Day 2 Salzburg: The mountains are calling and I must go.

Day two in Salzburg dawned with the promise of being just as amazing as the day before. So true to our form we waited until a more reasonable hour, and when everything would potentially open, to wake up and start the day. 

Because it was Christmas there were only a handful of things open. One of them was a cable car to the top of one of the Alp passes. Because I cannot miss the opportunity to get to the tops of mountains I voted vociferously for this one. I was unchallenged. Everyone thought it was a brilliant idea. So off we went to the mountains. 

Nothing is ever as easy as it sounds. We had to go north to go south because we were originally too far south on our bus line to catch the one to the mountains. Then Michael got left at the Hauptbahnhof. We figured of anybody in our group to get left, he was probably the best one. We eventually reunited at the cable car station. More twists in our plan to get to the mountains; the cable car was closed due to wind. Not to be disheartened too much we went for a walk. We were in the country anyways so why not? We found a bubbly little river to sit beside. There we hung out for a couple hours throwing rocks, listening to music, and just having a swell time. While we were not atop the mountains, they were all around us; my yearning for mountains was being slowly assuaged and I became altogether blissful. 

Eventually we decided we should head back. Because the cable car was on our way to the bus we thought it couldn't hurt to see if it had opened and was letting people up. 

The magic of Christmas struck again! It was indeed taking people up the mountain! I was beside myself. To paraphrase a man who felt similarly about mountains as me, "The mountains were calling and I had to go."  The cable ride up was stunning. The cliffs of the Alps are unlike any I have ever seen before. We get to the top and the snow capped peaks were now under my feet. The high one gets when they are in the mountains is better than any drug humans have tried to create. After I threw on another layer of clothes I ran to the highest peak I could find. 

They say heaven is just beyond the stars. I say heaven is just before the stars, on the peaks of mountains. After I had ran up the highest point around I got out my camera and spent time marveling at the beauty around me. 

I never know how long I am in the mountains for. Time seems to stop. But I do know it was not long enough, but at the threat of being left by the last cable car we headed back. 

I am sure I looked like a madman running up and down the snowy slopes, but I was in the mountains so I was a madman. Besides I had been at too low of an elevation for too long and I needed to exercise at some kind of elevation. 

We returned back to the city, the thoughts of the mountains never leaving my mind. We walked around the once again bustling Christmas Markets and got some yummy Christmas treats, the four of us ate our supper on the same benches that Michael and I did the night before only this time there were loads of people. The now not so far away music echoed off the walls of the surrounding buildings and provided another fantastic atmosphere for supper. 

After supper we wandered around the city and watched the people ice skate. Because it was so warm there was a giant pool of water in the middle. But the skaters made the most of it and were having a good time. Later Michael and I took the other two up to the wall to look out across the city. This time there was one or two other people there for a short time, but it remained a quiet place to sit and look out across the city. We eventually headed back. We weren't in a hurry though because Salzburg's effect had its full grip around us and we didn't want to leave. 

After Salzburg we head to Venice. It will be interesting and I cannot wait to see what exciting adventures Italy has in store for us. 

Day 1 Salzburg: Unsere Stille Nacht.

Salzburg, the city of music nestled in the Alps, might have to be one of the single best cities in the entire world. On our Christmas break so far I have had snow, accomplished a life goal in seeing Neuschwanstein, and had an awesome time with these experiences. But the best so far is Salzburg. 

If you have ever been there then you would understand. The city is old and untouched by the nearly half century of wars that afflicted this continent. It is also remarkably clean.  The white buildings gleam in the daylight and music echoes in seemingly every alley and street. A river runs through the middle of the city, adding to the picturesque scene of it all. Above the gleaming white buildings and the snaking river juts the magnificently obtrusive Austrian Alps. Their high spires and ridges stand high around the city announcing their presence in the scene with the subtlety of a giant in the shire. 

The morning we were planning on exploring the city dawned and after the sun had risen to an appropriate height for a Christmas break we woke up and began our journey. This was the first real time we saw the city. I was shocked when I saw how beautiful it was. I couldn't say much else throughout the day except to express that very thought over and over. 

The castle of Salzburg stands high atop a giant hill with steep cliffs all the way around it. We later found out that it had never been taken by force. Because we had a do-pretty-much-whatever-you-want-in-Salzburg-for-a-reasonable-price card, otherwise know as a Salzburg Card, we took the cog railcar up the mountain and explored this awesome fortress. We later found a tour that looked interesting and was free with are magical card of Salzburg awesomeness. We would never miss out on a tour of a castle especially one so cool, so of course we went. The top of the castle had magnificent 360 degree views of the valley below and the mountains around. I thought it was the best view I had ever seen. And it was, until the next day (See Salzburg Day 2: The mountains are calling and I must go). We spent as long as the tour would let us looking out over this awesome view. Then we descended back into the hollows of the castle. The people back then must have been short because true to the inner Murphy in me I hit my head on the way down. 

On our tour Michael and I saw an ad for a Schubert and Mozart concert in the caste that evening. It was Christmas Eve and that sounded like a wonderful way to spend the evening.  

There was time between the concert and when we were done with the caste tour so we walked around the old city for a while. This would not be the last time, and as time would later tell, me and my camera became a hard party to pull from here. In the old city was the Christmas Market. The Salzburg Christmas Market is pretty famous and I really wanted to experience it before it closed in a few hours. It was totally different from the Christmas Markets in Germany it seemed, but maybe that's because Salzburg is nothing like anywhere in Germany I have experienced. I don't really know how to describe it. Words like quaint, picturesque, and comfortable just don't quite work. 

The time for the concert was approaching and we headed back towards the castle. I can see why the cog railcar is so popular among the people. The road to the castle is one of the steepest I have ever been on. It was a nice hike and I need to get back into climbing shape so I didn't complain. 

The concert was in a small back hall in the castle. No more than a hundred people were there. I felt lucky to be able to hear Mozart music in the city where he was born. In the audience I hardly heard any German. I don't know if this is because the people speaking other languages are just louder than those speaking German or if it was primarily a tourist thing. My money is on a little of both. The people beside us spoke German though and they sounded like they were from Austria so I don't know for sure. 

The concert began fifteen minutes late because people were still getting seated. The audience clapped between every movement. As annoying as it was to me (and from what I could see, also to the cellist) the music was awesome and the ambience of a concert in a castle forgave all.  

Our knowledge of classical music helped when the concert stopped. 

We could tell that most people didn't know if it was intermission or the end. We didn't pay for a program so we didn't see for sure but we knew what was supposed to be playing and we knew we didn't hear one of the Mozart pieces. It was indeed an intermission and when the music started, the amount of empty seats showed that a lot of people didn't know. Sad for them because the end was awesome. The sun began to set out the window of the castle. I looked out and could see the mountains lighting up in the way that only mountains can at sunset. Outside it was beautiful. Inside, the second movement of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik was starting. It fit with the atmosphere so well that I was sure the magic of Christmas was giving a present just for me. This began my Christmas in Salzburg. 

There couldn't have been many ways outside of being with family that it could have been better. 

After the concert Michael and I chose to walk down from the castle instead of taking the cog railcar.  This was a good life choice. It was beautiful to see Salzburg from above at night. Cities at night have been some of my favorite things to see, especially in Europe. Salzburg didn't disappoint. 

Because we have such a propensity to climb things that it borders on the clinical side, we had to go to the hill on the other side of the river and look out. We hiked for a long time and didn't get above the trees. In the darkness of a forest at night we decided to go off the trail and head straight up the side of the hill to the top. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We had the city lights to aim for on our way back so we were pretty sure we weren't going to get lost. 

We did not get lost. But What we couldn't see in the darkness were briar patches that put any I have previously experienced to shame. We quickly retreated. I was getting very hungry so eventually we turned around. We found the city wall and this temporarily distracted me from my hunger so we followed it for a while and finally stopped and looked out over the whole city as per our original plan. When my need for food finally outweighed my need to take pictures we headed back in town where we could shed some light on my high maintenance Christmas Eve meal of avocado and cream cheese on pita bread. 

On our walk back to the city center we saw many lone persons sitting on a bench nursing a beer and cigar. I thought that seemed like a terribly lonesome way to spend the holiday and when I didn't want to think about it any longer we found our own secluded bench in the city square. The contrast of the bustling of just a few hours before and the dexadness of what it was when we ate there was unimaginable. But there was still music. There seems to always be music in Salzburg. 

I cannot describe to you the ubiquity of the music in Salzburg especially around Christmas, but it's there, always. The music accompanied our meal as we gazed upon the castle gleaming in the night. With no sound at all in the city other than the distant sounds of Christmas music, our very own Silent Night had started, and my very own fantastic day had ended. 

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Our trip to Salzburg doesn't end here though. Read "Salzburg Day 2: The mountains are calling and I must go"   to read about our Christmas Day in the city of music, mountains, and Mozart. 

Märchenland. (Fairytale Land)

For as long as I have heard of it I have wanted to see Neuschwanstein, a castle in southern Germany. It has been a life goal to see it. That is how badly I have wanted to see it. I finally got the chance this weekend. We have been in the town (not quite big enough for me to call city) of Füssen for two days. These two days have been fantastic. This town might well be the prettiest towns I have ever seen. It has snow. Right now in my Christmassy state of mind, pretty much anything with snow is fantastic for me. But this town has three castles, and that is ridiculous…ly awesome. It also has mountains. I cannot tell you how happy I was to see actual mountains.

Castles are some of the coolest things ever. Apparently King Ludwig II thought the same thing because he built a bunch of them in Bavaria. After walking through Neuschwanstein, I have decided I would love to shake that man's hand. He built this specific castle simply because castles are cool and he didn't think his land had enough of them. Even though it bankrupted Bavaria at the time, millions of people since then have enjoyed the fact that he did it anyways. Apparently though, Ludwig was considered have a few more cuckoos than the average clock and considered unfit to rule. Later he mysteriously drowned. Because of these events and the fact that Bavaria was bankrupted, Neuschwanstein was never completed. It is on the outside and it is mind-blowing.

After Neuschwanstein was built and it became popular, Walt Disney, another man who became bankrupt because he wanted a good legacy to leave, built a castle based on the one here in Bavaria. This shows me that castles, though they may bankrupt you, are totally worth it. I have decided I will live in a castle one day. Hopefully it won't bankrupt me.

People say Bavaria is the real Germany. It is beautiful down here, but I also think the rest of Germany is too. Germany, like Colorado, has a lot of different things in it and that's what makes it really cool. While Bavaria is awesome, if that's all Germany was, then it wouldn't be as cool as it is with the rest of it. But it would still be a country with a thriving economy. Saw a Maserati Gran Tourismo in Füssen. Seeing epic cars in Germany is becoming a thing that I can almost count on. It's nice. 

Walt Disney and King Ludwig II  both built castles and a Märchenland that they have become famous for, each in their own ways. They were willing to sacrifice a lot in order to make the world around them a better place. Their result: millions of people since have enjoyed their efforts and both have become very famous. Some day I hope that I can do something that while the people of my time may think I am crazy, turns out to be a fantastic idea and make the world a better place. 

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On our day when we visited Neuschwanstein we also went to climb the mountain behind it to see if we could see it from the famous angle everyone has. I was also wanting a unique view to take pictures from since there are thousands the same on the internet. After climbing through ice and snow we finally made it to an overlook with an awesome view of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau the other castle there.  I was beside myself and we stayed there for a while, some of us pulling out some food and enjoying the view. Of course I pretty much just snapped pictures the entire time. 

I pride myself on being able to walk on snow and ice pretty much all the time. Since I grew up with snow, it is not that hard for me. But sometimes pride goes before a literal fall. I was walking back and was on the very last bit of the trail. There were people around who were having issues with the ice. Earlier I took the slightly harder way up the four feet (a little more than a meter for you Europeans) embankment and onto the trail because it was faster. Some other people were having a really hard time with it so it made me feel pretty good to do it. However on the way back down karma had her justice. I extremely rapidly made it down the embankment and right next to a ice covered rock that was between me and the parking lot. There was a collective gasp and I sat there for a moment embarrassed that I made such a rookie mistake on the ice. I did have my camera on my and a lens in both my right and left and right coat pockets. I managed with either skill or luck to not land anywhere near them. I rapidly checked on their health just the same. 

Later we walked down another road, where no one was, to get a different view of Hohenschwangau and the lake. While we didn't see exactly what we were looking for, we still got an awesome view. The road down was something that interested me a lot. It was somewhat steep and covered in ice the entire way, most of the time black ice. Of course I walked where it was the safest, which was usually not on the black ice. I was just commenting on how I thought it would be hard to drive up when a car comes busting up the road. I was thoroughly impressed. As a Coloradan I can drive snow and ice okay, but this person impressed me. I don't think I would have tried it. 

Once again my theory that people don't usually look at one's feet has been thrown out the window. Just about every time I wear flip flops here people comment on it. It's above freezing, therefore not cold enough to necessitate shoes. Of course the mountain hike i had shoes because I do recognize practicality sometimes. It never ceases to amaze me how much a simple thing like wearing flip flops in winter can smoke someone's system as much as it does the people here. Earlier, someone in a mall in Berlin asked me which country I was from and when I said America he thought I was from Alaska. He was from Sweden so he understood the feeling that there are lots of people that don't perceive it as that cold. He was fun to talk to for a little bit.

We are now on our way to Salzburg where we are spending Christmas. Since Munich is between Füssen and Salzburg we are going to spend a little time there today. I cannot wait to get to another awesome German city. Once out of Salzburg we head to Venice, Florence and eventually Rome. So far the trip has been a hundred times easier to travel than The Quest of Liechtenstein. Experience and a little more money spent on travel will do that though. Hopefully it will stay simple.