After the unique Sound of Music tour our second day in Salzburg started more sedately with a walk through the city and a look at the large fortress on the hill. The fortress began life in the 15 Century and has since been expanded and reinforced to become one of the most impressive medieval fortresses still standing in Europe. There are a lot of loose comparisons that could be drawn between the fortress and the big city in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Moving through the different defensive layers revealed an older part of the castle until you reached the centre which contained a very impressive quarters for the ruling King. There were a few museums and exhibitions within the fortress but compared to Bath's Roman Baths the tours themselves were a little disappointing.
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| The Fortress overlooking the city of Salzburg |
We had a really nice lunch in the cafe in the fortress overlooking the Salzburg plains and the Bavarian Alps. Hitler's Eagles Nest was apparently just over the hill but we could not see it. Unfortunately the Eagles Nest was closed to visitors until May because of too much snow. In the afternoon Jess took some time out to look around Salzburg whilst Emma and I travelled to the foot of the Untersberg to catch a gondola to the top.
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| The view of Salzburg from the Fortress |
The Untersberg lies about 5km southwest of Salzburg so we caught a local bus to the gondola station and purchased tickets. The gondola leaves every thirty minutes and takes about twenty minutes to travel to the very top of the mountain. Amazingly there is a ski run from the top of the mountain to the bottom so we were joined on the large gondola by about 15 ski skiers plus the oldest grandma skier Emma and I have ever seen.
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| The gondola running straight up the side of the Untersberg |
After a very impressive ride to the top the skiers headed off along a path to get to the beginning of their run. Emma and I followed for a while but eventually the slippery slopes become to much for our thinly treaded sneakers. The view from the top was amazing (but a little cold). We spent about 45 minutes waling around and taking photographs before heading back to the gondola. It was surprising to see mountain goats grazing on the exposed grass at the top off the mountain (but they did not seem to afraid of us).
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| The view from the top of the Untersberg |
Afterwards we met up with Jess and went to the hostel bar for a drink. We were soon joined by two really drunk Austrian guys who it turned out frequented the bar because of its cheap drinks and abundance of female occupants. After some fairly entertaining exchanges and a warning that Austria was suffering from 'much social destruction' they soon got bored with us and stumbled over to the other side of the bar to try their luck with some more international travelers.