Salzburg Day 1: Königssee, St.Bartholomä, & a little Salzburg

Nate worked extra last week so that he could take Friday off and we could visit Salzburg. Luckily, the new camera finally had arrived earlier in the week, so we were able to use it for our trip! We got up a left early Friday morning. We planned to start our trip out by taking one of the electric ferries on the lake Königssee out to St. Bartholomew's church. The first ferry left at 9:55, and according to the schedule we had, it looked like if we missed that we would have to wait an hour and a half for the next ferry. The drive was 2.5 hours, and we tried to leave some time in there to find where we needed to be and get our ferry tickets. Despite our best efforts, we still left our apartment slightly later than we would have liked. That wouldn't have been too much of a problem, except that after we reached the town of Königsee, we couldn't find the ferry. We felt like we were in the Amazing Race as we searched for a place to park, jumped out of the car, and ran around (literally) in search of the ferry. With some direction from a few people who we saw, we managed to get there in the nick of time. The ferry was about the pull away as we grabbed tickets and boarded.

The morning was chilly. As we had drawn closer to our destination, it had started to rain, but by the time we got there it was just very foggy. We had been hoping for clearer weather so that we could see the scenery better, but we hoped that things would clear more as the morning progressed. One of the first things we noticed after pulling out of the dock was the island Christlieger, also called Johannesinsel. On it stands a marble statue from 1711 of John of Nepomuk (a patron saint against the dangers of bodies of water and floods).

Even though it was foggy, the lake and surrounding mountains were beautiful and majestic. A ways into the ride the ferry stopped, the narrator pulled out a trumpet, and he played a tune that echoed back to us.

Austin absolutely loved riding the ferry

Here is how the St. Bartholomew pilgrimage church looked as the ferry pulled up to the harbor. The church dates back to 1697.

Inside of the Church

We knew there was supposed to be a waterfall that could be reached from a trail extending from the church, so we set out to find it.

Along the way we spotted the first spring flowers coming up in the forest.

The lake was amazingly clear and beautiful. We were told the water is of drinking quality. It is said to be the cleanest lake in Germany.

We thoroughly enjoyed the scenery along the hike, but we never found the waterfall. We believe this is where is should have been, but apparently it is non-existent at this time of year.

So, we returned to the church to spend a few more minutes there looking around before the ferry arrived again to take us back.

The day had definitely cleared up by the time we headed back to the town. This area was amazingly picturesque, and the mountains here are strung with trails. I could easily spend a month in the area exploring it!

After getting back, we ate a quick lunch we had packed before heading out to Salzburg, which was only a half hour away. We got there, checked in to our hotel, and worked on coming up with a clear plan of action for the rest of the day.

We bought a 24 hour Salzburg Card in order the make the most of our time in the area in the most economical way possible. It gave us free admission to most museums, as well as many other attractions. It also offers discounts on other activities. We would highly recommend this option to anyone who plans to visit a lot of the museums and other attractions in the city. You will have saved money by the time you visit two or three of the more expensive/major museums and/or other attractions. The card also acts as a ticket for you to use the public transportation around the city.

However, we also recommend that you don't go there during January, February, or March if you possibly can, because a good number of the attractions the card would otherwise be good for are closed during that time. This lead to a great deal of frustration for us, especially since our pamphlet explaining the attractions the card was good for was not always accurate as to what was open and what was not. For example, we thought that the state rooms at the Residence would be opened, but they were closed.

Anyway, we started out by catching the bus to the Old Town area. Austin absolutely loved riding the bus! He kept saying "stop" and "start again" at every bus stop.

Room of Mozart's birth

After arriving, we headed to the Mozart Birthplace, arriving at around 3:40 in the afternoon. Here we saw the apartment and room into which Mozart was born. The museum here also contained various instruments, books, and original compositions done by Mozart. I was especially fascinated by the "first aid kit" used during Mozart's travels when he was very young. The kit consisted of a box full of miniscule bottles of various ground powders to use as medicines, all placed in neat little rows. Many of the medicines used acted as laxatives, since it was believed that a sick body had to be purged of bad substance. This of course is also why people were bleed when they were sick. The descriptions further explained how medicines were often mixed with all sorts of disgusting things, including frog guts and ground earthworms.

Apartment's Kitchen

This silver-point drawing is apparently said to be the most authentic portrait of Mozart. It was done two and a half years before his death.

Residenzplatz Statue

After going through Mozart's birthplace, we headed to the Residence. Since the State Rooms were closed, as previously mentioned, we went through the art gallery housing European paintings from the 16th to 19th century, which was nice. Once again, I particularly appreciated the Dutch paintings. There was also a nice little portrait of an old woman by Rembrandt. We also walked through the Residenzplatz and the Domplatz. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the Salzburg Cathedral was still open, so we went in to see it! Unfortunately, the light was going fast, so the cathedral was pretty dark. It was still cool to see though. Not only was in huge, it was full of elaborate carvings and paintings on the ceilings.

Statue outside the Residenz

Front of the Salzburg Cathedral

Inside the Salzburg Cathedral

Looking up at the cathedral's dome

Elaborate carvings on ceiling above one of the side alters in the cathedral

After seeing the Cathedral, we wandered around the area enjoying the views and seeing what we could of other buildings, streets, plazas, and statues.

The Mozartplatz

We even got to watch a group of whip crackers swinging and cracking their long whips:

It is no wonder that many of the streets in the Old Town area are for pedestrians only, as is the case in many other old town areas of cities as well. The streets there are very very narrow - the street below was definitely not the most narrow. It felt like a city canyon with the straight building walls rising up above us on either side of the streets.