“Traveling is unique, because a person sees so much more than anything they could’ve imagined. But it comes with the knowledge that all those sights and experiences only exist in the sliver of time the traveler occupies.” – Old Sean
Entering Austria
When I finally left Italy, I wearily boarded a train leaving Venice. After several days of hard travel, my body tried to prop itself up against the window to watch the world pass by.
Sadly, that didn’t last long.
I laid down on the table in front of me, fluttering eyelids glimpsing the easy rolls and skinny underbrush of the Italian countryside. Moments later, I was snoring.
When I opened my eyes again, there were mountains. Great craggy behemoths of a phantom hue in the encroaching twilight, topped with straight pillars of vigilant pines cresting the specter stone.
If not for the ancient ruggedness and sturdy roads lacing the ridges, I would have assumed my train had ghosted into a less-tangible realm.
Kudos to the road and rail planners of southern Austria. Building infrastructure for such mountainous countryside was likely an enormous undertaking.
My train shot through narrow tunnels plunging through mountain cores for minutes at a time. Often, we passed over wide, snaking rivers filled with round, pale stones. Even the occasional plain was usually cut by some stream while idyllic little cottages winked past as night fell.
If I had to pick a countryside to live in, it’d be Austria’s.
A Night of Visiting Salzburg
I eventually arrived in Salzburg, where I was due to stay at the spectacular Stadtalm Hostel. The hostel was a trial to reach, hidden atop a large ridge which required a fair amount of night-hiking. However, the commanding views were worth the effort.
Admittedly, getting to the Stadtalm Hostel was tricky.
I had to trudge along the riverside past the rather elaborate strand of homeless folks erecting their campsites. Eventually, I reached the base of a sheer cliff, where a wide staircase cut up the mountain face. I continuously missed the staircase and kept backtracking to the main street, since that’s where my map-marker was hovering.
After a few lost loops, I got a clue. I climbed the stairs, panting, until I reached my hostel and checked in.
Afterwards, I sat outside and enjoyed the twinkling night overview of the entire city and river. Salzburg is somewhat nestled between mountains, and seeing the brightly lit city at night with the castles to the east glowing was an unexpected treat.
Impressions of Salzburg
Of course, Salzburg was something of a stop-gap on the way to Vienna. I didn’t have an abundance of time for visiting Salzburg, so I decided to wake up as early as possible to experience some of the city.
This was not among my better ideas health-wise, though I was richly rewarded experience-wise.
I rose around 5:40 the following morning, determined to beat the rising sun by a considerable margin and began exploring. I was lucky the first portion of my day was mostly downhill, or I might’ve collapsed early on.
Salzburg has an wonderful, visible adoration for Mozart. His likeness is virtually everywhere, regally coy expression trying to sell everything from trinkets to hot chocolate to pet food.
Bypassing these choices of sponsorship reveals a pretty cool city. The downtown area is fairly packed with plazas and squares, the most intricate being Mozartplatz, Kapitelplatz and Residenzplatz.
There’s also an interesting little meteorological pillar with all sorts of measuring apparatuses ticking away with precision. There are also several museums and a narrow trail up to the Festung Hohensalzburg (Castle), on the south side of the river. The museums and castle of the city are extremely appealing.
Strange Things in Small Sizes
But it’s the north side that takes the prize, because the north has dwarves.
Ugly dwarves.
Fantastic ugly dwarves.
While walking around the immaculate grounds of Scholoss Mirabell, I made an odd turn past the numerous flowers, sparkling fountains, statues of noble unicorns and stony lions. This unplanned turn allowed me to stumble upon a circle of stone dwarves.
These stout, extremely-expressive figures form an outward facing ring, supposedly modeled after dwarves found in the old archbishop’s court.
The standing statues are doing everything from scowling to mocking to wryly winking behind a tangled beard.
I enjoyed them more than anything else in the city, and seeing them gave me the energy to make my way up Kapuzinerberg Park. This is a nice nature feature to visit but it’s firmly planted upon a steep hill, so I was struggling by the end.
The Echoes of Music
Afterwards, I managed to catch a quick bus heading south to the nearby Scholos Hellbrunn.
This little zone is fantastic. It has a series of trick fountains leaping around, which host odd statues, a table surrounded by arcs of water and a tucked away grotto.
The grounds are additionally home to the pavilion from The Sound of Music, which stands quaintly below some leafy trees.
The rest of Scholos Hellbrunn contains large, opening grounds for walking on loose gravel, all providing idyllic views.
Finally, nearby, there’s a beautiful little shop called Villa Flora which boasts a mountain view so paradisal, my photos look doctored. All of this may be found alongside the nearby Salzburg Zoo.
I spent a couple of intense hours here exploring, before I caught a bus back into town.
An End to Visiting Salzburg
Once my time around Scholos Hellbrunn was finished, I had less than an hour before my time visiting Salzburg was done.
I lightly jogged back up the cliff and attempted to check out of my hostel with haste.
I was running late, you see, for my train leaving was about to leave for Vienna.
While preparing to go, I managed to convince myself that I had enough time for breakfast (which was an error in judgement). Once I scarfed down my food, I forced myself to run to the train station (which was a compiled error in judgement). Despite struggling enormously and sweating profusely, I was convinced I had the energy to keep up the momentum through will alone (another, wonderfully consistent error in judgement).
Fortunately, after much clumsy running (bouncing backpack included), I made it to my station with six minutes to spare.
As I write this, I’ve found my compartment and collapsed into a seat. For now, I’ve settled down for the ride, grateful my last surge of energy pushed me along.
So until Vienna,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written August 22nd, 2018
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I picked up my yoga mat three years ago during a trip to Mexico. The Jade Travel Yoga Mat is light enough to roll up and attach it to the outside of my bag. It now doubles as my workout mat and a sleeping mat when I need to rest somewhere odd.
