Salzburg, Austria

Beth Boozer, a friend since 1966 (! - I don't have that many long-term friends!), worked for years for the Department of Defense Schools. She taught in Germany and Japan and England among other places and has a core group of colleagues from those years who get together pretty regularly, about every other year. Beth has a pretty big family between siblings and their children and grandchildren. So, to make getting together and keeping up with everyone, she rents a house in a really interesting and desirable location every couple of years and tells everyone, Let's get together! And they do. 

We've always been invited - old friend status gets me into this exclusive group - but for many reasons we have never been able to join the fun. This time, it all worked out! So, off to Salzburg, Austria, a place Werner nor I have visited, to see Beth and meet seven ladies we didn't know at all.  An adventure!!

The domicile. Lotsa beds, lotsa bathrooms, lotsa space. Too bad the weather didn't allow us to use the outdoor space very much, because that was very nice, too, with lots of outdoor furniture and seating areas. Werner and I were on the top floor and we got lots of step exercise. Every. Day. 

The Deutsche Bahn (the German train company) always likes to make travel more interesting. So, they cancelled the trip we had first booked so we had to re-book, but since it is not as straight-forward as I would think, we don't have to re-book the train, just the seats for the train we are re-booking TO. Right. That may have worked if we'd been able to make the train, but since the first train we boarded was a tad late, we didn't make it to the very first connection. OWAM. Down to the ticket center where a very large and disgruntled person gave us a new schedule, reluctantly, and with a finger wag. Germans. Actually, it wasn't so bad, just later. But his attitude? That was definitely disgruntling.

But we made it, and just in time for dinner!!

That's a cool rule Beth has set up: each participant is in charge of dinner for all for one evening of your stay. That means prep, cooking, clean up. Pay to play! Though with so many women around, the clean-up part was always a group event.

Baba, Beth's younger sister, had prepared a pork roast for our arrival (boy, did we feel special!) and they were waiting for us to arrive because no one could read the instructions on how to cook the Spätzle or make the sauce!  What a hoot. Our German came in handy several times. Dinner was fantastic and it was a great ice-breaker.

Day 1

Overlooking and overwhelming the town is the Fortress. We did not plan on visiting that first day since it was rainy and coolish, but you can see it from almost everywhere.  

What we had planned was a visit to the Palace Compound (cathedral, residence of the princes, museum) but CLOSED! Not the cathedral, but the others. We'd actually planned our trip thinking the museums would be open on Tuesday, but...Oh, well.  Luckily, though, we were there just in time for the noon organ concert at the cathedral. 

Not sure, but I think they have five organs. It could be six. Four are there in the crossing and the organists went from one to the other and each organ was played. The biggest is behind and above. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with their musical choices - for me, a bit too fancy and light. I wanted ORGAN. But the last piece!!! That was from the main organ. Thank goodness, they used all the lower registers and lots of organ noise in this wonderful space.  Wow!

We admired the art and the altars. Of course, the crochet and needlework always catch my eye.

Nearby was a small cemetery, still in use, and quite charming. Can you say that about a cemetery? I have posted such before: the cemeteries in Germany are lovely places to walk through and admire and have a moment to relax.

 The Fortress looms over everything.

It was past time to find something to eat and there was a really old brewery nearby, so we thought we'd try it out. Along the way, some wonderful doors. 

And the view was nice and the place was nice, but the prices were a bit high and no one came to take our order for a while, so we just left.  Down in the old city we found a little place with beer and pizza and it was great! 

We were close to the University and the vegetable market and the Collegiate Church, so off we went. The church is relatively small, Gothic and the interior mostly white. Though I've long given up on the Church, it is a still and quiet place of calm and reflection. 

We did  a lot of walking, took more pics and then wandered back to the house for dinner with the ladies.

Day 2

So many steps. We slept on the 3rd floor of the house, there were steps to the restaurants, to the museums, to the castles, to the fortress, IN the fortress.  Good exercise, I know, but oh, boy!

Up to the Fortress today. We took the Funicular and I couldn't get in the right position or quickly enough to take a pic. Very steep and very fast it was. I was NOT up for more steps. That ticket got us into all parts of the Fortress - private quarters, museum, gardens. There were breathtaking views, the usual armor, woodwork and carvings. I wondered if some of the folks never left the place.  It has withstood sieges and attacks and was never taken by enemy forces.

The tiled ovens were a wonder. And a wonder, too, how the architects designed the spaces so the servants could stoke the fires without ever going into the rooms where the royals and their guests were seated.

Later, after much searching, we found the small private museum that has art that was banned during the Nazi era. It was a small collection, but the setting was perfect and we enjoyed the quiet and the ambience.

This one, part of a temporary exhibit, caught my eye. Needlework. 

We'd picked up some frozen herbs for our dinner on Thursday, but needed a few more things, so back to the green market and get white asparagus for the soup, more herbs for the sauce and potatoes. After taking the bus back to the house, we borrowed the house bikes and went to the grocery to get the other ingredients we needed for our Thursday dinner. A good day!

Day 3

Off to town after breakfast, but the bus driver only got us half-way there - "Innenstadt gesperrt!" he said. The city center was closed? Police and barriers all over the place?? We asked one guy with an "i" on his vest and he let us know there was a classic car rally going on. Well, Werner was all in on that! But a Thursday?? We forgot that Austria is really Catholic and that Thursday was Corpus Christi - a federal holiday. We had to walk the rest of the way to town, got to see some cars and  got a bit more exercise than planned.

Finally, into the Dom Quarter.  

The Prince Bishops' Palace was pretty fancy, just as you'd expect. Fancy floors, fancy furniture, fancy ceilings, grand views. 

And then we got to dress up like the royals, sort of....

That was only the start. There was still the upper floor of the cathedral with close-ups of the plaster work and the organ as well as the usual treasures that the Church collects - silver and jewel-encrusted ornaments for services and so on. Did they get used to all that opulence or were they always a bit impressed? Bored or always enchanted?

Afterwards, we got to see some of the classic cars up close. Guess what was my favorite?

And dinner! We had luckily bought all the goodies the day before since the shops were closed on Thursday, and we got the Grüne Söße (green sauce) together, boiled up a passel of eggs and a bunch of potatoes, made the asparagus soup, and served it all up. It was yummy and we ate it all (which made me wonder if we had made enough!). And  then the lovely ladies surprised Werner with a little birthday cinnamon roll desert, candles and a song! How dear!!

 And when it was all done, a group picture.  

We were so happy to meet these lovely ladies, spend some time with Beth, see a new city, and have some time away. So many plusses!! 

Dear Beth, thanks for the invite! Sorry it took so long to take you up on one of these invites. Hope we can do it again.