Salzburg has always been on my "hit list". After all, this small city of 145,000 was the setting for the iconic film "The Sound of Music". I fell in love with "The Sound of Music" when I first saw it back in 1965 and it is still my favourite film ever. (in fact, it's time to dig it out and watch it again...what is it about Christmas and watching that film?) I had a standing invitation to spend Christmas with my German friend Claudia and her mum for years and in the late summer of 2011 I decided I was at long last going to take her up on it. So the planning began! Then I realized that Salzburg wasn't far and why not start my trip there? I could finally take that Sound of Music bus tour I'd been wanting to take for years. I loved Salzburg and will definitely go back someday. After reviewing my photographs I have decided that not only do I want to revisit during the warmer months but I want to go back for the Christmas season as well!
I stayed in a lovely guest house just outside of the city - I had to take a local bus back and forth but that was part of the fun.
No use of the pool this time around - it was snowing while I took this picture hence the blurs...but I like to make it real. Due to the prediction of a bad snow storm (while it did snow it wasn't as bad as they had feared) everyone cancelled but me so I was the only guest for most of my stay!
And they had a dog....(and a huge breakfast buffet!)
So come explore Christmas time in Salzburg with me (you better grab the beverage of your choice as this is going to be a LONG one!) and I am willing to bet you will be itching to visit Salzburg yourself some day...
This is the skating rink in Mozartplatz in the middle of the city. It is pretty deserted first thing in the morning - later on it was full of skaters.
A few stalls of the Christmas market in front of magnificent St Peters Abbey
"Sphaera" in Kapitalplatz - I liked this sculpture!
Hoensalzburg Fortress in the background...we're going there next!
The view from the Hohensalzburg Fortress...I took the funicular railway to the top on this visit.
Yes, a Christmas market up here. I posed for a photo sitting on this sled but I will spare you the sight.
More of the market.....lots to spend your money on. Salzburg was the first stop of a month-long trip that started in mid-December and took me on to Germany, Paris and London so loading myself down with "stuff" wasn't exactly a priority. (and I left Germany with my body weight in chocolate but more on that in a future post!)
Back down in Salzburg now ...I attended a performance by this quartet at St Peters Abbey. Very enjoyable. I guess my biggest disappointment was that it wasn't right in the church itself...it was in a side room. Ah well...still lovely.
Look at all this good stuff at the Salzburg market...
Christmas decorations
I think seeing at least one European Christmas market (preferably the German ones) should be on every traveler's "must do" list!
The main shopping street lit up at night.
Isn't this just adorable?
Yes, it snowed...I believe it was the first snowfall of the season. I am really good at catching that...
This was taken on The Sound of Music tour (more on that in the next post) and was taken at Schloss Hellbrunn. (Schloss means Palace) ...another Christmas market! I went back there on my own one evening.
And what do we see at Hellbrunn Palace? Okay token photo for the Sound of Music lovers....guess what this is? You got it...the gazebo where Lisl and Rolf (the Nazi...boo....) sang "Sixteen going on Seventeen" and danced around. No, we weren't allowed in or there would have been a busload of crazy SOM fans jumping on benches and dancing - it would have been carnage in there!
Token dog picture...well I had to didn't I? I mean..really!! But did he/she just widdle???
Okay now we're back at Hellbrunn market that very evening. Yes I liked what I saw so much that after the tour I hopped a bus and came back out here....
Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart so you see a lot of Mozart kitsch around the city. Including loads of Mozart chocolates.... I adore Mozart - my favourite composer after Lennon/McCartney so I was in pure heaven even with the overexploitation...I kept asking myself "why did it take me so long to get here?"
Yup...there he is peddling chocolate...Mozart you big sell out you!
Yes horse drawn carriages....I am not a romantic but even I was wishing I had a nice hot man to snuggle with under the blankets on a carriage ride around this beautiful charming fairytale of a city.
One of the most famous coffee houses in Salzburg
So of course I had to visit and sample a piece of cake...
I love Gingerbread and iced is even better....and no I didn't get any...
.
I mean seriously does it get any more Christmasy than this place? As much as I cursed the snow when it started falling it did add something special to the city.
And here's a view of the Hohensalzburg Fortress...spectacular isn't it. I walked up from the town to the fortress and along a ridge where I took these pictures... A magical walk....a magical picture above (if I say so myself) and a magical city. Hope you enjoyed!
Salzburg can be reached easily from Vienna or Munich. Seriously though....don't do a day trip...you need to stay in this beautiful city to really embrace the magic.
I stayed in a lovely guest house just outside of the city - I had to take a local bus back and forth but that was part of the fun.
No use of the pool this time around - it was snowing while I took this picture hence the blurs...but I like to make it real. Due to the prediction of a bad snow storm (while it did snow it wasn't as bad as they had feared) everyone cancelled but me so I was the only guest for most of my stay!
And they had a dog....(and a huge breakfast buffet!)
So come explore Christmas time in Salzburg with me (you better grab the beverage of your choice as this is going to be a LONG one!) and I am willing to bet you will be itching to visit Salzburg yourself some day...
There were lots of cute Christmas bits and pieces in shop windows as I wandered down the main shopping street....
This is the skating rink in Mozartplatz in the middle of the city. It is pretty deserted first thing in the morning - later on it was full of skaters.
A few stalls of the Christmas market in front of magnificent St Peters Abbey
"Sphaera" in Kapitalplatz - I liked this sculpture!
Hoensalzburg Fortress in the background...we're going there next!
The view from the Hohensalzburg Fortress...I took the funicular railway to the top on this visit.
Yes, a Christmas market up here. I posed for a photo sitting on this sled but I will spare you the sight.
More of the market.....lots to spend your money on. Salzburg was the first stop of a month-long trip that started in mid-December and took me on to Germany, Paris and London so loading myself down with "stuff" wasn't exactly a priority. (and I left Germany with my body weight in chocolate but more on that in a future post!)
Back down in Salzburg now ...I attended a performance by this quartet at St Peters Abbey. Very enjoyable. I guess my biggest disappointment was that it wasn't right in the church itself...it was in a side room. Ah well...still lovely.
Look at all this good stuff at the Salzburg market...
Christmas decorations
The main shopping street lit up at night.
Isn't this just adorable?
Yes, it snowed...I believe it was the first snowfall of the season. I am really good at catching that...
This was taken on The Sound of Music tour (more on that in the next post) and was taken at Schloss Hellbrunn. (Schloss means Palace) ...another Christmas market! I went back there on my own one evening.
And what do we see at Hellbrunn Palace? Okay token photo for the Sound of Music lovers....guess what this is? You got it...the gazebo where Lisl and Rolf (the Nazi...boo....) sang "Sixteen going on Seventeen" and danced around. No, we weren't allowed in or there would have been a busload of crazy SOM fans jumping on benches and dancing - it would have been carnage in there!
Token dog picture...well I had to didn't I? I mean..really!! But did he/she just widdle???
Okay now we're back at Hellbrunn market that very evening. Yes I liked what I saw so much that after the tour I hopped a bus and came back out here....
Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart so you see a lot of Mozart kitsch around the city. Including loads of Mozart chocolates.... I adore Mozart - my favourite composer after Lennon/McCartney so I was in pure heaven even with the overexploitation...I kept asking myself "why did it take me so long to get here?"
Yup...there he is peddling chocolate...Mozart you big sell out you!
Yes horse drawn carriages....I am not a romantic but even I was wishing I had a nice hot man to snuggle with under the blankets on a carriage ride around this beautiful charming fairytale of a city.
One of the most famous coffee houses in Salzburg
So of course I had to visit and sample a piece of cake...
I love Gingerbread and iced is even better....and no I didn't get any...
.
I mean seriously does it get any more Christmasy than this place? As much as I cursed the snow when it started falling it did add something special to the city.
And here's a view of the Hohensalzburg Fortress...spectacular isn't it. I walked up from the town to the fortress and along a ridge where I took these pictures... A magical walk....a magical picture above (if I say so myself) and a magical city. Hope you enjoyed!
Salzburg can be reached easily from Vienna or Munich. Seriously though....don't do a day trip...you need to stay in this beautiful city to really embrace the magic.
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