It is currently day 131 of quarantine. Tbh when I googled “Days Calculator” I expected 400 something days. Then I realized that 1 year equals 365 days. Heh. The past 131 days do feel like 4 times longer. Odd times, don’t you think? A couple of days ago, an idea sprung to mind. I asked some of my friends a series of questions about the quarantine, focusing on personal feelings and relationships. I might -caps lock on the word MIGHT- make this into a series of quarantine posts, maybe the next one we’ll talk about the future or economy or something else. We’ll see. We’ll see. Anyhow, I curated their answers and I present this to you all. I sincerely hope reading these frank answers will shed light on some of your own feelings and struggles, as they did with me. "How are you feeling during the first few weeks of quarantine on a scale of 1-10?” 8, soalnya aku introvert dan ga gitu suka pergi-pergi jadi it's okay malah seneng bisa pulang kampung :D 10, seneng...
We started our journey in Salzburg by dragging our-surprisingly not that heavy-suitcases across the train station to drop them in the hotel. You read that right, we dragged them. The H+ Salzburg Hotel is very conveniently located only several steps away from the station's door. The rooms were clean, receptionists were friendly and helpful, and everything else went very smoothly. We had zero complaints.
H+ Salzburg Hotel
Address: Südtiroler Pl. 13, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
Check-in: 15.00
Check-out: 12.00
Tip: I find hotels dot com offers better prices than other websites most of the time, but I could be biased since I am very comfortable with the interface and had saved up some nights as well. Just a suggestion :)
Per usual, we marched right off after storing our luggage, straight to our first destination. Salzburg is most famous for 2 things: Mozart and The Sound of Music. We're not the biggest fans of them but we still had to stop by Mirabell Palace which is notable for being the movie's set. I'm not sure if we had covered all the grounds but we had to catch a bus later that afternoon so our visit here was kinda hurried.
Mirabell Palace
Opening hours: 08.00-18.00
Price: free
Barenwirt is a tiny but cozy restaurant located only 10 minutes away from the palace. It could be really crowded here and we were lucky that we got a table! The food itself was satisfying, the only thing that I would skip is the dessert just because it wasn't the best. The fried chicken is a must-order though ;)
Barenwirt
Opening hours: 11.00-23.00
Price: around €10-13 for the mains
Price: around €10-13 for the mains
Finished our lunch at around 13.30, we strolled back to catch the bus I was telling you about to take us to Gaisberg Mountain. The 151 bus (you can't pay with the Salzburg transportation card according to the driver) would arrive at 14.05 and pick us up at 16.30 from the mountain. Pay very close attention to this bus schedule if you're planning to go since there are some adjustments during the changing of seasons. Also, I couldn't find any better alternative to the bus and you can't hail a cab from up there. Gaisberg Mountain was the sole main reason why I begged my family to go to Austria in the first place after seeing Kendall Jenner's post. Yup, the good old #CaKe days. Here it is:
Guess what? There were NO CLOUDS :( Don't believe everything you see on social media, blah blah blah, I know. I have researched countless times and seen numerous similar pictures. I suppose the clouds are also something to consider next time. At the end of the day, the view is not all that disappointing and we did get to see the sunset. Something to note is that the grounds are very snowy and slippery and we weren't exactly dressed for it. It kinda limited our movement and there's still a tiny part of me that hoped that maybe we just sat on the wrong side of the mountain? Another thing is that it's freeezing up there that we had to sip on very sweet and watery hot chocolate in the only cafe we could find.
Gaisberg Mountain (stop at Gaisbergspitze)
Address: 5026 Salzburg, Austria
Price: free
Umm, remember the part where I was pissed that the clouds were gone? Well, they decided to pour on us on the second day in Salzburg, lol. How ironic. Our initial plan was to visit the Hohensalzburg Fortress, lunch in the old town, and dinner at Cafe Sacher. We decided to switch them up due to the rain and ended up spending a few hours in the cafe.
The cafe is located in a hotel with the same name, steps away from the Makartsteg Bridge. The hotel's interior is mostly covered in red velvet, like the ones we see in movies. We ordered dessert first since their kitchen is not open for meals yet. Service is ok, I booked a reservation for dinner a few weeks before just in case, but they weren't packed when we came in. We ordered the original Sacher-tote and the original Sacher punch dessert. They tasted similar but somehow I prefer the punch dessert better just because it's tangier. I get it now why it's such a classic cake here in Austria.
Cafe Sacher
It was still pouring when we finished the cakes and I was already drooling over the main course menu that we ordered 3 mains and egg soufflé as dessert. The mains were good but the soufflé was very... eggy. I'm pretty sure someone who possesses a more sophisticated taste bud would like it. What really surprised me is that this was the 5th consecutive day we've had Austrian food and we absolutely loved it. My family is huge on sambal (to my imaginary international readers, sambal is a type of Indonesian sauce) and we haven't opened a packet since we came here.
The rest of the day was as slow as our late morning. We still wanted to go the fortress but it was pouring non-stop. I was worried that the steps to the fortress would be too slippery so we ended up strolling around the old town. I was really curious to try Eisl Eis (organic sheep milk ice cream) but it was closed for a winter break or some sort. Mozart's birthplace and house are also located nearby but we skipped those and browsed the stores instead. If you ever read a blog or website that says to look for Mozartkrugel or Mozart chocolate balls when you're in this area, they are sold in most supermarkets (even the ones in Innsbruck). They were packaged in Mozart-stamped plastic wrapper and tasted too sweet for my liking.
The only thing left in our agenda that is not closed and rain-proof is the Salzburg cathedral. You know that moment when you walk into a building and feel a sense of indescribable serenity? This was one of them. Well, that and temptation to check every painting and nooks after watching the Robert Langdon series.
Address: Domplatz 1a, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 08.00-17.00, Sun and holidays 13.00-17.00 in January
Price: free entrance, you can donate on your way in or out
Cafe Tomaselli
Afterward, we stopped by the famous Cafe Tomaselli, it is said that Mozart used to love coming here and sip on their hot almond milk. What I like about this cafe is that we choose cakes like dim sum, from a cart wheeled beside our table. There's something exciting about it that makes you want to pick more than one, lol. The cakes and the drinks were pretty standard to me but after wandering in the rain all day, there is something comforting about nestling in a warm and busy cafe.
Cafe Tomaselli
Opening hours: 07.00-19.00, 08.00 on Sundays
Price: €4.40 for almond milk, €3-7 for cakes, cash only
Die Weisse
Most of the stores were closing when we got out, much to my dad's delight. We then decided to walk to our dinner to soak in the Salzburg city for the last time. The walk took around 15 minutes and we got there at around 18.30. Again, the place is booked up but we could score a table for 1 hour. We're fast eaters so that won't be a problem at all :) The hospitality here is top-notch (I rate service by how patient they are with our photo requests) and the food was a bit salty for my mom's liking but I enjoyed it.
Die Weisse
Opening hours: 10.00-02.00, closed on Sundays
Price: €9-15 for mains, €26 for steak
Overall, it was a nice dinner to close our visit in Austria. The reception or cashier (I couldn't remember) called us a taxi to get back to our hotel. We grabbed our bags, brushed our teeth, and were set to an overnight train right to Milan.
Ciao. Xoxo, K.
Do you like my post on Salzburg? Share them with your friends on Pinterest! :)
Ciao. Xoxo, K.
Do you like my post on Salzburg? Share them with your friends on Pinterest! :)
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