A Castle, a Composer and Covered Fountain.

Our final city before returning to Vienna was the Austrian city of Slazburg. One could say it's strait out of a postcard with it's 109 beautiful church and cathedrals while being sounded by the Alps on one side and the Slazach river on the other and to top it all off it's capped with one of the most magnificent castles I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.  We had a great view of not only the city of Slazburg but the surrounding area when we all climbed up to the castle, officially called Hohenslazburg Fortress which sits on top of the Festtungburg. It boasts the impressive stat of never being once being taken in it's entire 941 year history which has allowed it survive mostly intact for such a long time. Therefore making it the biggest fully preserved castle in Central Europe. We had a tour of the inside of the castle and as we walked it's long hallways and climbed it lengthy spiral staircases I began to grasp it's true size and get a sense of why it was so impenetrable.

The Hohenslazburg Fortress.

The view!

On our first full day our walking tour guide Gabriel Frost told us all about the fountain we couldn't see, made famous by the opening scenes of the Sound of Music. But beyond the sights (or in our case the hidden sights) Slazburg also has the pleasure of being the birth place and home of one of the most famous classical composers of all time: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Which our guide told us all about as we walked through the city pointing out the cafe Mozart hated but went to every day. And as she mentioned how extra special it was being in Slazburg arrived on Mozart's birthday as we walked by his birth house. She continued in saying as we walked inside of the Slazburg Cathedral how we had the pleasure of seeing the very fount he was baptized in, on his baptismal day. We later ended our tour by Mozart's apartment where he spent most of his days while he lived in Slazburg.

Mozart's Birth House.

Our guide also spoke about Slazburg more modern claim to fame: The Sound of Music. As I spoke on earlier by pointing out a covered up fountain, but also the real life abbey that Maria was from in the film. As well as other famous shots from the film by the main square in front of the old Archbishops residence. Which compelled me and some of my classmates enough to attempt to watch The Sound of Music that night to see places we say that day in the film. It was definitely worth it! For it was almost magical to realized that we walked by the same beautiful places in the film, that very day. I could finally see why they choose the city of Slazburg to set the film for as they say in the film the hills ( and the city),  were truly alive with the sound of music!

The Covered Fountain.

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

The first three days were full of exploration, delicious food, and language barrier. It's been truly incredible and I haven't even ventured outside of Vienna yet. Through these blog posts I will document and attempt to capture the essence of my travels.

Monday, Jan 8th
After about eleven hours of flying, the group and I landed in Vienna at noon, local time. This was, of course, far from the noon to which my body was accustomed. Nevertheless, I managed to stay awake until Austrian bedtime. This would probably not have been the case if not for the spectacular city waiting to be explored. Since we arrived at our hostel, The Wombat, an hour before check-in time, Alex, Matt, Konner, and I decided to take a stroll. We found a food stand which graced us with our first meal in the new city.

Hühner kebap, delicious street food.

Getting settled in was the next order of business, after which my roommates (Alex, Matt, and Jeffery) and I wandered our way into a pub. Fortunately the bartender understood enough English to ensure we got our beers and complimentary potato chips. We followed this excursion with a group dinner at Zwölf Apostlkeller, a restaurant that descends several floors underground! I may not have chosen the best entree to pair with my strawberry wine, but it was hard to resist the roast pork and dumplings.

Tuesday, Jan 9th
I started my first full day in Vienna with a couple of espressos and a hearty breakfast at The Wombat. The group and I then headed for St. Stephen's Cathedral in the city center for a guided tour. I learned about Vienna's history and got to see the house (now a shopping mall...) in which Mozart died. Our tour guide, Herbert, also showed us one of Beethoven's favorite cafes. It was very surreal spending time where my two favorite composers spent time, and this was just an appetizer for the next day's event.

“In this place until 1849 was the house in which Mozart died on December 5, 1791.”

Later that night we attended our first concert. The program revolved around love letters and songs by Robert and Clara Schumann. Though I couldn't understand the letters, the music was beautiful and I found myself entranced by the opening piano part. I also really enjoyed this take on the production as it was, well, more of a production than a recital, complete with acting and humor that prompted the German-speakers to laugh. After the concert, Megan, Matt, Jeffery, and I took to the streets in search of dinner. It was only after this outing that I realized I walked over 30,000 steps that day!

Wednesday, Jan 10th
The main course to Tuesday's appetizer was a visit to Zentralfriedhof, the site at which the greatest composers are buried. If standing where Beethoven once stood was surreal, standing above him was phantasmagorical (yes, I had to look that up). I got to see the gravestones for Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, Brahms, and many others including the elusive Legeti, for which Aaron and I spent the better part of an hour searching. On our way back to The Wombat, Aaron, Caroline, and I got separated from the group and ended up lost in the city. Fortunately I had the two prerequisites to salvation: Google maps and an international data plan.

After some brief downtime, Caroline and I headed north for Kahlenberg, a hilltop that overlooks the city. We arrived only to find the thickest fog I've ever seen; our view of the city was a lost cause. It was an enticing change of scenery nonetheless, and I thoroughly enjoyed our trek through the foggy woods. Before we hopped back on the bus, we decided to stop at a little souvenir shop where we were greeted in German. In previous encounters, the phrase, "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" had saved the day, alerting the Austrians that they were dealing with American tourists and should switch to English. No such luck this time, as the owner replied, "Nein, nein," and continued to mutter at us in German. We tried to ignore his implacable presence while we browsed around. This continued for a few minutes until Caroline asked if he was closing, to which he replied, "Yes!" Finally aware of our transgression, we got out of his hair and made our way back for the next concert.

Thick fog!

Our second concert was the Bellini opera, I Puritani. The venue, the state opera house, was enormous. We were seated in the top row and there were probably six or seven rows below us. The seats could have been more comfortable, but I'm just glad we didn't have to stand in the very back as others did. The show featured large choral and instrumental ensembles, great soloists, and even subtitles in either German or English. I used this as an opportunity to work on my German; I would read the subtitles of the people in front of me before reading my own English subtitles. All in all, it was a great experience and I can't wait for what's in store in the next cities!