We have left sophisticated Vienna for the storybook town of Salzburg. After a lovely train ride, we arrived in a snowy city, with quite a different flavor.
In contrast to our very modern Radisson Blu in Vienna, at Hotel Goldener Hirsch – providing hospitality since 1407 – we have much more of an Alpine village feeling, complete with wifi.
The hotel is on a famous street in Salzburg, the Getreidegasse, the original Roman road. Its many 15th century buildings feature all the best shopping brands, famous restaurants such as McDonald’s, and the Mozart birthplace, no less. (Poor fellow is parodied up and down the street.) Not bad for a small town in the provinces.
After getting settled and having our very predictable Austrian repast, we visited the earliest home of dear Wolfgang. The selfie people have ruined this one too, so no pictures could be taken of his childhood apartment, which includes the room in which he was born in 1756. There was a satisfactory number of artifacts and memorabilia, including a lock of his hair and the first violin he used as a child, so it was worth the visit, though my camera finger was itching. I limited myself to the hallways.
Tomorrow we really tackle the town.
Don’s Food Corner
Since this was a travel day, we arrived in the mid afternoon for a late lunch. Unlike France, Italy or Spain where all respectable restaurants are closed between the hours of three and seven, in Austria everything is open all day. Ditto for the stores. While in Italy, Spain and especially France, when the clock strikes noon, the shop doors (and many of the museum doors as well) slam shut for a few hours. Not in Austria. They know that time means money — especially wandering tourist money.
We went traditional Austrian again for lunch today. And we were not too surprised that the restaurant in Salzburg has the same menu and cookbook as the places in Vienna. Jo tested the provincial version of wiener schnitzel, which had the same tender veal but a breading that was a tad less crisp than that encountered in Vienna. I had the roast pork with dumplings, which were a tad heavier than the ones I sampled in Vienna.
I’m not sure when we will tire of this daily diet, but we did linger at the front of an Indian restaurant to check out the menu. There may be some lamb korma in our near future. Will the calves and pigs forgive us?