Salzburg – Dinner at Gablerbrau, The Views from Kapuzinerberg, Mirabell Gardens, And Some Last Minute Wanderings

Since we had only planned on one full night in Salzburg, the Missus really wanted to make the most of our time; we'd started with the Old Town, then "hiked" up to Hohensalzburg Fortress. We decided to head on back to the room to freshen up and then grab some dinner. We took a fairly "scenic" route, walking thru Kapitelplatz.

And grabbing another look at Stephan Balkenhol's "Sphaera".

"Everyman" was still standing on his golden orb, looking off into the distance at “Frau im Fels”, his female counterpart. We tried to get a photo from here, but it was basically impossible.

We crossed thru Residenzplatz, you can tell what a beautiful day it was…..

We crossed over the Salzach River and headed to the Seminary where we were spending the night….the Missus suddenly realized that She needed some balls……ahem, Mozart Balls that is, for some folks back home. Luckily there was a location of Cafe Konditorei Fürst nearby; Mozart Balls or more properly Mozartkugel was created in Salzburg in 1890 by Paul Fürst, so it was only right that we would get some for the Missus's friends.

It was just up the street from the Seminary, so we stopped by and the Missus got Her gifts.

Cafe Konditorei Fürst
Mirabellplatz 5A
Salzburg, Austria

We headed back to Gästehaus im Priesterseminar.

Freshened up; no time for nap on this day and went through options for dinner.

We decided on something fairly close to our accommodations in the "New Town" and after looking thru my list decided on Gablerbrau, which seemed to have a nice selection of beer and some good dishes.

The folks here are very friendly and the place did actually "look the part"……

We placed our orders and of course, I got some beer…..which was quite good.

The bread was fragrant, adequately moist, and decent overall.

We ordered one starter, the "Tafelspitzsulze" jellied beef….since we enjoy jellied meat dishes. This however, was fairly uninspired; the jellied meat overly hard instead of chewy.

The produce was good; though the dressing not to our taste.

Right about this time groups of customers started coming in.

And the staff handled things quite well. Service was very good.

The Missus wasn't too hungry, so She ordered the special for that day; the Duck Salad.

That tomato was delicious, as were the crisp and pleasantly bitter greens. The duck was over-cooked and tough though.

I ordered the Oxtail Braised in Red Wine.

Which was served with Parsley Potatoes. The oxtail didn't look very appetizing as it was almost totally black. It was tender, though strangely bland, except for being on the bitter-greasy side. The potatoes were nicely seasoned, but undercooked; the centers still being too hard and crisp.

A fairly inauspicious meal; though, like I mentioned earlier, we enjoyed the service and I liked the beer.

Gablerbräu
Linzer Gasse 9
Salzburg, Austria

I was ready to call it a day; perhaps grab a beer or two…..but of course, the Missus had other plans. After a bit of discussion, we (She) decided we should head up Kapuzinerberg the hill which is on the opposite side of the Salzach from the Old Town and Hohensalzburg Fortress.

There are several viewpoints ("Aussicht") along the way and the views are wonderful.

There are ancient walls along the way……this was used to enclose a Capuchin Monastery that was built on this hill during the 16th and 17th century.

Looking down, the Missus and I were quite envious of the folks having drinks and meals on the makeshift rooftop "terraces" below. I'm thinking we'll try to find one of these places to stay at when we're back in Salzburg.

We took in a bit more of the views before finding some stairs and heading back down to Steingasse. There are a bunch of bars and brewpubs on the street, but I was kinda pooped and we decided to head back to Gästehaus im Priesterseminar; the seminary we were staying at.

There's a reason so many love Salzburg……not the least of which is how picturesque the city is.

The Missus asked me if I wanted to stop at a shop to pick up a beer on the way back to the room…..but I had noticed something when we had left the seminary in the morning.

Near the elevators on the bottom floor of the seminary were several vending machines….and one of them had beer…..in a vending machine…..in Salzburg…..in a Seminary Guesthouse!

It was a pretty warm evening; there's no A/C in the rooms, so we left the windows open. Turns out the street right behind the seminary is lined with bars and things were pretty noisy….which kept me up for a while, until the Radler kicked in and sailed off to never-never land.

We got up fairly early the next morning; breakfast was provided with the room……

Since out train didn't leave until 1pm, and the train station was a fairly short walk away, we checked out, left our bags at reception and headed out. There was one site which was almost across the street that I wanted to see.

Mirabell Gardens. Part of the Mirabell Palace complex; yes, the gardens are beautiful, bright, green, wonderful statues…..designed in in the late 17th century, it is quite wonderful. But there's another reason tourists flock here.

And it's not only to dress up "in character"…..

Mozart is one big draw for Salzburg….the other being The Sound of Music, which was not only filmed in Salzburg, the Von Trapp family actually did live in Salzburg.

It's really hard for kid raised in the 60's and 70's to not have seen The Sound of Music and one of the most memorable scenes was filmed in Mirabell Gardens. Who can forget this one….try NOT to hum along….

So you might recognize this fella…..

And this is a view from the steps…..

I couldn't help but smile…….

And I'm sure many folks were enjoying, if not actually trying to act out (it was more fun watching some of the folks) their Do-Re-Mi moment.

From here we decided to head back to the Old Town for one last stroll…..plus there was one last thing I wanted to see….so we walked past the Salzburg Christ Church.

And crossed over the Makartsteg Footbridge, lined with "Love Locks".

Back to the Old Town.

To the area around Residenplatz and came upon what I wanted to see; the "Wetterstation" a weather station that dates back to 1888.

Not sure why; but stuff like Astronomical Clocks and the like always fascinated me. This actually measures the barometric pressure, temperature, and humidity.

Having fulfilled my geekiness we wandered around a bit more.

It was a lovely day and Cafe Tomaselli was doing some major business.

And all the carriages were ready to go in front of the cathedral.

And "Everyman" was still staring off to his love somewhere in the hills above.

So all was well in Salzburg……

We did some last minute shopping…..

Then went to pick up our bags and headed off to the train station.

I think we'll be back someday….I need to get a good meal here after all.

But for now…..

We were off to Munich.

Thanks for stopping by!