Our Christmas Vacation Part Four – Christmas Day and a Sleigh Ride

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning – Santa found us in the hotel.  Just a small gift, one for each girl as somehow he knew they would need to carry any gifts back to England in their luggage on an airplane.  They were happy!

Eric snuck out that morning before the rest of us were up to capture some early morning pictures of Salzburg.  It had snowed overnight, so the same photos he had taken on previous days had a new, fresh look this morning.  The mountain we could see from our hotel room had a fresh blanket of snow on it as well.  

 Except for shops and grocery stores, everything else is open on Christmas day in Salzburg.  There were a couple of places we wanted to see in the city so after a delicious and filling Christmas morning breakfast at the hotel, we headed out to do some sight seeing.  Up until that day, we had enjoyed mostly sunny weather since arriving in Salzburg.  That was not to be on Christmas day.  It was cloudy, windy and cold.  The sprinkling of snow that had fallen overnight was mostly gone in the city, leaving behind a cold dampness that chilled us to the bone.  We trekked on anyway heading towards the other side of the river.   Besides our arrival at the train station, we had not spent any time on the other side of the river, but every time we ventured anywhere in the city, we could clearly see parts of a medieval wall running along the hill top.  After a chilly walk across the bridge, we searched around the city streets for a bit before finding a stairway heading in the right direction – up. 

We went up…

And up….

And up some more…

finally arriving at the wall.   

Salzburg has had periods of great wealth throughout its history and to protect it, this great wall was constructed.  Some sections of the wall date back to the late 1200s.  We scrambled along the path that followed the wall for only a little ways before it began to rain.   

As we hiked along the wall we passed a few of these little huts built into the wall which I'm guessing were for guards back in the day.  They were all fairly nondescript, except for this one.  It jumped out at us because oddly, it was decorated for Christmas.  Why?  We had no idea.  Later, when we were hiking back past it, there was a man standing in the doorway talking to another person sitting inside.  Now we understood - they lived there, in this tiny, little old hut that was obviously not meant for occupation, with no heat and certainly no bathroom.  Still, they had taken the time to hang garland and bulbs and make the place festive for Christmas. 

The rain did not help the already cold, damp day and we didn’t make it far along the wall before we decided to turn around and head towards the second destination of the day – the Hohensalzburg Fortress that sits high on a bluff above the Old City.  

The original Fortress was constructed back in 1077, and it was considerably enlarged in the early 1500s.  Besides providing fortification for the city of Salzburg, the Fortress has also served as a residence, military barracks and prison over the centuries.  It’s now open 365 days a year for touring which includes the State Rooms and Fortress Museum, a military museum, and a Marionette Museum, among other things.  Truth be told, I found the tour of the Fortress to be only so-so.  While the structure itself is amazing, huge and beautiful to walk around in and the Fortress definitely makes a statement sitting high above Salzburg, I wasn’t all that impressed with the museums inside.  The Marionette Museum was the highlight – very colorful and cute.  But it was small.  Only two little rooms.  I had been hoping for more.  The Fortress and military museums were also a bit disappointing.  Now this is clearly my personal opinion, but we’ve toured a couple of other castles and a military museum in Belgium that I found vastly more interesting than this one.  Sorry Salzburg Fortress, but that’s how I felt.  

Looking down into the Old City from the Fortress.  The building straight ahead with the green copper steeples is the great Salzburg Cathedral

The kids loved the Marionette Museum.

My favorite at the Marionette Museum - it's a replica of the trick fountains we had see the day before at Hellbrunn Palace.

A beautifully ornate door in the State Rooms within the Fortress.

Display in the Fortress Museum of an enactment of a defensive manoeuvre using only the armor and weapons.  It was kind of creepy as these guys looked like they were going to come alive and start attaching us.

Great view from the Fortress walls, despite the weather.

By late afternoon we headed back towards the hotel, passing Ellie and Leah's favorite bench once again (each time we walked through this little park, they ran along the top of this bench pretending they were dogs on an obstacle course in a dog show).  Tomorrow was going to be an early morning for us as we needed to catch a tour bus that would be bringing us high up into the Austrian Alps for what was the highlight of the trip for Ellie and Leah – a horse drawn sleigh ride.  We decided to stick close to the hotel for the evening so Christmas dinner was at the lovely Italian restaurant next door, but this time, we actually got dressed up and ate at the restaurant instead of bringing take out back to our room.  And, we split three pasta dishes instead of getting pizza again.  After watching Shrek in German, we all headed to bed early.

It snowed again overnight.  Everything was covered with a light dusting of snow as we left the hotel heading for the tour bus that would take us into the Alps.  We would drive for about an hour and a half deep into the beautiful snow covered mountains towards the little village of Ramsau.  The best way for me to share this glorious day with you is through pictures.  So here we go - a sleigh ride in the Austrian Alps.

Views from the bus as we drove towards the village of Ramsau:

We passed by this snow covered castle sitting high on a bluff in the Alps.

Leah enjoying the snowy scenery outside the bus window.

After a scary bus ride up a slippery, steep mountain road full of hairpin turns where we were advised not to look out the window if we had any issues with heights, we reached Ramsau where the horses, sleighs (complete with jingling bells), and drivers were waiting for us. Each sleigh held nine people, including the driver.  The four of us climbed into the middle row in one of the sleighs, Ellie and Leah wedged in between Eric and me.  None of us minded the snug fit because it was cold and the girls were like cozy little heaters beside us. The driver gave us a couple of thick wool blankets to cover our legs and we were off.  

Our sleigh!

Bundled up and ready to go.

The view in front of us.

The view behind us.

Passing through the snow covered forest.

This was the view for much of the ride.

We rode through the beautiful alpine scenery for about an hour, passing snow covered fields, farms, a beautiful forest and finally we pulled over for a break at a cozy little restaurant sitting by itself out in the middle of nowhere.   

Pulling up to our first stop to rest the horses and get some refreshments.

We gladly went inside for a warm cup of coffee and some Austrian treats - apple strudel and a couple of other Austrian cakes to share but I can’t recall their names.

 

After a short break, back to the sleigh to continue the ride.  

There was another family of four in the sleigh with us, a couple from California who were spending Christmas in Europe with their two high school age daughters.  The couple sat behind us.  Their daughters sat in front of us with the driver.  A little advice if you should ever find yourself on a horse drawn sleigh ride – you do not want the seat in the front by the driver.  The two poor California girls ended up being wind blocks for those of us sitting behind them.  Great for us, not so good for them.  And do you know what happens when a horse starts trotting in the snow?  Whoever is sitting directly behind them gets a face full of snow.  At one point during the trip, I heard their father sitting behind us say, “I bet they wish they had listened to us and packed warmer clothes now!” 

We passed a lot of people walking and cross country skiing on the well marked trails,

A walk with your dogs does not get much pretty than this.

and a few little bambinos riding in sleds wrapped up in wool blankets.   

At last we reached the little town of Ramsau again and the sleigh driver dropped us off.   

Two happy girls!  Later, Eric would comment that this was the only day during our vacation that we didn't hear a lick of whining.

We hadn't eaten since breakfast so with about an hour to kill before we needed to meet back on the bus for the ride back to Salzburg, we headed into a restaurant to try some traditional Austrian food.  Eric had beef goulash and the girls and I had schnitzel.  We couldn’t come all the way to Austria without trying some schnitzel.  The food was filling and delicious, and for dessert, the girls each got a beautiful dish of ice cream.  Ice cream on a sleigh ride?  Yes, that was included in their kid’s meal.  A scoop each of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate.  Some of the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted!  I was not expecting that, but apparently these Austrians have a knack for making ice cream.

 The bus driver took us on a different route back to Salzburg, more beautiful than the one we had arrived on if that is possible.   We drove through a heavily snow covered alpine valley following a small river for quite a ways.  It was late in the afternoon and the branches of the evergreens in this valley were very thick with snow.  The sun was sinking which cast a bluish shadow over the landscape that I couldn’t peel my eyes from.  We tried to take some pictures, but with the tinted bus windows and the setting sun, none of them turned out very well.

By the time we arrived back in Salzburg, it was dark.  The bus dropped us off at the tour office and we were on our own again.  It was our last night in Salzburg.  We decided to walk back to our hotel instead of taking a taxi and enjoy one last stroll through this beautiful city, even though we weren’t sure which direction to go.  We needed to cross back over the river and when we finally found it, we were much further down the river than we had expected.  We didn't mind though.  It was a lovely night and sometimes the unexpected has a beautiful way of working out because as we crossed the river, we got a stunning view of the Old City and the Fortress off in the distance at night that we had not seen before.  If we had decided to take a taxi back to the hotel, we would have missed this.

The Old City and Fortress on our last night in Salzburg.

A beautiful little church across the river.

  We passed by the Makartsteg, one of the pedestrian bridges spanning the Salzach River.  It’s beautifully lit up with lights and covered in love locks – padlocks that sweethearts write their names on and lock to the bridge symbolizing their love.   

  We walked back through the Old City, down this street and that, ducking into courtyards here and there to enjoy the brilliant Christmas decorations one last time.

  And finally, it was time to head back to the hotel and pack.  We needed a good nights sleep as we had a long day of travel in front of us.  By tomorrow night, our Christmas vacation would be over and we would be back in England – or would we??? 

To be continued…

Our Christmas Vacation Part Three – Christmas Eve in Salzburg

On Christmas Eve, Salzburg shuts down by midafternoon.  The vendors close up their stalls at the Christmas market, shops and grocery stores lock their doors and shut off their lights, and most of the restaurants and cafes send their employees home for the night to spend Christmas Eve with their families.  Christmas Eve is traditionally when Austrians have their Christmas celebrations.  We decided to do the same in our cozy little hotel room which meant we needed to stock up on some Christmas goodies before all the stores closed up for the day.  But first, some breakfast. 

Hmmmm - what to have, what to have.  Besides deciding if it was wise or not to get on a train with a kid that has the stomach flu, what to have for breakfast was the toughest decision I had to make during this vacation.

 Everyone woke up Christmas Eve morning healthy and hungry – finally!  Both Ellie and Leah were ravenous so we headed down to breakfast at our hotel for the first time all together as a family.  Let me share a little something about typical hotel breakfasts in Austria – they are AMAZING!  Eric has traveled a couple of times to Austria for work and he always comes back raving about how fantastic the breakfasts were at the hotels he stayed at.  After listening to this a few times, I had high expectations and the breakfast at Hotel Via Roma did not disappoint.  Let me see if I can remember all there was for us to enjoy: 

·       The usual scrambled eggs, bacon and sausages, and also a big pot of boiling water with a bowl of eggs next to it so you could prepare your own fresh hard boiled egg for breakfast. 

·       All different types of delicious rolls and breads, bundt cakes, pastries and croissants.

·       Platters of meats and cheeses, including the most amazing cream cheese I have ever had with herbs swirled into it and then rolled in chives, as well as various other types of soft spreadable cheeses.  They even had a plate of smoked salmon which Leah enjoyed every morning as that is one of her most favorite foods. 

·       Freshly sliced melon, and trays filled with oranges, bananas and plums. 

·       Bowls full of jams and packets of other spreads for toast.  The only packet I recognized was Nutella.  Not sure what the others were and there was so much food to choose from for breakfast, we never had the chance to find out. 

·       Yogurts and granola and bowls full of different types of dried fruits and nuts for topping. 

·       And for drinks, four different kinds of fruit juices, and of course, coffee which you could get any way you wanted – plain, cappuccino, espresso, Americano style, and even just plain steamed milk you could add a packet of hot chocolate to which is what Ellie enjoyed a few mornings. 

Now I fully understand why Eric speaks so highly of the breakfasts in Austria.

 Our bellies full, we headed out to find the tiny little grocery store just inside the Old City that I had passed several times to get some good food and drinks for our quiet Christmas Eve celebration in our hotel room.  Now, this was no ordinary little convenience store which is what you might have expected from the small size of it.  Each time I had walked past the windows, I couldn’t help but gaze inside at the baskets full of fresh breads and rolls, the display cases that held various types of cheeses and meats they would slice for you, and the wall full of fruits and vegetables. 

Outside our favorite little grocery store in Salzburg.

The woman behind the counter, quickly realizing we weren’t native Austrians, helped us pick out a few different kinds of good Austria cheeses, including the same herbed cream cheese from the hotel breakfast – score!  She recommended some of the house salami so into our basket it went, along with an assortment of fresh rolls.  We picked up some juicy grapes, a package of crackers, and last but not least, some drinks.  For the girls, a couple of cans of their new favorite here in Europe – Orange San Pellegrino from Italy.  For Eric, a couple bottles of Austrian beer.  And for me, a bottle of Austrian wine of course.  We then took a quick walk down to the Christmas market where we picked up a meringue pretzel which would be dessert along with some Christmas cookies Eric had gotten from a bakery the day before.  

It was a beautiful day and Eric and I had already spent a couple of days exploring the city, so we decided to take a nice walk instead out of town towards the mountains to a place called Hellbrunn Palace.  We didn’t know anything about Hellbrunn Palace, but it was highly recommended that we visit it and the surrounding grounds, so after dropping our Christmas Eve feast off at the hotel, we headed towards the outskirts of town to the path that led to Hellbrunn.  I knew exactly where this path was – right in front of the yellow von Trapp family home I had stumbled upon my first afternoon in Salzburg.  The lane that leads to Hellbrunn is the same beautiful tree-lined lane with snow covered mountains in the background you see in The Sound of Music. 

Fun fact - or maybe not so fun:  What you see hanging from the tree in the photo below is mistletoe, and yes, when we figured this out, Eric kissed me under some and the girls thought it was hilarious.  It was everywhere in Salzburg, including in most of the trees hanging along the lane that leads to Hellbrunn Palace.  The clumps of bright green mistletoe with their smooth, shiny leaves were beautiful hanging from the bare trees.  BUT – mistletoe actually penetrates the branches of their host trees, sucking nutrients and moisture away from the tree, often killing the branches and sometimes, the entire tree.  Kind of sad.

 

Hellbrunn Palace and the surrounding grounds was built as an Italian style country residence at the foot of Hellbrunn Mountain back in the early 1600s by Salzburg’s Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus von Hohenems.  Hellbrunn ended up rarely serving as an actual residence though.  Because of its grandeur, the palace was primarily used for lavish celebrations and hosted spectacular events.  Today, the palace itself is home to a folklore museum while you can wander the vast grounds as your leisure, enjoying the sculptures, ponds, landscaping, a beautiful playground for children, and a couple other surprises we’ll get to in a moment.

As I mentioned above, we didn’t really know what Hellbrunn was as we headed there that day, except that many people said the small Christmas market held within the walls of the estate is one of the most beautiful settings they had seen for a Christmas market.  They weren’t kidding because this is what we saw when we entered the palace grounds.  

We had arrived in the middle of the afternoon and, being Christmas Eve, many of the vendors were already closing up their stalls.  We didn’t mind.  It was beautiful just wandering around and enjoying the Christmas scene.  The palace itself was made up into a gigantic Advent calendar, as you can see in the photo above.  We grabbed a bag of warm roasted almonds to munch on as we strolled.  We ducked through a small archway and stumbled upon a magnificent series of fountains, statues and stonework.  Later, we discovered these were no ordinary fountains.  This was a Wasserspiele, or trick fountains.  During the warmer months when the fountains are turned on, be careful walking through the Wasserspiele because you never know when or where water might suddenly shoot out.  

 

We wandered through another archway and, to the delight of the girls, found a petting zoo.   

 

Not sure how these three fit in to a petting zoo, but they were funny!

After enjoying the animals and quickly figuring out which signs said “May Bite” in German, we strolled out towards the vast park making up the rest of the palace grounds.  The ponds were filled with colorful ducks.   

There were beautiful tree lined pathways that just begged to be followed.   

And one of the best playgrounds we have ever seen – the fun kind filled with equipment your kids could get hurt on but probably won’t.  It was cold but we couldn’t resist stopping to let the kids play for awhile.  And we joined in on the fun too, enjoying a ride on the long zipline like swing thing they had – never seen anything like it on a playground before, but it was fuuuuun!

  Funny little story from the playground:  As I was sitting watching the girls play, this adorable little girl who couldn’t have been more than three years old walks up to me and starts talking away to me – in German.  She was looking so intently at me, waiting for my reply.  I laughed because I didn’t know what else to do and obviously didn’t know what to say.  Knowing full well she wouldn't understand, I simply smiled at her, shook my head and said, “I’m sorry sweetie, but I don’t speak German.  I only speak English.”  As she turned to go, she looked back at me and replied, “That’s alright” and wandered away.  You can imagine the look of surprise that crossed my face to hear her say that so clearly in English, and to have understood what I had said to her – and she was only three!  Still makes me laugh when I think about it. 

Sorry I'm sharing so many playground photos with you, but these are AWESOME!  I cannot believe what a great job Eric did photographing the girls as they played.

The zipline swing thinging - oh this was fun!

The sun was starting to slip behind the mountains, so we decided it was time to head back towards our hotel, but before we left, there was one more thing we would stumble upon – a gazebo.  Now this wasn’t just any gazebo – it is maybe the most famous gazebo in all the world and the moment I saw it, I knew.  “I am sixteen, going on seventeen…”  I think you know where I am going with this.  Yes, it was the Sound of Music gazebo.  We stopped to take pictures of course, and good timing for us because as we were leaving, we passed an entire busload of tourists heading in with their cameras to get some pictures of the gazebo themselves.  

  Recognize the gazebo but not the setting?  That’s because the gazebo has been moved.  It’s original setting on the grounds of Leopoldskron is where the famous gazebo movie scenes were shot, but the gazebo received a little too much attention in that location, so it was moved to the grounds of Hellbrunn Palace where it could be better protected.

Beautiful scenery on our walk back to the hotel from Hellbrunn Palace as the sun sets.

We made it back to the hotel by late afternoon, cold but refreshed from our long afternoon spent outside wandering Hellbrunn Palace.  After a warm cup of cappuccino and hot chocolate, we headed up to our hotel room to settle in for the night and enjoy a quiet Christmas Eve together as a family with the good food and drinks we had picked up earlier in the day.  We watched Mary Poppins and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation in German, and a good thing it was in German too because they don’t bleep out the bad words here in Europe. 

There was one last thing planned for the evening – midnight mass at the beautiful Salzburg cathedral.  Eric really wanted to go.  So did I, but the thought of standing outside in the cold at 10:00 in the evening for two hours waiting in line to get into the service with a 7 and a 9 year old who had just gotten over the stomach flu was less than appealing.  The girls didn’t want to go.  They really didn’t want to go.  So I stayed back in the hotel with the girls while Eric went by himself.   Before he left for mass, we sat out some Peanut M&Ms and water for Santa just in case he found the girls in their hotel room in Salzburg (not very traditional I know, but that was all we had left in the room and we weren't raiding the extremely overpriced minibar, not even for Santa). 

What was the midnight mass like?  Eric said it was amazing -  poignant and beautiful, even though he couldn't understand a word of it.  He did, however, recognize the song that was sung at the end of the service even though it was in German - Silent Night.  While it may not surprise any of you who have attended candle light services on Christmas Eve night that the mass ended with this familiar Christmas song, Silent Night has a very special meaning in Salzburg and Austria in general.  It was written by a man named Joseph Mohr, an Austrian Roman Catholic priest and writer.  He was born in Salzburg and at an early age encouraged to pursue music and provided an education by a vicar and music leader right there at the Salzburg Cathedral.  It was in 1816, while he was serving as an assistant priest in a little village in the Austrian Alps called Mariapfarr that Joseph Mohr wrote the words to Silent Night.

To end today, here is Eric's description of that last song sung at the midnight mass on Christmas Eve in the Salzburg Cathedral:

Silent Night was sung at the end of the mass in German (Stille Nacht).  All the lights were turned off and the cathedral was lit only with candles.  It had a single guitar for accompaniment and the verses were traded between two woman singers, two men, and the choir.  I could only see the two woman who were up on a small balcony opposite where I was sitting.  The balcony was only big enough for a few people and the women were lit from a candle in front of them.  I couldn’t see the men (who were likely in the balcony directly above me) or the choir.  I think the song only has three verses but they must have repeated the entire song because I remember them singing six verses.  They were very highly trained or even professional singers.  Midnight mass on Christmas Eve in the Salzburg Cathedral was definitely a sight to behold and hear.

 To be continued.... And stay tuned because the next post - a horse drawn sleigh ride through the Austrian Alps!