Austria
Saturday 14th May 2011
Driving Slovenia to Salzburg
We left Bled this morning and Jana and Edi were kind enough to escort us to the intersection of the highway which leads directly to Austria.
We entered a 7.5 km tunnel in Slovenia which took us through (yep, through) the Karavanke Mountain range and we exited in Austria where it was pouring with rain.
We drove through the Alps, which still had a considerable amount of snow on them, and after countless tunnels arrived in Salzburg about 2.5hrs later.
I don’t quite have the vocabulary to articulate just how stunning the scenery is in Slovenia and Austria – I’m lost for words. Any superlative I think of doesn’t seem to do it justice.
We scored a hotel less than 2km from the old city (Altstadt) so we dropped off our bags and walked there. Would you believe it, the rain stopped and we had blue skies and sunshine for the rest of the day, although it did sprinkle a bit as we walked home later that evening.
Salzburg streetscapes
Mozart Museum
“Mozart’s birthplace (German: Mozarts Geburtshaus) was the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at No. 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg, Austria. The Mozart family resided on the third floor from 1747 to 1773. Mozart himself was born here on 27 January 1756. He was the seventh child of Leopold Mozart, who was a musician of the Salzburg Royal Chamber.
Now a museum, Mozart’s birthplace introduces visitors to the early life of the composer, his first musical instruments, his friends, and his passionate interest in opera. The third floor exhibits Mozart’s childhood violin as well as portraits, documents, and early editions of his music, and the second floor is devoted to Mozart’s interest in opera and includes the clavichord on which he composed The Magic Flute.”
We had the classical Austrian dinner while we were in town, Weiner Schnitzel and half a litre of beer, and it was delicious!
Next stop is Fussen, Germany and the ‘Disney’ Castle…