Salzburg! – 25-28th May 2007

It’s a while since I’ve been to Austria, so I was rather looking forward to my next trip. It’s been a pretty hectic month, and as it turned out, this was the perfect way to wind down a bit. My friend Werner (amongst others), who I know from Sweden, lives and studies near Salzburg in Tirol, so it was time for further reunion activites and a bit of a break from the hectic big-city lifestyle of Berlin for the bank-holiday weekend (Pfingsten, or Pentecost, in Germany and Austria). After a few technical issues (unusual for German trains) and a missed connection, I eventually arrived in Salzburg early evening, and myself and Werner took a stroll through the city before hopping into a local eatery just in time to avoid the sudden onset of a summer storm. Here we did a bit of catching up, and I reacquainted myself with a little of the Austrian dialect. Werner also explained that there wasn’t actually a great deal to do in the area, as it’s quite small, but as I said, this suited me fine in the end, and it couldn’t have turned out much of a better break. We had a casual evening playing cards over a few beers with some of Werner’s friends and listening to music, which was rather pleasant.

The next day we rose at leisurely pace, and breakfasted likewise on fresh bread, cheese and assorted hams. I was beginning to remember why I like Austria. This memory was jogged further as we strolled ten minutes down the hill to the local lake…the scenery in Tirol really is stunning, and I was quite frankly in awe of the lake and mountains in the summer sun. We ate lunch back with Werner’s parents, as it was his Dad’s birthday, and it was delicious :) Saturday afternoon we first visited the local football tournament, held annually at this time of year, before heading on down to another local lake/beach area. He we found not only more of Werner’s friends, but also some of mine, Vic and Barbara, who I also know from Sweden. It was good to see them again, and we spent the afternoon generally lazing around and occasionally nipping in the water for a quick swim, which was much-needed, being as the weather was so ridiculously warm.

After a quick refresher, we headed on out again to the centre of Salzburg. We stopped first by two friends of Werner, Stefan and Helena, who were having a little pre-party. Here much fun was had, and we later moved on to a (the?) local rock bar for the remainder of the night, where further fun, laughs, and Manowar were had. Very good night :)

Sunday should always be a leisurely day, and it was with this in mind that we spent a good deal of time lazing before we finally got back out onto the road to head into the Salzkammergut, Austria’s rather impressive answer to the Lake District. Here we visited Mondsee and Wolfgangsee, just two of the beautiful lakes the area has to offer. Naturally considering the weather and the bank holiday weekend, there were quite a few tourists around, but it was nowhere near as bad as it can get in England, and if you ask me, it was also much nicer.

Later on in the evening we travelled back into Salzburg to get something to eat and a couple of Apfelschorlers (or “Apfelsaft gespritzt”, as the Austrians like to say :P ) with Vic. It was a balmy evening, and the conversation and company was good. It was, however, another early one, not least due to the scheduling of the next morning.

After getting up, breakfasting, packing and saying my farewells to Werner’s parents, we headed into the Old Town of Salzburg for a whistle-stop sightseeing tour before my train home. Now, I realise this could have been done earlier in the weekend at a more leisurely pace, but Salzburg is quite small, and as I tend to sightsee everywhere, I much preferred to spend the majority of my time in the other ways available to me. Within a couple of hours we took in all the main sights, including the Mirabelgarten, Mozart’s Birthplace and the Cathedral. Salzburg’s a lovely little place, and I had a great weekend. Vielen Dank nochmal sowohl zu Werner als auch zu seiner Eltern und Freunden, die mich so wilkommen und wie zu Hause gemacht haben. Und Grüße auch zu Vic und Barbara, hoffe wir sehen uns bald wieder! :) :)