Day 46: Traunstein to Salzburg

May 28, 2022

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We looked out our window this morning both to check the weather and to see if Traunstein had developed anything of interest while we slept. It was cloudy and cool, but not actively raining. Still we put on our rain gear, based on the forecast and also because it helps in keeping warm. Meanwhile Traunstein looked as higgledy piggledy as before.

Meanwhile the Park Hotel put on a clear ten jammer breakfast. We had to admit that with the large room, fast internet, and that breakfast, it was actually a darn good place. Not only that, the room had four types of toiletries supplied, plus some kind of crazy shoe polishing mitt, a shower cap, and suchlike. We are not used to such luxuries and never used them. But it was nice.

Today Traunstein had a market on, so it was a chance to shine. But the market square lacked any really fancy buildings, and the market vendors were ok, but somehow not exciting. There was a bakery, with some nice stuff:

Bakery pictures - like with their cousins the cow pictures, you just have to put up with them on this blog!

Here is a closeup of some of the pole elements.

We thought this sign at the market was curious. Why are people here celebrating the British queen's jubilee? Ah yes, it's one of those international twinning arrangements.

Traunstein is named for the river Traun, which must surely eventually join the Donau.

This shocked us a bit in the Traun. wtf?

Probably our fondest view of Traunstein is this look back once we had left.

This is a common sight along the rural roadways. We have seen many - perhaps the region is having a baby boom?

Dodie especially was eager to like a town after we were not thrilled with Traunstein. But really, Teisendorf was about the same.

From Teisendorf our route to Salzburg had been figured out by an algorithm. But we were pleased to see that we had somehow landed on these known radwegs.

We pedaled for a while, until I decided it was time for a sip of hot coffee and a nibble of Nuss Schnecke from my handlebar bag. We pulled slightly off the narrow country road. While nibbling, I noticed a further radweg sign, and strolled over for a look at it, my back now to the road.

The sign informed us we were also on the frog route? and ... something else.

When I turned back to the bikes, Dodie had a sobering tale to tell. A line of four cars had arrived, in the coming towards us direction. But a fifth car had pulled out and was gunning it past the four. The road was exactly wide enough for two cars, no more, so the cowboy was riding precisely down our edge. Dodie said it all went down so fast there would have been no time at all for us to hit the ditch. So it was serendipity again - saved by a Nuss Schnecke!

Narrow country road - normally safe enough.

Later, the road added this generous bike lane. Better late than never, we guess.

Soon after the Miracle of the Nuss Schnecke we passed by the tiny town of Thundorf. Normally we would just blow by, but the "sound of music" was emanating from the centre. Since this tour stops at all festivals, we hung a left and pedaled up the hill to the church.

What we found was a confirmation (?) ceremony, with many people in traditional dress, and a traditional band.

Dodie stayed with the bikes, while I (dressed in bright yellow), melted into the crowd. When I returned, Dodie had participated a bit by snapping a family portrait with somebody's phone. But she commented that it was appropriate that we stay on the sidelines and not interfere with the people's ceremony. Oh, oh, I had stood right in front and filmed the band!

From there until we reached Salzburg we cruised through typically idyllic countryside. We reached the Saalach river, we think soon joined the Salzach, to flow north past Salzburg. Riding along the Saalach was exciting, because at this stage it is clearly a mountain river. We also encountered a herd of apparently wild goats grazing at the bank. They seemed very mellow.

You can spot the major rivers of this area on this depiction with the Roman names.

The algorithm did not take us in to Salzburg in the most glorious of ways. Rather we sleazed in, following a fence on the wrong side of the railway tracks.

Rather than the glorious ancient buildings, we started with ones like this, where it seems like they randomly poked out the windows with a stick.

At last we reached the Salzach, flowing north. At this point it has already passed Salzburg, so our task was to head up river, to recapture the glory.

And then suddenly, there is was. The mystical city of domes, the set of The Sound of Music, and the site of the lofty fortresses on either side of the river.

I had thought of Salzburg as "mystical" for decades, but with the advent of the Lord of the Rings movies, I now also think of it as Minas Tirith, in the land of Gondor:

A related city of domes. Shown here is the Lego version!

There are five bridges across the Salzach in the vicinity of the Salzburg altstadt. They join the old city, that has the Dom, the Residenz, the Marktplatz, etc. etc. with the slightly newer city, which also has a share of great buildings and places. The hotel we found, the Hof Wirt, sits just on the edge of the pedestrian street on the "new" side. It's an ideal situation, for sort of affordability and reasonable location.

The bridge at our pedestrian street is the main one for crossing the river, save for an adjacent walking only and love locks one. When we got there, it was jammed with people as was the walking only one. Of no

We turned around, and there was the Sacher Hotel! The Sacher is famous with us, for the Sacher Torte, which they claim to have invented, and which is now known (and shipped) worldwide.

We began to walk up "our" street (Schallmooser Hauptstrasse) toward the hotel. Dodie pointed out an attractive building, which now houses a Footlocker. I guess even a heritage treasure has to make a living somehow.

After being out in the countryside, and before that the relatively grungy Traunstein and Tiesendorf, this elegant city filled with local and international visitors was very exciting. We slowly walked up the street, marveling at the buildings and the activity.

In a short time we again heard music, and came upon another type of traditional band. These were street musicians, not festival players, but their music was appropriate to the place. We put some money in their hat, but decided their CD price of 19 euros was too much for us.

We have a pattern of buying CDs from street musicians but not listening to them at home. Much of the magic must be in the exact time and place. Well, maybe this video can put you briefly there with us:

The hotel is large and with an underground garage for the bikes. The room is predictably very small, but it will work - there are enough electrical outlets and the quilts are reasonably fluffy!

We ditched our gear and headed back out for another look at the town. We rejoined the crowds, and gawked at the various typical retail goods on offer:

No masks in sight. We hope covid is over!

Steiff stuffed animals are really famous. Check the prices!

Here are the Mozart Kugeln. The only brand we have seen (they are everywhere) is the Mirabell, which is from megacorp Mondelez. We would like to see and buy some other choices.

We actually bought eggs from this Christmas store, eight years ago, and they shipped them home!

Kids dirndls and lederhosen- we bought those too, in the day.

Finally across the bridge, we entered into the series of joined squares which makes up the Residenz precinct. There is the Market square, the Mozart square, the Dom square, the Residenz square, and so forth. These squares are surrounded by spectacular buildings and each usually contains one or more major statues.

This figure standing on a golden globe is an "artwork" while the other statues, I guess, are just statues.

The Dom is a spectacular thing, both outside and in, and is overlooked, as I recall, by the looming fort above.

It cost 5 euros to get into

(Oops, the rest of this entry mysteriously disappeared, right at this point. what follows is a quick re-creation.)

the Dom, an amount billed as a maintenance fee. Fair enough.

The interior is in a baroque style, said to be the first baroque north of the Alps. The ceiling is also painted, but there is also a lot of carving. It's unlike the Wies Kirche, which I think is called rococco.

We were lucky to run into a choir and organ practice, you here also is a sample of what that was like.

Salzburg has an historic cemetery, something like the Pere LaChaise in Paris. We just discovered it, on leaving the Dom. Unlike places that use granite stones, here we have iron standards, plus plaques on the cliff and other walls, and a crypt carved into the mountain side. The graves that are in the ground all have very nice flower gardens planted on top. Each grave has its own arrangement or choice of flowers. This led to a discussion for us of which flowers we would choose. At first I was for standard begonias, but then I saw two colours of heather, and also lavender. Dodie seems to favour the appropriately named Forget Me Nots. We really couldn't decide, and so resolved to hold off for a bit.

People are really missing this recent addition

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What gave Meaning to Life today? Being able to cling to life, thanks to the Miracle of the Nuss Schnecke.

Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 2,646 km (1,643 miles)

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