Salzburg, just come here…
Postcard
Mandy put it best. Europe is a wonderland, but Salzburg, Austria is the postcard. WOW on every corner, every moment, every street, every scene. Yes, they have a brewery where the beer is served in the same timber barrels that it was brewed in. Yes, they have majestic castles and churches, an old down with Louis Vuitton and all THE shops and designer brands. But not everywhere was the birthplace of Mozart, or more importantly the setting for the filming of the classic, “The Sound of Music”.
Hohensalzburg
The castle is actually called Hohensalzburg Fortress. Construction started in the late 600s, with various Archbishops in succession attempting DIY projects extending, adding fortification and generally making it bigger and better. Caverns, secret pathways and tunnels, Grand entrances, Staterooms, the list is seemingly endless. Bunnings would have made a fortune.
I was wondering how they keep such a building warm enough to use year round. Many of the upstairs rooms had walls and ceilings lined with timber. The timber against the stone acted as insulation. The downstairs grand halls, had under floor heating. First, the floor was plugged with wooden dowels. Then a fire was lit and the smoke would go out to the chimney on the side of the room, whilst the fire heated great rocks that are positioned under the timber floor itself. Once the fire was extinguished, the dowels were removed and the heated rocks would provide hot air through the floor and into the room. Well done.
Markets
You can find many cafes, restaurants, even a Subway. However, if you look a little further, you can find markets with culinary delights. The markets are way less expensive and it’s fun picking from this stand and a little from one over there. Food is always GOOD, really good. Smoked meats, cured everything, every sausage, some spicy, every cheese…
Halstatt
Dreaming of a stereotypical Austrian, mind-blowing, scenic, panoramic, extravaganza. Look no further. We are talking snow on mountains, a glacier, swans that come to the call, tulips flowering, cobblestone roads; seriously a ‘World Heritage’ listed view. This is Halstatt. Enough said.
Salzburg was founded from the riches gained from salt mines. Makes sense really, ‘Sal’ is Salt. Salzburg … city of salt. People like salt and when you have an abundance of it, just sitting inside a hill, not really doing anything. Might as well dig it out and flog it off to the world. The second most common product was actually Bacon. I can see that. They had heaps of salt and wild boar. Put two and two together and get Bacon.
Sound of Music
The 1965 release of the Sound of Music movie showed the world the splendor of Salzburg. All of the buildings and sites used within the movie are still standing. A tour took us to all of the places and if you didn’t join into the singing within the captivity of the bus, you were the odd one out. The hills certainly were alive with the sound of music.
Cooking Class
A poky little cavern, in the side of a granite rockface, shielded by a cast iron hinged, rustic black, tarred timber door. What an entrance and what a studio. The temperature is perfectly stable and ideal for preparation and cooking. Our host is a very confident chef. Our goal is to construct a traditional Strudel and a local dish called Salzburger Nockerl (similar to a pavlova).
What can I say other than, “we nailed it”. Edelweiss cooking school.
Red Bull
I didn’t know this, however, Red Bull was invented in Salzburg. The owner only passed away a year or so ago. The company HQ is just up the road from where we live and the family/company has plenty of money. This display is in Hanger 7 at the airport. It is free, has a number of F1 Cars and many of other Red Bull aircraft, cars, motorbikes and really cool things. Mandy lost me in here for an afternoon. I do think I was the only one who spent over an hour studying the intricate changes in aerodynamics of two of the displayed F1 Cars from the same year. Interesting…loved it.
