Austria trip day nine
Today is the ninth day. I have taken 473 photos on this trip. That's an average of 52.5 per day. That's kind of a lot.
Last night, I Skyped in to Dungeons and Dragons at my partner's house. I had to leave before they started playing properly because we're six hours ahead, but it was good to see everyone's faces and talk about time-traveling Doritos and hot dogs in buns and other stupid things. I really do miss them. I don't know why that surprises me so much. There was something very wrong with my childhood, I think.
Because I was up so late, I was an unpleasant, sleepy person in the morning. I slept through most of the one-hour drive to Salzburg.
We parked outside of the Old Town in Salzburg and then walked in. The roads there are pedestrian-only after 11. If you park there before 11 and don't leave in time, your car will be trapped there until the next day.
Salzburg is where Mozart was born. It's right near the alps. Most of the architecture, especially in the Old Town, is baroque. If you imagine the streets are empty and the tourist shops have vanished, it looks like it hasn't changed in hundreds of years. It probably hasn't. The roads are narrow and paved with cobblestones and walled in on both sides by tall plaster-sided buildings.
There was a carnival when we arrived. I hate carnivals. I hate small children and loud noises and screaming crowds and hokey music and carnival games and it had all of those things. My brother feels the same way.
I took pictures anyways.
After passing through the carnival, we went and did what we'd set out to do: go to the castle in Salzburg. The castle is called Hohensalzburg, which translates to "Fortress high above Salzburg". It is, indeed, high above Salzburg, in a tactically superior position. The easiest way to get to it is by funicular. Mum and I took the funicular; Isaac and dad hiked up the hill.
We ate lunch at the top, then bought cake and hot chocolate.
Then we went on an audio tour of the castle. It's been there in some fortressy form since 1080 A.D., evolving as the people living in it expanded it for comfort and for defense. (Mostly for defense, I think. Castles have not ever been particularly comfortable.) One of the lords who lived in it had a turnip in his coat of arms. The turnip (turnip rampant?) can be found in various places throughout the structure.
Hohensalzburg has been under siege once, during the German Peasant's War in the 1500s. It encountered Napoleon in 1800 and surrendered without a fight. I thought it was usually the French who surrendered and not the other way around, but Napoleon is an exception.
The view from the top of the fortress was ludicrous. I could describe it, and I'm probably going to try at some point, but here. Look at some pictures first.
This view was unreal. It was literally unreal. It looked like a model with a painted background and crazy-green fake golf grass and little Styrofoam houses glued to it and cotton batting spread across the top to emulate clouds, except, you know, it wasn't. It was actually there. Visibility was great.
Seriously. Just look at it.
We saw the Salzburg Bull, which is an organ the occupants of the castle used to use to wake the citizens of Salzburg and tell them when it was time for bed. That must have been annoying.
We also saw a marionette museum, which is probably nightmare-inducing in some people. Those dolls were creepy, man.
But not as creepy as my brother.
After that, we went back to the rental house. The GPS briefly thought we were driving through a river. Don't worry. We weren't.
Mum and dad went out for dinner and Isaac and I had leftover tortellini. Now I'm on the internet. I feel less sleepy than I did earlier, but I think my body is lying to me. I have no idea how I'm going to survive the time change home. I'm going to be so confused.
I am still not coping very well. I find it frustrating that I can't find a cause for how I feel.
Oh well.
That's depressing and I shouldn't bother you with it.
I don't know where we're going tomorrow. Somewhere.
Last night, I Skyped in to Dungeons and Dragons at my partner's house. I had to leave before they started playing properly because we're six hours ahead, but it was good to see everyone's faces and talk about time-traveling Doritos and hot dogs in buns and other stupid things. I really do miss them. I don't know why that surprises me so much. There was something very wrong with my childhood, I think.
Because I was up so late, I was an unpleasant, sleepy person in the morning. I slept through most of the one-hour drive to Salzburg.
We parked outside of the Old Town in Salzburg and then walked in. The roads there are pedestrian-only after 11. If you park there before 11 and don't leave in time, your car will be trapped there until the next day.
Salzburg is where Mozart was born. It's right near the alps. Most of the architecture, especially in the Old Town, is baroque. If you imagine the streets are empty and the tourist shops have vanished, it looks like it hasn't changed in hundreds of years. It probably hasn't. The roads are narrow and paved with cobblestones and walled in on both sides by tall plaster-sided buildings.
There was a carnival when we arrived. I hate carnivals. I hate small children and loud noises and screaming crowds and hokey music and carnival games and it had all of those things. My brother feels the same way.
I took pictures anyways.
After passing through the carnival, we went and did what we'd set out to do: go to the castle in Salzburg. The castle is called Hohensalzburg, which translates to "Fortress high above Salzburg". It is, indeed, high above Salzburg, in a tactically superior position. The easiest way to get to it is by funicular. Mum and I took the funicular; Isaac and dad hiked up the hill.
We ate lunch at the top, then bought cake and hot chocolate.
Then we went on an audio tour of the castle. It's been there in some fortressy form since 1080 A.D., evolving as the people living in it expanded it for comfort and for defense. (Mostly for defense, I think. Castles have not ever been particularly comfortable.) One of the lords who lived in it had a turnip in his coat of arms. The turnip (turnip rampant?) can be found in various places throughout the structure.
Hohensalzburg has been under siege once, during the German Peasant's War in the 1500s. It encountered Napoleon in 1800 and surrendered without a fight. I thought it was usually the French who surrendered and not the other way around, but Napoleon is an exception.
The view from the top of the fortress was ludicrous. I could describe it, and I'm probably going to try at some point, but here. Look at some pictures first.
This view was unreal. It was literally unreal. It looked like a model with a painted background and crazy-green fake golf grass and little Styrofoam houses glued to it and cotton batting spread across the top to emulate clouds, except, you know, it wasn't. It was actually there. Visibility was great.
Seriously. Just look at it.
We saw the Salzburg Bull, which is an organ the occupants of the castle used to use to wake the citizens of Salzburg and tell them when it was time for bed. That must have been annoying.
We also saw a marionette museum, which is probably nightmare-inducing in some people. Those dolls were creepy, man.
But not as creepy as my brother.
After that, we went back to the rental house. The GPS briefly thought we were driving through a river. Don't worry. We weren't.
Mum and dad went out for dinner and Isaac and I had leftover tortellini. Now I'm on the internet. I feel less sleepy than I did earlier, but I think my body is lying to me. I have no idea how I'm going to survive the time change home. I'm going to be so confused.
I am still not coping very well. I find it frustrating that I can't find a cause for how I feel.
Oh well.
That's depressing and I shouldn't bother you with it.
I don't know where we're going tomorrow. Somewhere.