Sony A99 – Page 13 – The Bald Heretic – Short, bald dude with a goofy beard

Salzburg – Day 2

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Technically, our first full day in Salzburg. We slept soundly last night. We had to open our hotel room window to vent some of the heat. This worked very well. The hotel provides nice down comforters and soft pillows.

We woke up rather early. Around 7:30 am. We had breakfast and found our way up to the Hohensalzburg Castle.

We wandered around a bit and checked out the view from up there. Quite spectacular. I have to say, the overcast skies are making photography a challenge. Everything is grey and foggy. It’s definitely not the same as shooting pictures in sunny Italy.

Besides just wanting to see the castle, we wanted to make sure we knew how to get up to the castle as later we would be returning to see the Krampus. We had read that there was to be a 3:00 pm event and we wanted to know the lay of the land.

While we were up there we checked out the marionette museum. Cynthia loves the puppets. Also, the view is spectacular. Even if there is no sun. All in all, a very cool place to see.

We headed back to town to find some lunch and warm our cold bones. As we were doing this, it began to snow. I must admit, I was hoping for snow. It was very pretty, but very cold.

At the base of the mountain is a very interesting cemetery. We took some time to wander around and plan to return for some more photos.

After having some lunch we made our way back up to Hohensalzburg Castle because we heard there would be some Krampus activity around 3:00 pm. We were not disappointed.

I will have some awesome Krampus photos to share later. But for now I need to sign off because we came back down and then had a very traditional Vienna style meal of beef and venison accompanied by a bottle of Austrian Cabernet Sauvignon with a Salzburger Nockerl for desert.

All of this combined to kick our collective butts and send us back to the room to get some much needed shuteye.

There will be some amazing photos of Krampus tomorrow along with a bonus Krampus sighting this evening as we were on our way to dinner.

From Munich To Salzburg

We flew in to Munich, but our plan was to move on as quickly as possible to Salzburg, Austria to be there for the Advent celebrations. It easier to fly in to Munich than it is to fly in to Salzburg, so that was the plan. We stayed the night in Munich and caught the train this morning to Salzburg.

The train station in Munich was pretty easy to figure out and 1st class tickets ended up costing us 50 euro per person which seems pretty good. The people sitting next to us had paid that around 75 euro online.

Cynthia has really taken to the iPad as a camera. She used it to get some very good photos on the train and has taken to carrying it with her as we walk about the city. She still has her full DSLR, but it is seeing less frequent use.

Our first day in Salzburg and Krampus and his companions have already been spotted. We tailed a small group in to a local restaurant where they proceeded to terrorize the clientele. We hope to see more tomorrow.

The markets are festive, but very crowded. It’s Saturday so there are piles of tourists in from all over for the weekend.

We had a great lunch today. Cynthia tried the Wiener Schnitzel which was very tasty with cranberry sauce and I had some traditional boiled beef.

More walking around in the evening to get our bearings. Some snow, but nothing significant. And yes, it is VERY cold. High today was about 32 degrees. We snapped a few more photos and headed back to the hotel room.

The sun goes down around 5:00 pm so between that and the overcast skies it is very dark and somber. It looks like the night photography will be yielding the best results. I plan to take the tripod out tomorrow for some extended exposures.

We’re pretty much over the jet lag, but the cold is taking a harder toll on the energy levels than we anticipated. Also having to remember to drink lots of water. You don’t realize you’re dehydrated until you have the first sip. Then you just chug a whole bottle of water to quench the thirst.

Oh yes, Glühwein is the thing. And it’s everywhere. I will leave you with a few market shots. If you need christmas ornaments, scented candles or stuffed animals, this is the place to be.

Arrival, Munich

We have landed safe and sound in Munich. The weather is cold as we expected, but it’s not as uncomfortable as we feared. Warm clothing is serving us well.

We touched down around 7:30am Munich time. We cleared customs and found our way to the hotel pretty quickly, but we were unable to check in as our room was not yet ready. We ended up having to cool our heels until around noon.

I used the time to find a T-Mobile store and buy a data SIM for my unlocked Android phone. Now I have unlimited data on my phone for 10 Euro. Beats roaming charges!

After finally getting our room we unpacked a little and took a 3 hour nap. After that we went for a walk to get our bearings and find some food.

The sun goes down around 5:00 pm here it was dark before we knew it. And the temps are dropping down to about 10°F tonight so we are going to catch up on some rest this evening and strike out for Salzburg tomorrow morning.