Holiday warm-up: a day in Salzburg

August 30, 2022

I woke the next morning to find myself not quite as close to Salzburg as I'd hoped. (We'd been delayed during the night -- I think because of having to wait for some carriages to join us from the Netherlands leg of the journey, which had also been disrupted by the NS strike. Those carriages don't have bike spaces though, hence my German detour...) This meant I'd miss my planned connection in Wels, but a bit of googling confirmed that I'd be able to pick up a sightly later train, which would get me to Salzburg shortly after 9 a.m.

Why the rush to get to Salzburg? Because -- following a recommendation elsewhere on this site (I think from the 'Tally Galls'?) -- I'd booked myself onto the very wonderful(/ridiculous)-sounding 'Fräulein Maria's Bike Tour', a Sound of Music-themed bike circuit of the city, so needed to present myself outside the Mirabell Palace at 9.30 sharp (in fact, at 9.25, to allow time to swap my touring bike for something more suitable for a city cruise...)

All the bikes have names of characters in the film: mine was 'Frau Schmidt' (niche!)

I'm not usually one for guided tours, but this was really good fun: suitably irreverent, but also packed with interesting information (about the city as well as the movie), as well as being a nice way to stretch my cycling legs after spending most of the last 24 hours squashed into buses and trains.

... and also out into the fields around.

The tour took all of the morning, and almost all of my energy, so I devoted the rest of the day to slightly more relaxing activities: a trip to the post office to send my bike bag back to the UK (thanks to the very patient lady there for helping me sort out the customs forms —another brexit bonus — and explaining the various insurance options in the simplest German possible), a quick visit to the castle, and plenty of stops for ice-cream and other essential sustenance.

This is what happens to Radfahrers who don't take enough ice-cream breaks, I think.

Tomorrow, after this very extended warm-up, the actual trip begins!

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Rachael AndersonGlad you made it, it looks like you had a great time!
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2 years ago

Polly LowSalzburg was lovely: I've never been before, and I definitely want to go back. (If only to cure myself of my still-lingering 'Sound of Music' earworms...)
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2 years ago

Kathleen JonesA hundred years ago I stayed in the youth hostel in Salzburg. The Sound of Music was played every day at 2pm on videotape. I remember the gazebo where Liesl(?) and the nazi boyfriend sang 16 going on 17 was lovingly restored and sponsored by American Express. I also went to the chapel of the convent. I was trying for a bit of quiet contemplation but someone was slinging some lumber from one side of an aisle to another. It turned out to be a bent-over old nun, maybe old enough to remember Maria herself.
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2 years ago

Polly LowTo Kathleen JonesThat’s brilliant! The gazebo is still there (though now kept locked; according to our tour guide this is because a tourist tried to recreate Liesl’s skipping round the benches, fell off, broke an ankle, and then tried to sue Salzburg City Council…)
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2 years ago

Kathleen JonesTo Polly LowMust have been an American …
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2 years ago