Or so says the famous t-shirt at the tourist shop in Salzburg. Yet
again, the shitty weather seems to follow me on my holidays, but is
unable to dampen my spirits nor lessen my enjoyment of new places. I
flew into Salzburg on a beautiful sunny morning and disembarked the
plane (on one of my new, favourite airlines, Air Berlin - due to the
fact that you get a chocolate every time you get off a flight) to the
glorious sight of alpine peaks surrounding Mozart International Airport.
Wow! What a sight! I had seen photos of the airport before, but it
really did feel like a scene from the movies seeing the beautiful peaks
against the blue sky with a spattering of white clouds about. I couldn't
have asked for nicer weather either.
 |
| Possibly the coolest toilets in the world - thanks to Red Bull |
I was picked up by friend from the Aero Club in Canberra who I had come
to visit. And in true Aero Club style, our first stop was Hangar 7, a
futuristic building on the far side of the airport built by the founder
of Red Bull, who I discovered is probably only second to Mozart in terms
of being the favourite child of the town. This guy has money! Inside
were a collection of flying machines from all different ages, though
mostly modern, fancy planes. All of them in pristine condition. We had
an enjoyable stroll around the place, all the while theorising how we
could fly such aircraft...
 |
| Inside Hangar 7 - notice the conference room hanging from the ceiling |
The rest of the day was spent on a walking tour around beautiful Salzburg. It's a picture perfect city, though as been slightly spoilt by the building of certain modern buildings right next door to classic baroque architecture - the grey, Communist looking power station is a case in point. However, some great views were seen and good food was eaten. That night I went with my friend and some of his family to baroque brass band concert in a castle at the top of a hill in the small town of Titmonning, on the German side of the border. Although part way through, we were moved inside due to the impending storm, we got to see quite a fantastic lightning show on the drive back to Freilassing for our first night. The concert, of course, was extremely enjoyable too - particularly with the addition of the alphorn to the collection of instruments used.
 |
Above: The Dome - Salzburg Cathedral.
Below: Old fortifications of the city. |
The next two days were spent in the family cottage of my friend, up in the Alps, amongst ski resorts, just outside a Bavarian national park. Interestingly, the cottage was built by my friend's grandfather, right at the sport where his great-grandfather was a forester. The Bavarians have certain rights on the Austrian side of the border to cut down trees, and in return, the Austraians are allowed to dig their salt mines under German soil across the border. Anyway, this place was just beautiful. There is no town, no village, no nothing. Just farms on the sides of mountains and the odd cottage. This 80 year old, dark wood cottage which looks out to mountain peaks and forests, would be the epitome of what Danes call hyggelit. Naturally the weather was awful and we had rain most of the time, but just relaxing inside the cottage, reading, listening to the radio, and being disconnected from the world (ie., no Internet) was fantastic.
 |
| Luxury in the alps... |
On the second day there, we had an excursion out to a nearby chasm. A narrow section between rocks that had been worn out by a river over thousands of years. The river was flowing with all its force and one could easily see how water would be able to have such destructive powers. We got a bit wet, but the walk was great and it was actually quite a remarkable experience walking metres above gushing water and rapids (that would seriously maim you were you to fall in) and underneath boulders which had tumbled into the chasm but got stuck half way down.
Despite the rain, we also went for a walk for a few hours in the afternoon near the cottage. What a place to to have. There was the odd cottage, alm, cows with bells, (plenty of cow shit,) and not much else. Absolutely beautiful. Lots of trees, and even some yummy wild strawberries and raspberries to be eaten. Most of the peaks were covered in clouds, which made the scenery look spectacular in its own special way. And although I can only imagine (with the help of photos) what this place would look like on a perfectly clear day, the site of peaks climbing into the clouds, green pastures and forests all over the place all mixed in with some crisp clear air, really did make for a great afternoon.
In fact, when such a day ends with sitting in a cosy wood cabin in the middle of nowhere, drinking a hot cuppa with a friend, there really is not much one can complain about.
So all this combined with great German beer, excellent food, lots of catching up on sleep from the past few weeks, and even some great scenery on the long drive back to Freilassing to catch my train (in typical fashion, the road was blocked, so a 50 minute drive turned into a 2 hour and 15 minute drive!) What a great few days of relaxation, with a partial success in switching my mind off from work (well, partial is better than nothing).
I now get to enjoy a train ride through the Austrian country-side to Vienna prior to the next stage of this short holiday...
 |
| "Here is not a toilet" - presumably aimed at the Danes |
Or so says the famous t-shirt at the tourist shop in Salzburg. Yet
again, the shitty weather seems to follow me on my holidays, but is
unable to dampen my spirits nor lessen my enjoyment of new places. I
flew into Salzburg on a beautiful sunny morning and disembarked the
plane (on one of my new, favourite airlines, Air Berlin - due to the
fact that you get a chocolate every time you get off a flight) to the
glorious sight of alpine peaks surrounding Mozart International Airport.
Wow! What a sight! I had seen photos of the airport before, but it
really did feel like a scene from the movies seeing the beautiful peaks
against the blue sky with a spattering of white clouds about. I couldn't
have asked for nicer weather either.
The rest of the day was spent on a walking tour around beautiful Salzburg. It's a picture perfect city, though as been slightly spoilt by the building of certain modern buildings right next door to classic baroque architecture - the grey, Communist looking power station is a case in point. However, some great views were seen and good food was eaten. That night I went with my friend and some of his family to baroque brass band concert in a castle at the top of a hill in the small town of Titmonning, on the German side of the border. Although part way through, we were moved inside due to the impending storm, we got to see quite a fantastic lightning show on the drive back to Freilassing for our first night. The concert, of course, was extremely enjoyable too - particularly with the addition of the alphorn to the collection of instruments used.
The next two days were spent in the family cottage of my friend, up in the Alps, amongst ski resorts, just outside a Bavarian national park. Interestingly, the cottage was built by my friend's grandfather, right at the sport where his great-grandfather was a forester. The Bavarians have certain rights on the Austrian side of the border to cut down trees, and in return, the Austraians are allowed to dig their salt mines under German soil across the border. Anyway, this place was just beautiful. There is no town, no village, no nothing. Just farms on the sides of mountains and the odd cottage. This 80 year old, dark wood cottage which looks out to mountain peaks and forests, would be the epitome of what Danes call hyggelit. Naturally the weather was awful and we had rain most of the time, but just relaxing inside the cottage, reading, listening to the radio, and being disconnected from the world (ie., no Internet) was fantastic.
On the second day there, we had an excursion out to a nearby chasm. A narrow section between rocks that had been worn out by a river over thousands of years. The river was flowing with all its force and one could easily see how water would be able to have such destructive powers. We got a bit wet, but the walk was great and it was actually quite a remarkable experience walking metres above gushing water and rapids (that would seriously maim you were you to fall in) and underneath boulders which had tumbled into the chasm but got stuck half way down.
No comments:
Post a Comment