Crossing the Border // Day 7
I had visions of us standing in some god forsaken train station without water and no Kinder Buenos surrounded by piles of luggage. All of the googling in the world wasn't going to help us either. I don't speak any German and it honestly didn't seem like anyone was writing about "how to help tourists get between countries during a refugee crisis". Shocker right? Anyway, it turned out to not be a big deal at all. It was an incredibly organized process of everyone getting off the train just before the border, cramming on buses, then getting off again at the intended train station. I pretty much took Dramamine for no good reason.
So a day that I emotionally blocked off as a logistical nightmare was rather easy. It was an easy midmorning train ride (~2 hrs?) followed by a day bouncing through Salzburg. BTW, Salzburg is rather adorable and a high recommendation.
Morning in Munich
We woke up early enough to enjoy a leisurely breakfast at our pattern heavy hotel. Seriously, they could really tone it down a notch... Followed by a nice walk to some of our favorite spots. As we were lingering by the Viktualienmarkt.... I saw ARNOLD Schwarzenegger. The picture is only of his back but trust me - it is him.
It was also nice to see what the Holy Ghost church looked like in the light of day. The night before had been so amazing and kind of magical that I was worried it wouldn't hold up to that. Of all the churches we had been in so far, this one felt actually "used" as opposed to "tourist".
Train / Bus to Salzburg
Like I said... this was not hard. The hardest part was having Grampy let me carry his bag while we hustled between the train and the bus... and then not letting some tourist ladies push him / us around. Thankfully, my Dad has continued to wear lime green so nobody lost anybody.
The train stopped at the last train station in Germany - Freilassing. It was a pretty surreal experience to go through the areas that have been covered on the news and see lines of families waiting to cross a literal bridge to a new country. This happened at the German station, the border, and in Salzburg. Meanwhile, not a soul outside of Amsterdam has asked to see my passport.
Day in Salzburg
Always trying to make the most of every day in a city, K and I really hit the ground running - perhaps literally. I think we did about 10 miles this day walking which is quite a lot considering we were on the train/bus until about 2 in the afternoon. After checking into our hotel (Weiss Taube) and eating a pretzel (obviously), we were checking this off the map.
I have no idea how one relatively small city / town has so many big, beautiful churches but I'll let them figure that out. The Dom Cathedral might be one of my all-time favorites - including Italy. After a long day of touristing, we snuck up on / met up with the rest of the family at St. Peters again before having an amazing dinner at Zirkelwirt. Grampy proclaimed it the best veiner schnitzel of the trip and Kerrianne tried to lick her bowl clean of the goulash soup.
Dom Cathedral
I can't even describe why I loved this one so much. The ceilings were so incredibly intricate and amazing - but it was also the dome that kind of caught me too. It just felt like the colors used were atypical and more rose-y or red than I'm used to. I loved it.
St. Peter's
The interesting thing about this church was really the paintings for me. I'm used to paintings or ceramic work in churches - but this was different. They were just straight obvious religious paintings but some different works as well - and much bigger.
Franciscan Church
Completely different than every other one. I mean look at that ceiling right?
Salzburg Fortress
We essentially paid 8 euro to not walk up the hill and take a 20 second funicular ride. I don't regret this at all - remember all the walking? The point of coming to Fortress depends on who you are. There is a great museum if you are into that but if you are really just hungry and a bit tired (like me), you come for the views. The Fortress really sits completely above the city providing spectacular views.
Dinner
We could not have loved Zirklewirt more. It was literally around the corner from our hotel... and they had an amazing and alluring patio with heaters. After we left as a group, K and I turned right around and went back for another drink.
Tomorrow? More Salzburg time.
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