I’m only a couple of days into my fall break, and have only spent two days in Munich, but I wanted to make the most of my location in the middle of Europe. Today, my friend Zack and I decided to take a train to the Austrian city of Salzburg. 

Salzburg is just over the border in northern Austria and is less than two hours from Munich by train. After arriving in the city around 11 and buying some scarves and layers (it was much colder than we anticipated) we set off in a ciry, and country, that neither of us had been in before. First, Salzburg is a beautiful city. Unlike London and Munich, it still has a good number of very old buildings and it feels much more like your stereotypical European city with old stone buildings and churches, winding cobblestone streets, and even a castle. After getting our bearings, we decided to walk towards the Hohensalzburg fortress, a foretress on a hill in the middle of the city that was first built in 1077 and added to over the years. Along the way, we say several beautiful churches, a few filming locations for the Sound of Music, and ordered wienerschnitzel at a small Austrian cafe. I will say that my German is getting better even though it has only been a few days. I have a much easier time undersranding what people say, but responding still gives me trouble. 

Once we finally made it to the bottom.of the hill and climbed the many, many steps up to the fortress, we were met with some really astounding views. Each one was better than the last. On one side of the fortress, you have a great view of many of the odler budings in the city, as well as the river. On the other side you have a great view of the not-so-distant Alps. The views alone we’re easily worth the price of admission. If you couldn’t tell from my Dublin post, I love castles, and the Hohensalzburg fortress is probably favorite thing that I’ve seen during my entire time abroad. 

After out time at the fortress we ended up walking up and down the hill and around the base of it looking for Nonnberg Abbey, the Abbey that Maria leaves in the Sound of Music. (I wanted to get a picture because it is one of my mom’s favorite movies). After eventually finding it around the corner from where we had started looking, we began our trek back through Salzburg to the train station and hopped on a train back to Munich. 

I say this about every city I’ve been to, but I really liked Salzburg. it was probably the prettiest city I have been to and it definitely makes me want to see more of Austria and mainland Europe in general.