Image Source: yoho.at

yoho.atThe Yoho International Youth hostel was pretty decent with great customer service. The location of the hostel was also strategic as it was situated about ten minutes away from the train station and couple of minutes away from the tourists attractions. After checking in, we went for dinner at a lovely restaurant after walking a few streets to fill our hunger.

Gasthof Alter Fuchs

We had our dinner at the Alter Fuchs which was the nearest restaurant that was still opened that we could find at that hour. Surprisingly, the food was superb with excellent service by the waiters. It was quite a long queue but it was definitely worth the wait. It was a cosy place and we tried the local food, such as the schnitzel, greenish round things and some desserts which were really delicious!

After having a good rest for the night, we woke up early as we only had one day to spend in Salzburg. Our first destination was none other than the famous Mirabell Palace. Compiled by two Italian words Mirabile (admirable) and bella (beautiful), the palace had a banquet hall called the Marble Hall that was regarded as one of the most beautiful wedding halls in the world. It was also the place where Leopold Mozart and his children, Wolfgang and Nannerl, made their musics there.

The Angel Staircase that lead us up to the Marble Hall, was decorated with numerous cherubs and looked gorgeous in every way.

Next was the highlight of the visit to Salzburg. My friends were obsessed with the famous Hollywood musical "The Sound of Music". One of the shooting locations happened to be in Mirabell Gardens! In the film, Maria and the children danced around the Pegasus Fountain in front of the palace while singing the song "Do Re Mi". To be honest I had never watched the movie before and the only thing that I know about the movie was actually the memes below (I know, I'm not cultural enough)

Then we went to the famous and significant church in Salzburg, the Salzburger Dom. The exterior of the cathedral was really impressive especially the striking 70 meter high copper-green domes at the top of the building. It was said that we should purchase one of the concerts in the cathedral in order to obtain the full experience the the church offered. However, we did not went for the concert as time was limited for us.

Hellbrunn Palace and Trick Fountain













Hellbrunn Palace had an amazing garden architecture but I was especailly intrigued by the Trick Fountain! We paid for the entrance fee which also included a tour around the fountain. We all had some fun as we were shot by water spurts coming from random places while we were walking around the area. However some of the tourists were not as happy as they were drenched at the end of the tour.

This place was worth a long visit as it consisted of the Abbey, church, museum, graveyard and the likes. Being the spiritual heart of the city of Salzburg, the monastery was another must-visit location for those who were "The Sound of Music" fans. We went to visit the catacombs, where we also passed by graves of Mozart's sister Nannerl and Michael Haydn. The cemetery was also regarded as one othe world's most beautiful and oldest cemeteries.

We went to the busy Old Market Square in Salzburg later on. It was a lively place with great ambience as the musicians were playing their instruments. In addition, there were various food stalls selling local stuff ranging from wurst, semmel, bonbons and the likes. The  One interesting thing was that we managed to look at the smallest house of Salzburg, the house No. 10a.

Also, we found out that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in this city. Hence that explained everything single thing that was sold with his face on it. The most famous thing was undeniably the Mozartkugel that was created in Salzburg by chocolatier Fürst. It was a sweet that contains a core of pistachio, marzipan and nougat, coated in dark or milk chocolate.

Naturally we joined the hype and purchased them to try it. The chocolate was not only expensive, but also so sweet that there was an instant regret once you popped them into your mouth. Lesson of the story.don't follow the hype, don't buy the Mozartkugel. Just appreciate the things that the real Mozart has created - his music.

We walked up the hill for approximately half an hour in order to get to the Hohensalzburg Fortress instead of taking the funicular (on low budget). It was the biggest fully preserved castle in Central Europe that drew millions of tourists to Salzburg annually.  One thing I liked the most about Salzburg was that there were no high rise buildings in the city area.Hence, the scenerieswere remarkable as we got the full view of the city from the top of the fortress.

L'Osteria Salzburg

With our hungry tummies, we went to this Italian restaurant to have our meals as it seemed to be quite crowded which meant the food would be good. True enough, the pizzas were scrumptious and there were so many options for us to choose. However, we had to wait for more than half an hour for the food to arrive which made us a little bit annoyed as we were really hungry and the customers who sat next to us already gotten their food served even though they came in later than us. 

By that we ended our day and headed back to our hostel to rest for our train rides tomorrow to the next destination, Vienna, Austria. When I thought things could not get more interesting, I stumbled upon a couple who had a steamy coitus moment while I was heading to the common bathroom to brush my teeth before I went to sleep! Things were pretty awkward as they were clearly in one of the cubicles banging hard and the door was translucent so I kind of saw the whole thing fiesta.  Interesting night indeed.

 Also I just wanted to add that the thing that impressed me the most about Salzburg was the breath-taking snowy mountain top which I believed was the Untersberg near Salzburg. Having say that, stay tuned to my next exciting post about Vienna. Stick around, cheers!