Salzburg – Mozart, tourists and craft beer

Salzburg - for the 2nd time this year! Mozart's city greeted us with blue skies and though we were doing research for another guidebook update – Salzburg is our second-best selling guidebook after NYC! – it was a great visit. We stayed in the beautiful Auersperg Hotel, a real gem, a little apart from touristic old town, in a residential neighborhood and therefore quiet and peaceful. We've stayed here before and love the modern and unpretentious atmosphere (pics show lobby and room), tastfefully and well equipped large rooms, the "mini spa" with sauna/steambath and rooftop terrace and, especially, the breakfast buffet, which consists of organic and local produce, great fresh breads and other baking goods every morning (best walnut cake in the world!), cheeses and cheese spreads, different cereals and fruit, yoghurts and juices...

When we arrived to Salzburg on Monday, our first walk from the newly opened, modern railroad station ended at "Weiserhof", a typical Austrian restaurant, where the owner and chef focuses on regional cuisine with home-made produce (like sausages and breads) and seasonal and regional goods. From the outside it's just your regular gasthaus with a beergarden in a rather undistinct residential neighborhood, but inside it's cozy and always packed with locals . They offer a lunch special (soup and entree) for just 8,80 Euro and our additional treat was the Germknödel - a fluffy yeast dough dumpling filled with plum jam and covered with poppy seeds and butter (see pic). To die for!

Good, that we walked the city afterwards to burn calories! In the evening we met with our friend Maria in Augustinerbrau, huge beerhalls and excellent beer. Self-service and great atmosphere, too. Completely different, but a good discovery as well, was My Indigo (pic), a rather new self-service restaurant with healthy food options (asian/vegetarian...). We met with the owner and enjoyed lunch there, which is offered by modular system: rice/noodles or some other grains served with some meat dish like curry or chili, or veggies, topped with herbs/avocado/tomatoes or similar. Also, delicious soups, sushi and cookies!

We revisited Mönchsberg and the Museum of Modern Art - the location on its own, offering a georgeous view towards the fortress, is worth the easy drive up by elevator, but they also always show interesting contemporary art exhibitions. Of course, we checked out old town around famous Getreidegasse in detail, to notice that again some of the family-owned and -operated, traditional shops shut down and new fancy chain stores opened up. Last stop in the late afternoon was Stiegl Brau, another (large) brewery in town. They offer great tours, have a new multimedia show and a museum. Strangely, like last time, we met a Swiss couple - again, from Zurich, again, working for public transportation. We shared a table after the tour for the free beer tasting, chatted and drank some beers and took the bus back into town together without even knowing each others names.

"Craft beer" is becoming a bigger deal, here in Salzburg, but not only . Stiegl and other breweries are producing craft beers in small quantities and a new "Bottle Shop" opened, selling craft/micro brews from all over the world. Amazing, how fast a wave from the U.S. hit Europe...

Because of the gorgeously blue skies we decided to take the lift to the fortress in the morning of our departure day. Bought some provisions on the market then before looking for a train back home. One only every two hours now (instead of hourly), due to the newly introduced border controls and the refugee registration/camps in Salzburg and Freilassing. It's become tricky for commuters (and visitors) to easily get into and, esp. out of Austria. Had to change trains in Freilassing, which was a pure chicanery since no passport controls took place at all. Politicians probably never take trains...

View of Domplatz with Balkenhohl's famous sculpture and nearby St. Peter's Cemetery:



View towards the fortress 1. from Makartsteg, famous for its "love locks" and 2. from Schloss Mirabell

OKTOBERFEST

The Oktoberfest in Munich is the largest fair worldwide. More than six million visitors in two weeks either get drunk and/or have fun with rides and other attractions on the "Wiesn". 16 beer tents are set up and six Munich breweries serve a special Octoberfest brew – very smooth and with elevated alcohol content – in 1-liter glass mugs (rarely steins anymore) for horrendous money: over 10 Euro for about a quarter gallon of beer! Mugs are never completely filled up anyway and everybody is giving an additional tipp. Nevertheless, consumption is enormous and money is rolling in. Tents are packed almost all the time and the later it gets, the more people dance on tables, sing loudly, get drunk and weird and crazy.



The "Olde Wiesn" is part of the whole area, so to say, a reconstructed historic section of the original beer fest – which BTW originates in the wedding celebration of King Ludwig with Therese in 1810. There are historic rides, old-fashioned boothes and vendors and only two beer tents with traditional Oompah bands (instead of mainstream modern pop songs to sing along) and traditional dancers attract local Bavarians rather than foreigners, and, middle aged people rather than young ones. There is an additional small entrance fee to the area, but it's worth the money: more authentic and less crowded.

We had a business appointment in Munich last week and since the meeting took place closeby the fairgrounds, we decided to give it another shot. We had experienced the Oktoberfest twice in the last three years: Once, in 2012, we came with American friends for the main parade on sunday and afterwards it was just pushing and shoving and we had no chance to find seats or get a beer in one of the tents. Two years ago then, we came for the (smaller) parade of the tent owners and breweries on Saturday, the opening day: No chance to walk the grounds or get a beer. This time it was rather comfortable, but it was a weekday afternoon and the weather wasn't too inviting. Therefore, we enjoyed our little excursion thoroughly, drank a "Mass" beer, listened to Bavarian music, ate roasted almonds and attended a show in the old Motodrom, where adventurous bikers on historic Indians drive suicidally in circles on straight vertical wooden walls.



Pics show different rides, beer tents and are supposed to give an idea of this huge beer festival, which became a beloved part of Bavarian history and tradition.