For our final day on the Plus3 Program, we had the option to have a free day, to do and to see whatever we wished. Twelve students from our group, in addition to two German students, travelled to Salzburg, Austria. Many of us were looking to take today as a chance to travel to a different country while in Europe, and Austria was the closest available option – I wanted to go to Strasbourg in France, but the train journey was much longer and much more complicated. Salzburg it was.
Because we were staying within Bavaria (Salzburg is right along the German/Austrian border, and is included in Bavaria in terms of rail network), we bought the Bayern tickets, a group ticket for five people, allowing us to take any train in Bavaria for the day for about 13 Euro a person. We boarded a train in Augsburg around 7:30 in the morning, bound for Munich. Arriving an hour later, we had a 45 minute wait until the train for Salzburg left. We took this time to grab some breakfast, getting takeaways from the bakery at the end of the train station. I had a salami and käse roll, and it was the perfect snack.
The train to Salzburg was very full; there weren’t nearly enough seats to sit everyone on board. Because we got to the train later than most, the people on my Bayern ticket elected to stay on the articulation pivot of the trainset, leaning against the wall for the entire two-hour ride. It was admittedly more comfortable than just standing, though we had to move whenever anyone needed to pass by.
Once in Salzburg, we wandered the town in search of lunch. We walked for a while, stopping in plazas, palaces, and cathedrals to take pictures. We found ice cream before we found real food, so naturally we all bought a cone – EUR 1,50 for a scoop. Shortly after, we found a small doner kebab stand and ate there. I had never had kebab before, but loved it immediately.
We ate right on the sidewalk near the stand, which was next to a cafe. Someone in our group ordered a pizza and was eating it at one of the tables owned by the cafe. The place had just opened and the owner came out to clean his tables. When he saw the pizza, he came and tried to take it as a joke, and did so a few times. For being a good sport, he gave us a free energy drink and wished us well.
After lunch, we continued with our tour, setting our sights on a large castle built on a hill above the town – the Festung Hohensalzburg. The easiest way to reach the castle was to take the incline, which consisted of two separate cars on a single track, going to double track only for the cars to pass each other halfway up. The concept fascinated me because of the difference between this incline and those in Pittsburgh. It meant that the Salzburg incline required less space, allowing it to fit between the very old buildings in that part of Salzburg. The inclines in Pittsburgh are double track the entire way, meaning the cars have dedicated tracks and don’t change. This is a simpler design, but takes up more space. Otherwise, the general functionality of both systems is the same.
The Hohensalzburg stands an impressive 130 meters above the town below, and has existed since the 1100s. The fortress offers a fantastic view of Salzburg and the surrounding Alps. It was built to defend the Archbishop of Salzburg, a powerful yet vulnerable position given the political climate at the time. The fortress was expanded and modernized through the Medieval times, outfitted with smoothbore cannons and gunpowder-making areas. The fortress also received flintlock armories in its later years, following the technological advancements of the day. Hohensalzburg serves as a military museum in addition to a museum of its namesake city. You could spend an entire day at Hohensalzburg and still not see everything; we could only cover so much in the three hours we spent there.
After the fortress, we decided to start moving toward the train station. We stopped in a cafe for a slice of cake, following by another delicious Italian dinner. By now, our train departed in a hour, so we went to the station and waited for the train to arrive, then travelled back to Augsburg. It was a very busy day, but it was completely worth it. Salzburg is a beautiful city and we were able to see a lot of it in only a day. Some of us even said that a Plus3 trip should be held there; Salzburg was very comparable to Augsburg, in size, history, and attractions, and would be perfect for a study abroad trip.