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Stift Nonnberg

Guess what? Another Sound Of Music location! This one’s a lovely abbey seated atop a hill with killer views of the surrounding city. Even if you’re not a Sound Of Music fan (but you should be!) it’s worth a visit.

The nuns supposedly sing every day early in the morning. We did not attend, partly due to Doug shuddering at the thought of trekking across town, before dawn, just to hear singing. And I didn’t feel like going alone. Next time maybe.

We still arrived in the morning. Early enough that the streets were all but deserted. And I got the opportunity to see all the places from the movie. Where the Nazi cars were parked outside the wall when the Von Trapp’s made their escape. The gate where the children came and begged for Maria to come back home. Where the “How do you solve a problem like Maria” song was sung by the nuns in the courtyard. It’s such a beautiful place.

Aside from the musical, the abbey is a functioning abbey and quite lovely. Inside the courtyard is a lovingly tended cemetery. It’s rather beautiful. Unfortunately the main door was locked and we had to return later in the day to enter. It was nearly impossible to tell online when the abbey would actually be open to view. Inside the abbey, soaring pillars hold up the lofty ceiling. Three stained glass windows surrounding the alter provide a splash of color to the muted tones within. If you go down the stairs you can get a glimpse of the lower level containing pews. The ceilings here mimic the ones in the chapel above.

At the back, secured behind glass and a gate, are remnants of old Romanesque murals from the original building. For 0.5€ you can turn the lights on to view them. We did. It was worth it. For another 0.5€ you can turn on the lights surrounding the alter. We passed. 0.5€ is the general cost of a potty stop and I prefer to know I can use the restroom if needed. That’s one European thing that is less than ideal. Paying every time you need the restroom. Definitely use the restroom if you’re in an establishment that has one for free. Some restaurants and tourist attractions have them. There were no bathrooms available for public use at the abbey.

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Fortress Hohensalzburg

A connecting road leads between Stift Nonnberg and the Fortress, making it easy to do both. If one doesn’t like to walk, a funicular will shuttle you from the bottom of the hill in town to the fortress. The office is just past St Peter’s Cemetery’s back gate.

If you choose to walk, you will enter through the original gates leading into the walled fortress. It’s quite strategically located, as there are views in all directions. Originally the archbishop of the region ordered a castle built in 1077. Because of disputes naturally. What exists today is the result of three phases/eras of construction, which I believe ended around 1500. So it’s old.

I’ll admit I did not love the fortress. There were bits I found interesting. The “Panorama Tour” is a one way walk through part of the buildings where you enter a mini museum talking about the land’s history and then to the towers. One was a prison tower. There’s a hole in the floor where they used to lower prisoners into essentially a dungeon. Only way in or out was through the ceiling way above. Apparently people weren’t held there long, just long enough to be sentenced to whatever fate had in store for them.

Along the tour there’s a viewing platform where you can certainly understand why this hill was chosen to build on. On the way out you can see the Salzburg Bull Organ, which is still operational.

My favorite tid bit from the castle is that the fortress never fell under siege. But it almost did. The fortress was running out of food and they were down to their last bull. Instead of eating it they paraded it along the wall for their enemy’s to see. And the next day they painted the bull a different color and did it again. Rinse wash and repeat for the next few days. Said enemy’s thought the fortress had more supplies and decided to give up. Packed up and hit the road. Brilliant.

The rest of the castle that’s open to the public has been made into a museum. I can’t stand museums. My mother ruined me as a child dragging me to every po-dunk museum around. That being said I have been to some fabulous museums. I just don’t enjoy most of them. This one included. Though they did have multiple types of armour on display. And old military uniforms. Apparently the more feathers on your hat the higher up in rank you were.

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Afro Cafe

Desiring anything with vegetables for lunch brought us to the Afro Cafe. While Austrian can be tasty it seemingly tends to be lax on including veggies and fruit. Lots of meat, pasta and potatoes. This cafe is quite popular and we were extremely lucky to get a table. We did have to promise not to stay more than an hour as it was reserved later on. No problem. I just want to have lunch and bail.

The Afro Cafe specializes in fair trade coffee from Eastern Africa. Their coffee is purchased from small farms. And it is delicious. Did I really need more coffee? No. Did I have it anyway. Absolutely. Falafel wraps were selected for lunch. Lots of veggies. Yum. They sell a variety of coffee’s, tea’s, and African spices as well.

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Di Renzi

Italian for dinner tonight. Again, reservations are recommended. One couple got in without. Many were turned away. That was a lot of sad faces.

I happen to be part Italian. And Austria is very close to Italy. However, I would not make a very good Italian. I’m not particularly fond of pasta. I love the other dishes, but pasta? Sometimes. When eating pasta I prefer lasagna, manicotti or maybe a seafood fettuccine, just not with red sauce. I don’t care for red sauce. See, I told you. Not a very good Italian. To redeem myself, I love gnocchi and wine. And most non pasta dishes.

Di Renzi serves pasta as their mains, primarily. They do have a number of salads, serve fish and even octopus. I chose the Spaghetti Carbonara. It was tasty, came well presented. Sprouts of some sort with a shockingly deep green edible lace topped my dish. I passed on the green thing. Pretty sure we get more than enough dye in our food at home. I have no idea if it was naturally died or not, I didn’t ask. The carbonara was very good.

I’m still not sure what Doug got. He wound up with a plate full of pasta and a large amount of prosciutto (maybe?) on top. Also decorated well. He said it was good. We were both pleased with the meals and would recommend, especially if you like pasta.

The kitchen is open, you can see them preparing everything depending on where you sit. Always fun to see how they make the plates look so pretty. Not something I do at home.

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Mirabell Palace Concert

What better way to experience Mozart’s hometown than attending a classical concert where Mozart himself once played? Seated in the beautiful Marble Hall absorbing the works of Mozart and Vivaldi being played on period instruments was magical.

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