Salzburg
Sept 21.
After breakfast, we drove to Salzburg. It takes about2 hrs with stops and some traffic near Prien. The drive was uneventful. We did not get lost thanks to our GPS.
First I thought to stop at Herren-Chimsee on the way to visit Ludwig's Palace which is larger than Versailles. But there was some traffic before Prien and we decided to go straight to Salzburg. After all, we've seen Versailles. We also have seen day ago Nymphenburg Palace a day ago so at this time we became lazy tourists.
The Mozart's city was waiting for us so we just continued to drive. In Austria when you cross the border you need to buy a decal for the car even for a short distance to Salzburg. But we found it later on in my notes. We were lucky we were not stopped by policemen.
We arrived to our hotel Schloss Monchstein. Hard to find it but GPS did it through some narrow alley in the downtown of Salzburg, got up the mountain and very soon we were at the driveway of the castle. It is exquisite. It is a small castle sitting on the top of Mountain Monchsberg. Modern and immaculately maintained, it deserves accollades and 5* rating it has. It is a member of Relais and Chateaux. I thought restaurant has one Michelin star, however it did not . But nevertheless food was excellent and beautifully served with few compliments f the chef. The setting of hotel is stunning. We've got large room with excellent bathroom suite, and beautiful view of the gardens but I beleive all rooms are different and have nice views. There were some lounge chairs on the lawn for guests to relax.
The staff was very helpful and accommodating. They called Avis and Avis came to get our car so we did not have to drive downtown. That was very nice so we can relax and start our vacation in this magic city.
The weather was perfect Indian Summer. The hotel is located in a midst of Monchsber's park. To get down to old city, you need either walk trails down or take an elevator - 10 min walks to the Modern Museum. Kind of hard to find but once we figured out the elevator, we were OK.
We spent 2 glorious days in Salzburg and it was just beautiful. Did usual tourist sightseeing: visitied Mozart's house where he was born and other Mozart related museums, took a horse buggy ride around town, walked to Mirabel Palace, enjoyed it's gardens. There are beautiful cathedrals and I especially liked Salzburg Cathedral.
I liked oter side of Salzburg later across the river since it is less crowded. Central street had expensive stores and touristy restaurants.
It was nice in the end of the day to take an elevator to the Mochsberg's park ot our "Urban sanctuary". The dinner was excellent and we retired to bed. Second day we wanted to have dinner in town in Stiftskeller St. Peter's circa of 803 where there is dinner is server together with Mozart's concert howewer dissapointing it was sold out for the evening. We ended eating in the restaurant in town but it was not good.
We walked back to elevator and our hotel.
Few notes re: Austrians . They are very helpful and courteous but in my opinion lack the warmth and readiness to help as Germans. Just my opinion.
But still, Austria was the first country we've seen 25 years ago when we escaped Iron Curtain in 1982. We were impressed by it and now when we are coming back , it has special feeling in our heart. It's been a long way from our dilapidated apartment provided by immigrant agency and this castle in Salzburg!
Tomorrow we are leaving by train to our next destination - Ljubljana.
After breakfast, we drove to Salzburg. It takes about2 hrs with stops and some traffic near Prien. The drive was uneventful. We did not get lost thanks to our GPS.
First I thought to stop at Herren-Chimsee on the way to visit Ludwig's Palace which is larger than Versailles. But there was some traffic before Prien and we decided to go straight to Salzburg. After all, we've seen Versailles. We also have seen day ago Nymphenburg Palace a day ago so at this time we became lazy tourists.
The Mozart's city was waiting for us so we just continued to drive. In Austria when you cross the border you need to buy a decal for the car even for a short distance to Salzburg. But we found it later on in my notes. We were lucky we were not stopped by policemen.
We arrived to our hotel Schloss Monchstein. Hard to find it but GPS did it through some narrow alley in the downtown of Salzburg, got up the mountain and very soon we were at the driveway of the castle. It is exquisite. It is a small castle sitting on the top of Mountain Monchsberg. Modern and immaculately maintained, it deserves accollades and 5* rating it has. It is a member of Relais and Chateaux. I thought restaurant has one Michelin star, however it did not . But nevertheless food was excellent and beautifully served with few compliments f the chef. The setting of hotel is stunning. We've got large room with excellent bathroom suite, and beautiful view of the gardens but I beleive all rooms are different and have nice views. There were some lounge chairs on the lawn for guests to relax.
The staff was very helpful and accommodating. They called Avis and Avis came to get our car so we did not have to drive downtown. That was very nice so we can relax and start our vacation in this magic city.
The weather was perfect Indian Summer. The hotel is located in a midst of Monchsber's park. To get down to old city, you need either walk trails down or take an elevator - 10 min walks to the Modern Museum. Kind of hard to find but once we figured out the elevator, we were OK.
We spent 2 glorious days in Salzburg and it was just beautiful. Did usual tourist sightseeing: visitied Mozart's house where he was born and other Mozart related museums, took a horse buggy ride around town, walked to Mirabel Palace, enjoyed it's gardens. There are beautiful cathedrals and I especially liked Salzburg Cathedral.
I liked oter side of Salzburg later across the river since it is less crowded. Central street had expensive stores and touristy restaurants.
It was nice in the end of the day to take an elevator to the Mochsberg's park ot our "Urban sanctuary". The dinner was excellent and we retired to bed. Second day we wanted to have dinner in town in Stiftskeller St. Peter's circa of 803 where there is dinner is server together with Mozart's concert howewer dissapointing it was sold out for the evening. We ended eating in the restaurant in town but it was not good.
We walked back to elevator and our hotel.
Few notes re: Austrians . They are very helpful and courteous but in my opinion lack the warmth and readiness to help as Germans. Just my opinion.
But still, Austria was the first country we've seen 25 years ago when we escaped Iron Curtain in 1982. We were impressed by it and now when we are coming back , it has special feeling in our heart. It's been a long way from our dilapidated apartment provided by immigrant agency and this castle in Salzburg!
Tomorrow we are leaving by train to our next destination - Ljubljana.
posted by Sophia Kulich | 10:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home