Off Day in Salzburg
After 6 days of training in Ramsau (including two strength workouts, one threshold bounding session, four trips to the glacier for skiing, and a one wet hike in the mountains), today was a much needed rest day. Luckily the clouds cleared out during our short drive to Salzburg, Austria, and we arrived in the picturesque city under sunny skies. It was so rainy during our first week here that we all were excited to do a little sightseeing and get much needed Vitamin D.
Salzburg is known for a few things: the Hohensalzburg Palace, classical music (Mozart and Haydn were both born there), the set location of the Sound of Music, and the actual von Trapp family residence, before they relocated to Stowe during World War II. How’s that for a little Vermont-Austria connection? We had a great time touring the city, checking out the Altstadt (Old City), eating pretzels, sipping cappuchino, and playing in the gardens.
First up was the Hohensalzburg Palace, an impressive fortress that overlooks the whole city of Salzburg. Built in 1077, this is one old (and big…one of the largest in Europe) castle.
We stopped halfway up for the view of the surrounding mountains. Ramsau is up there somewhere!
Didn’t count on climbing something this steep on our off day…
Nick, Mike, and the (K)Caitlin’s sauntering up
But the view was so worth it. It was gorgeous overlooking the Salzach River, the Old City, and the distant mountains
Looking down into the castle courtyard from above
Creative display of medieval armor and weapons. There were some huge swords and spears being brandished.
Impressive fortress walls, no wonder this castle has never been taken by siege in its long history
Kaitlynn, myself, and Caitlin overlooking the Old City of Salzburg
Then we tested out our quads with a steep descent straight into the city. Luckily Salzburg is a compact city, so we were able to fit in a lot of sightseeing in a relatively short amount of time.
Didn’t catch the name of this church as I stepped in to snap a pic, but the architecture was beautiful
During the holidays the Christmas Market takes over the streets of Salzburg. Even in the wrong season we found a little shop selling these intricately painted (real) eggs. Don’t worry, they blow out the whites and yolks before they paint them!
Crossing the Salzach River
Paris has its Bridge of Locks, and apparently Salzburg does too. Crossing the Mozart Bridge
Looking the other way towards the Old City, with the Hohensalzburg Palace visible on the hill to the right
Lastly, we walked over to Mirabell Palace and gardens. Mirabell is most famous as a set location for the Sound of Music; when the children are singing with Maria they skip around the fountain, and they use the Palace stairs as “notes” when they sing Do-Re-Mi. Even without the added history, I would have loved these gardens. The flowers were beautiful and perfectly maintained, and we couldn’t figure out how they kept them all in full bloom, but they looked fantastic.
The palace, the fountain, the stairs, and of course, the flowers!
Flowers on flowers
A serpentine pattern with the city of Salzburg in the background
Another perfectly manicured flower bed
Roses! The smell from this garden was heavenly
Mandatory tourist pic
A little collage…
This has absolutely nothing to do with Salzburg, but everyone loves pictures of kittens. This little one has been hanging out with a pal around our guesthouse here in Ramsau.
Ethan was attempting to keep her dry on another rainy morning in Ramsau
We’re starting to realize that we haven’t talked about our posted any pictures of actual skiing on the blog yet! Ida is working on a training post now, and since we’ll have plenty of glacier time in (hopefully) beautiful weather this coming week, stay tuned for more updates. Thanks for reading!