Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts

Salzburg - A Weekend with Gulay and Ian

Salzburg is a romantic little town that sits in the foothills of the Alps. I have heard so much about this city so was pleased to have a chance to meet up with our good friends Gulay and Ian for a wintery weekend getaway in Salzburg

In addition to its natural charm, Salzburg gave us Mozart AND The Sound of Music. Both of which I am incredibly fond of, however, The Sound of Music was a particular favorite movie of mine growing up.

Over the weekend we explored: Old town, The Catacombs in St. Pete's Cemetery, and took the vernacular up to Hohensalzburn Fortress.  We also ate our first authentic Schnitzel and I tried my first taste of homemade Gluehwein, which is incredibly warming after walking around Salzburg in the winter.  






During the afternoon, we stopped at Cafe Tomaselli for some tea and a small pastry dessert. Dating from 1703, it is the classic Salzburg coffeehouse. Evidently Mozart used to come to this cafe often. The waiters were all men who wore fancy suits and took our orders for drinks and food. Seperatly there is a pastry lady who comes around with a tray of AMAZING looking pastries for you to choose from. Word of warning you will not be able to say no to the pastries, and they taste as good as they look! You pay for these items separately, which I found kind of odd.

The cafe obviously does very well in Salzburg and was buzzing with customers while we were there. What stood out to me was that none of them were looking down at their cell phones or any other devices for that matter...I thought that perhaps we had found some kind of magical place where cell phones and social media had not yet reached, but then I noticed the NO CELL PHONE sign hanging on the wall of this 300 year old building and had a sad thought that no where is "safe" anymore...

Our weekend in Salzburg flew by with some wonderful new memories made with some special friends.





Salzburg - Hotel Sacher's Epic Breakfasts

One of the highlights of Salzburg for me was our beautiful Hotel Sacher accommodation. Due to the fact that it was off peak season we were able to get a very good rate for our room and we were even upgraded to a room with the view of the river. Later I learned that the 2015 rates for the hotel were 700 Euros per night! Yikes!

We selected the Hotel Sacher for the location and, if I am honest, because the Trip Advisor breakfast reviews were incredible!  It is directly across the river from the old city and within easy walking distance of all the key areas in Salzburg.

Even with the glowing reviews buzzing around in my head leaving quite a high standard to live up to...I was incredibly impressed by the morning breakfasts. They even served gluten free bread for Kingsley and I, though I have to admit I cheated later by indulging in their non-gluten free world famous chocolate torte. It was worth it! We had fresh squeeze grapefruit juice with a splash of champagne, omelets, cheeses from all over the world and so much more and everything was delicious.

I am a big tea drinker, some might even say a tea snob, and have been known to bring my own tea bags when we travel just in case the selection is limited wherever we are staying. Hotel Sacher scored even extra points from me by having the most divine tea selection. I especially enjoyed their Althaus green tea and without fail woke up each morning obsessing thinking about it to the point where ordering a pot of it via room service was required to pacify me.



River view from our room