of the bedazzled mummified body parts of saints, etc., but I don’t really have much of a reaction to the churches. But for some reason I was really dazzled by the church. When I was inside, looking at the detail and embellishments, the gold chandeliers, the light spilling in through the windows, I got a little teary-eyed. And it wasn’t some kind of spiritual experience, but it was certainly a reaction to the beauty of the church.

At ten ‘o clock you can climb the 350 or so stairs to the top of the Basilica for a magnificent view of the city. The cost is 500 HUF (less than 2 Euros) and it’s completely worth the price. Since we were there right at 10, we were the first ones up.

Even though the day was a little gray and overcast, it was such an amazing way to see the city. From the quiet Szent István tér (St. Stephen’s square) where we have had coffee or drinks countless times, to the heart of Pest, or to the hills of Buda, the view was just incredible.

This is a great way to see some of the city (though unless you are in the best shape of your life, 18 years old, or don’t mind your leg muscles stinging for three of four days after your upward haul, I would recommend taking the elevator). It was hard for me to list specific differences between Budapest and Prague when I visited in the spring. But from the top view, it’s easier to see the differences. I don’t think anywhere in the world can compete with Prague’s rooftops. Or maybe I just have an odd fascination with rooftops.

I have posts all week for this day, actually. After leaving the Basilica, we went to the park, to the zoo, to lunch to an art exhibit, and to the Palinka festival. Sigh. October’s the best.

Budavári Pálinka és Kolbászfesztivál

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

The weather has certainly been changing around these parts. Next weekend we’re heading to Salzburg to revisit as many scenes of my absolute favorite childhood movie, The Sound of Music, as possible. My Mom and I used to watch that movie every single Christmas and I used to think that I would NEVER be old enough to sing I am 16 going on 17. So it will be a little lifelong dream to see the hills where the music is alive!

As for this weekend, the weather does not slow down any plans or festivals. The very largest, and the one that probably most people are excited for, is the Palinka and Kolbasz Festival! There is absolutely NOTHING more Hungarian than this festival. It’s really kind of evil. And to make it even better, it will be in Buda Castle.

It began yesterday and runs through this Sunday.

The entry price is 1900 HUF (about 7 Euros) and you get a tasting glass and a 500 HUF tasting coupon. Just like the fabulous wine festival there, you have to buy tickets to sample the palinkas. And then when you’re too drunk to stand, you can make your way over to the pavilion for kolbasz and music.

Even if you don’t like brandy and are a vegetarian, it’s still a festival that is worth the admission price. The view is so lovely this time of year, and it’s worth going just for the atmosphere. Cheers!

Around Town

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

We drove around town a bit on Saturday. It was nice not to have a specific purpose, but rather just to visit some of the older parts of the city. This is something that is almost impossible to do during the summer, and high traffic time. So Saturday mid-morning was perfect for this non-task.

The central coffeehouse, some government buildings, construction sites, back alleys of the fifth district lined with antique shops and on toward the western railway station. Windows down so the 10am October air and light could pass right through us.

It was a very clear and lovely day anyway, as it has been most of this month so far (though it was raining today at 6am). And when we came home for the night:

Moon rising over rooftops. It doesn’t get much better.

b u d a j e s t

Monthly Archives: October 2009