Exploring the Historic City of Salzburg

One thing I encourage you all to do is keep a journal whenever you travel. For the longest time I never thought to do this because I figured my pictures would speak for themselves. Now however, I look back at some of my trips even from high school and I find myself forgetting why I took a certain photo, who some of the students on my trips were, etc. Plus, when you keep a journal you get to re-read your writing, and you find certain gems hidden away like, “Our first day in Salzburg was pretty alright considering how horrible the weather was.”

We had the worst weather each day we were in Salzburg. It alternated between the misty half rain that you get in Ireland and a torrential downpour that finally drove my brother to purchase an overpriced rain coat. Luckily for us, Salzburg is one of those cities that you can’t help buy enjoy visiting, no matter the weather.

We started our day with a visit to the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which is on top of a hill above the Residenzplatz. The fortress has been around since the early 1000s, but most of the building left standing today was completed in the 1500s. The fortress was a great way to start our visit, and the walk up to it  wasn’t too taxing and gave such a good view of the city. It’s crazy to think about the dozens of generations of people who have stood looking out from the same fortress walls, isn’t it?

After exploring for a bit, we all started to get quite hungry and decided to try out the cafe on the fortress grounds. The food was a bit overpriced, but oh man was it tasty. I had the linguine with salmon and white wine sauce, and it was such a good meal to have on a rainy day.

Salzburg has a beautiful Old Town as well that’s centered around the Residenzplatz and the city’s cathedral. Because we were there over Pfingsmontag, a religious holiday celebrated throughout Germany, the Dom was decorated with multi-colored lights and roped off in sections for religious services. The cathedral was beautiful inside and had an openness to it that I loved. There was also a lovely graveyard next to the cathedral, which I highly recommend you check out if you ever find yourself in Salzburg. 

After our day trips to Hallstatt and Vienna,  we returned for one last morning in Salzburg. Surprise, surprise, we had bad weather again. But after another walk through the Old Town, we found a great restaurant to eat at called Zum Zirkelwirt, which is right off of the Mozartplatz. I had a hankering for sauerkraut, so I got some mighty tasty pork chops with homemade sauerkraut and this huge bread crumb dumpling. My mom splashed out and got us all desserts as well. Naturally, I got the chocolate lava cake with a scoop of ice cream because, hello, how can I not get ice cream? My mom definitely won the dessert round though with her amazing apricot dumplings.

When I return to Salzburg, I definitely want to go on a Sound of Music Tour. It might be a bit touristy, but I love the Sound of Music so I think I’d enjoy it nonetheless. What’s your favorite picture from Salzburg? Let me know what you think of the city!

Signing off,

Claire