We would normally drive since it's only 4 hours away, but we booked in November, and every December we've been here there has been significant snow. This time, to play it safe, we booked a train. Go figure, we've had unseasonably warm temps all month. But it was actually nice to sit back and relax, and have the train take us all the way there. We had one quick lay over in Munich, then it was on to Salzburg.
Having been to Salzburg multiple times, I knew the street to look for hotels on. Every other time we've visited, though, it's been in the summer when rates were astronomical. So staying on the main shopping street was too expensive. During the winter, though, tourism is down and the prices are reasonable. As a result, we got a great hotel right on the main shopping street. The Goldener Hirsch has been around for hundreds of years, and was a really nice hotel.
After we got checked in, we went for a stroll. I knew about the Christmas Market by the Cathedral, but one of our friends told us the Fortress that over looks the city has a small one as well. We decided to hit the Fortress one that first night. When we got to the top, you couldn't help but be awed by the surrounding mountains. We'd been up there before during the day, and it was beautiful. Being up there at dusk was incredible.
I'm glad we did...it was small, with only 10-15 booths, but it was not crowded, and we thoroughly enjoyed walking around. We found one vendor selling Raclette. I'm not sure how to describe it other than melted cheese on top of bread and Prosciutto with some fried onion bits on top. It was...no kidding..amazing. I could have downed a few right there. We washed it down with Glüwein for myself and Kinderpunsch for Shanna. I normally don't like hot drinks, but this stuff is good. Every Christmas market in Europe sells it. When we were finished, we took the cable car down to the bottom. We stayed out a little bit longer, but were beat after a long day, so we called it a night.
The next morning we got up and headed out to find breakfast. The hotel was charging off season prices for the room, but not for breakfast...35 Euro/person was just a little too much. We ended up finding a great cafe nearby that had a delicious breakfast. Instead of 70 Euro total at the hotel, we paid 18 Euro total. After breakfast, we headed to the Christmas Market.
We could not have asked for more beautiful weather. The entire weekend there was not a cloud in the sky. We walked through the market, finding all kinds of interesting things. Without me knowing, Shanna found a Scotch flavored Chocolate bar she bought for me and gave to me this morning in my Christmas stocking. One of the highlights of the market was the ice skating rink. I enjoy ice skating, but Shanna never did that or roller blading as a kid, so she's not a fan. We ended up standing there for awhile watching the kids ice skate. It was fun to watch...some of them flew around the rink, others held on to the rail for dear life.
By the time we'd finished up, it was only around 1pm. So we ended up looking up the bus schedule to Berchtesgaden. Berchtesgaden is on the German side, and only about a 45 minute bus ride from Salzburg. We'd driven through the town when visiting Hitler's Eagle's Nest before, but never actually stopped in the town. We had talked about visiting their Christmas Market if we had time, so we took the bus and were on our way. The ride there was breathtaking...I have to say it again, the entire area is one of the most beautiful places in Europe.
When we got there, we took a taxi to the market and walked around. We loved the market. The people were friendly, but I found the history there to be fascinating. One thing that stood out above all others to me was a Mural and memorial dedicated to the soldiers from the area who died in World War I and World War II. Travel around Germany enough, and you'll start to notice that a lot of areas gloss over or ignore 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. Not Berchtesgaden, though...they had a memorial to their war dead right in the center of the Altstadt (Old Town) area.
It was really neat walking around the town. For those that don't know, we have two dogs, a Rat Terrier and a Jack Russel. While going through the market, we came across a store that had a dog out front playing with a deflated ball that looked exactly like our Jack Russel. He would take the ball up to people and drop it in front of them. They would either ignore him, or kick the ball. He would fetch, and come back. I know our dogs, though...when they drop something in front of you, fetch isn't what they want. They want tug of war. So when he dropped it front of me, I picked it up and held it. Sure enough, he lunged and grabbed the other end. He proceeded to shake and twist it, just like our dogs, trying to pull it loose. The dog was awesome...if we could have brought him home, we would have.
We eventually finished, and took the train back to Salzburg. When we got there, we wanted to find a place to eat. We walked to a few places, and they were all booked. We finally found a hole in the wall tavern that we absolutely loved. I had a big pot of mussels, and Shanna had fried liver. I had a few beers, so I was willing to be adventurous and tried the liver. I have to admit...it was delicious. It was the epitome of a dive bar, complete with cheap Christmas decorations. But sometimes those are the best places to eat. We headed back to the hotel from there, and called it a night.
The next morning we had breakfast at the same cafe, did a little more shopping, then headed to the train station to go home.
Salzburg is an amazing city. If you ever have the chance to visit, don't pass it up. It's full of history (our hotel was a few houses down from the one Mozart was born in), the people are friendly, and the area is beautiful.
The next post should be up shortly about our recent trip to Denmark for their Christmas Market. In the meantime, you can click here or any picture above to see our pictures from the trip.
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