We awoke around 8:00, showered and dressed, and went to the restaurant on the 15th floor. The breakfast buffet (again) was OK but nothing like what we have gotten used to. We grabbed our stuff and headed out to see the city. We stopped at the front desk to purchase a 'Salzburg Card' which would allow us to ride all public transportation and entrance to nearly all of the attractions in the city. We also got a map and an explanation of the bus routes and how to get around. She told us that the bus line 1, 5, 6, or 55 would get us to 'Altstadt' or Old City.
The bus station was also right near the hotel and we boarded the number 6 bus and began our journey. Little did we know that before reaching Old Town, it would stop at all of the places on the route in reverse, with Old City being last. As in Vienna, we saw sections of the city that we otherwise would not have seen. We finally arrived in the Old City and began our explorations. Old buildings and churches and narrow cobblestone streets; it was just like you see on TV and in the movies.
We found the fortress on the hill and headed for it. To get to the fortress you had to ride a tram up a very steep hill, at least a 60 degree slope. Our Salzburg cards were supposed to be valid for this. On the way to the tram entrance was an old cemetery. What a beautiful place. We entered the line for the tram and were told that our cards were no good because they were the ½ price 'Kinder' (children's) cards. Wanting to see it, we paid the admissions fee and rode to the top to the entrance of the fortress. Once at the top, we were told that we had purchased only the tram ride and not admission to the castle tour. We paid for passes to see the castle, becoming more and more irritated at someone's mistake back at the hotel.
The castle tour and its history of it was quite fascinating. Each tour guest was given a hand-held listening device with which they could listen to the tour information in their own language. After the tour was over I decided that we should get this Salzburg Card thing straightened out before we ran into any more problems so we caught the bus back to the hotel.
At the front desk I described our situation with the Kinder card. The hotel staff was most apologetic and couldn't believe that it had really happened. We were the victims of another trainee. I requested that my money for the cards be refunded which was done promptly. I had paid for the cards on my room but got back 230 Schillings in cash. I also discovered later that the charge had also been removed from the room so we made out quite well on that deal. I also asked to be reimbursed for the admissions costs that we incurred because the cards were no good. This request was held for review with other management and we were ultimately reimbursed 240 Schillings for admissions paid.
They did not have any more adult cards at the hotel so we had to go back across the street to the train station to get them. Now armed with our valid adult Salzburg cards, we set out again to see the city. By this time it was after 1 o'clock and we wanted lunch. We went into a café in the train station but left without ordering anything. The menu was very limited and we didn't see anything that we wanted. We started walking back toward the old city and came upon a Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza hotel and entered the restaurant there. We both ordered the club sandwich which was was quite different that what we are used to here. It had several layers but that's where the similarity ended. It had a layer of tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers, then a layer of chicken and bacon, and finally a top layer of a fried egg. It was served with French Fries and everything was quite tasty. After lunch we walked to the Old City where we browsed the shops and streets. It was getting close to 5:00 and we were trying to decide where to eat dinner. Barb had gotten information about Stieglbrauwelt, a local brewery that had tours and a restaurant. It was on the number 27 bus line so we found the bus and we were off. We toured Salzburg again but this time on a different route.
We got off the bus at the stop for Stieglbrauwelt. We were actually a bit past the place where we should have stopped so we had to ask some young men at the bus stop for directions. Only one in the group could speak English. He gave us good directions and we started walking. We found the place and discovered that it closed at 5:00pm. It was now 6:15pm so we weren't even close. We walked back to the bus stop for the #27 bus to return to the Old City. Once on the bus we discussed our options for dinner. The hotel restaurant was definitely out. Barb suggested the restaurant in the fortress, and that sounded like a good plan to me. We got off the bus and walked to the tram to the castle. This time our Salzburg cards worked like they were supposed to.
There weren't many people in the restaurant and we got right in. I ordered the stuffed veal cutlet and Barb had tortellini. As usual it was excellent. About 8:30 the hostess informed us that because of light attendance the kitchen was closing early. We sat at our table overlooking the city below and finished our meal. We walked back to the bus stop area and boarded the number 55 bus back to the Hauptbahnhof. We again found ourselves in the same part of town that we had seen earlier. Patience paid off and we were returned to the bus stop just outside the hotel. We did nothing more this evening except to update our journals and write some e-mail via the internet. The hotel offered internet access through the TV using an infrared keyboard. I had tried the first night to use it, picking up a keyboard at the front desk. I was never successful getting it to work, but tonight I had success. It was clumsy at best but it worked. I paid for 30 minutes of internet time which was enough to send some e-mail and check the status of the flight from Frankfurt to Pittsburgh. This flight had left on schedule every day this week so our concerns about getting back were diminishing.
