Here we are, 6 years in Austria and still going strong! Life is somehow too busy to write about, it wants to be lived. But once in a while it is time for memories, like this one. This is about Salzburg, we’ve been there so many times and almost every single time it rained. Still, we love Salzburg and we’d move there in a jiffy if we could afford to. But we can’t and in the meantime we console ourselves with the perceived fact that it always rains in Salzburg.

Incidentally it was spring, a rather cool one, just as it is now. Salzburg is very unpredictable in terms of weather so there is really no way to plan around it. The best way is to just pick a weekend and go. Just because it’s summer, doesn’t mean it won’t rain. My first time there it rained the entire weekend, and I don’t mean the kind of drizzle rain we have in Seattle, no, this was down pouring, wet to the bone kind of rain, for 48 hours straight! But when the sun comes out, Salzburg shines like the crown jewels.

Salzburg is so much more than the Sound of Music. Actually, when you are in Salzburg there is nothing to remind you of the movie itself. Sure they realized there is money to be made from naive American tourists who look for the “Sound of Music Tour” (only 1 in 10 Austrians has heard about the movie), but it’s no different than making money off of Mozart’s birth place. As a matter of fact, Salzburg is all about Mozart: there are Mozart chocolates, Mozart concerts, Mozart fashion, there was even an entire year dedicated to Mozart with a variety of cultural activites throughout. Honestly, it is hard to even see Salzburg behind this commercial tourism. The locals have almost vanished from the city center, you may still spot one in a secluded cafe, off the beaten path or on a less known trail in the woods sorrounding the Hohensalzburg Castle that looks down upon the tourist ant trail with the same disdain I’m sure as it did in 1525 when a group of miners and farmers tried to oust the Archbishop of that time and failed.

Regardless of the tourist hype, Salzburg is definitely one of the top three places in Austria worth seeing. After all, all the great cities in the world are overcrowded with tourists. So what to do once you are there? First off, let me tell you that planning a weekend for it should be more than enough. Look for one of the bed & breakfasts in the historic center, the charm and service will be worth it. Besides, it’ll cost you just as much lodging further away in one of the chain hotels. Last time we stayed at Hotel Chiemsee right next to the Mozart Platz and without trying to sell it or anything, I would go back there anytime. Very comfy rooms and excellent breakfast. I could go on and tell you about all the things you should visit, but here is a list of the Top 10 sights and you can decide for yourself what you’d like to see. I personally loved the Mozart birth house, the Mirabell gardens and of course the Hohensalzburg Fortress. If you are lucky you can catch a medieval fair at the castle and buy products from local merchants and farmers.

The food can be the usual tourist grub, especially along the downtown banks of the Salzach. And it’s not too bad, if you are hungry with limited time you may not have a choice. We were lucky to find a nice restaurant just a block away from the Franciscan church. It was surprisingly good food and full of locals, you may need a reservation to get in. The service is what I like to call “friendly professional”. Salzburg needs tourism to survive and they pretty much know that. Even though the locals are known for being unfriendly to all foreigners who move there, including Austrians, they will put on a nice face for tourists, they know how to make your stay enjoyable.

Overall you are best advised to follow your tourist guide if you like to be on the safe side. But even venturing out will not present much risk, this is a very safe small city, with or without a map you can’t really get lost. If you have more time go check out the entire Salzburg Land. If you can rent a car, if not travelling by train and bus is also very comfortable. There is a very special place we like to visit often, and it is only about 30 miles away from Salzburg: Werfenweng. Take advantage of their soft mobility program which means you can leave your car home and they will take care of everything. This is a one of a kind program in Europe as far as I know. We have used it in winter, for skiing. The area is great in summer too. You can stay at one of the many B&B organic farms where the owners will treat you like family. Enjoy the local organic foods, the beautiful hikes, a fairy tale castle, and the largest ice cave system in the world. I promise you won’t be disappointed. If I were to pick my favorite region in Austria, then it would be Salzburg. Go see for yourself!

As I was saying previously, this Fall needs to be enjoyed. And enjoy we did, every single year since we’ve been here. Time is short and precious as we don’t usually take any time off in the Fall, so we are left at the mercy of the weather on the weekends. There are some years when we barely get a couple of weekends before the foliage is completely ravaged by the cold November rains, and then there are others when the long Indian Summers just melt into October and the shift is barely noticeable except for those couple of days in between when it rains hard and the temperature drops from 80s to 50s literally overnight. Those, as I say, are MY Autumns.

I’ve mentioned this before: Vienna is 50% green, woods, parks, gardens, just green. One of the most impressive parks is the Lainzer Tiergarten. It’s a 6000 acre wild life preserve just on the city outskirts, bordering on the Wienerwald. However, it is not the wildlife that draws us here every season, it is the ancient woods of that park. It is true that you can occasionally see a boar or a deer crossing your path, but those are rare occurrences, especially on the weekends. Far more fascinating for me are these ancient oaks and beech trees. I have always loved the woods and felt at home in them. Straying off the beaten paths and finding a place to rest between these ancient living pillars is one of the best stress relief methods I have tried. And since we are a bunch of gatherers in my family, we always look for little treasures, depending on the season: berries, mushrooms, colored leaves, empty snail houses, rocks, lichen, anything really that will draw our attention.

But most of all, we gather memories. Here are some of the best pictures from the Lainzer Tiergarten.

It’s raining in Vienna, raining like it hasn’t rained in months. It doesn’t bother me too much though, I like being at home, nice and cozy, with my magazines and my laptop (TGFI - thank god for internet). It is a good time to reflect upon past adventures, look at pictures…and write another trip report.

Sure, we have all heard about the famous Austrian towns: Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz. But how many tourist guides talk about Steyr? Certainly not the ones I had when I first moved to Austria. But no matter, that’s what local friends are for: to open your eyes to places beyond the tourist paths.

Our first trip to Steyr happened by chance. We were invited to see an open air production of the Magic Flute. Just like with any other trip, we went to the respective websites, liked what we saw, reserved a hotel room for the weekend, and off we went. Steyr is only a couple of hours drive from Vienna, in Upper Austria. You can also get there by train, the connections are very good. We have done both. Having a car gives you more flexibility to explore the surroundings, like the Kalkalpen National Park, or Austria’s oldest narrow track railway, but if you have limited time and only want to explore this romantic city, the train is stress free and comfortable.

Steyr can be a day trip or a weekend trip. A day is enough for the town itself, a beautiful, amazingly well preserved medieval fairy tale setting. In summer, stroll through the old downtown (it’s all a pedestrian zone), hike up to Schloss Lamberg, take a romantic moonlight walking tour, or just relax in a sidewalk cafe. If it’s too hot and the weekend shopping is buzzing in your ears, just walk into one of the beautiful churches, like St.Michael, and feel the stillness all around you. And if all this walking they do in Europe has got you worn out, here is a fun sightseeing way at your own speed: the Steyr Segway tour. This bike-scooter hybrid is noiseless and gets you into any narrow alley with no effort on your part.

No matter how you choose to explore the town, you hardly need a map. You can explore every secret little cobblestone street, cross the Enns river into the other historical part of town, get lured from one antiquities shop to another boutique, and you will still find yourself back where you started, without even having to think. That, to me, is the real beauty of exploring old European towns. That’s when I put all city maps and guides aside, and let my instinct lead me: i enter a hidden backyard only to find a beautiful fountain seconds later, after taking a turn into a narrow alley it opens up surprisingly into a large plaza where I find the perfect cafe, later on, after another spontaneous turn, I find the loveliest shops, just tucked away under historical archways…This is how I explore. It is a tried method, and it has never failed me, whether in Paris or Vienna or Steyr. After all, there is no place more safe to be adventurous than a European town.

Steyr is also famous for another reason: the Christkindl (baby Jesus) chapel. Just like other pilgrimage places in Austria, this little chapel also has its story. Long ago, in the 17th century, a tiny baby Jesus wax doll was said to have healed a little girl. More miracles followed. What started in the hollow of a tree was soon turned into a chapel to protect the precious 4 inch figurine. Thousands of Christians come every year, at Christmas time especially, to seek comfort and healing in the little chapel. Once comforted, a pilgrim will head merrily to the Christkindl post office, where letters to the Christkind can be mailed, which is the Austrian equivalent to sending a letter to Santa. We have only been to the chapel in summer, and it was quiet, thankfully. But I can easily picture the chapel in winter, a very magical place for all pilgrims big and small.

We went back to Steyr every year since that first time. We will be going this summer again, this time for a musical production of Les Miserables. We’ll probably be staying at the Merkinger farm again, it was very relaxing last time. There are some very nice hotels and bed & breakfast inns in town, but they tend to be pricey during the Steyr music festival. So we prefer this comfy farm, only 2 miles from the city, where we can get a good night sleep and the breakfast is truly plentiful, and the kids can pet the family cat. Even though I now know every little street in Steyr, I don’t think I will ever tire of this romantic piece of Austrian history.