Friday, May 5, 2023

We had bought our train tickets to Salzburg in advance because the website said the first leg of our trip was going to be crowded, so we decided to reserve seats. We got on the train quickly but soon found out we had boarded at the wrong end, as it was two trains connected together and there was no way to get to the other side without getting off. We walked down the train cars as far as we could, looking for empty seats, but there were not even two together that we could find. We ended up sitting inbetween train cars on the floor until the first stop, where we got off and immediately found our actual train car and seats. We got off in Munich, where we stopped for lunch at Augustiner-Keller. Then we boarded another train to Salzburg. Our train car was the family car and first that we came to, thankfully!

We quickly found our hotel upon arrival, the Imlauer Hotel Pitter Salzburg. We were surprised here by a free upgrade to a family room, which had a separate bedroom for LS. This was definitely our roomiest accommodation of the trip. I also enjoyed that this hotel gave out free bottles of water at the front desk.

We dropped our bags and then headed over to Mirabellplatz, where LS promptly found the playground. She played for a bit until she skinned up her right knee on a slide that went a wee bit faster than she was expecting and didn’t land properly.

We ate dinner at Pitter Keller in the hotel. They had a kids’ menu, and LS chose the pasta with sauce on the side. She ended up trying the sauce and liked it, so this ended up being one of her favorite meals besides pizza.

Saturday, May 6, 2023

The next morning we headed to Cafe Bazar for breakfast, which was amazing. I had a croissant with a latte, and Mr. Strange chose the eggs and bacon. LS wasn’t sure about the options, so we ordered a few things, but she ended up loving the croissant with Nutella. The people watching here was also amazing.

After breakfast, we headed across the bridge into the old town and up to the fortress. We took the funicular up and spent our morning exploring.

We grabbed some hot dogs and doughnuts from a stand in the Kapitelplatz for lunch and then meandered our way back just in time to catch the 4pm show at the Marionette Theatre for “The Little Prince”. This was an hour long puppet show in German, although the showed explanations in English on the side walls. I think I either misread when I bought the tickets or the explanation was backwards, but I thought I had read that English-speakers should sit in the first three rows to see the explanations better. So I bought tickets in the front row. However, I think that it should have been, DO NOT buy tickets in the first three rows because you will have to turn around backwards to read.

I had been unsure how LS would tolerate watching a puppet show that she could not understand, but she did remarkably well, only becoming a little restless in the last 5-10 minutes.

For dinner, we went the Fidelen Affen. I had the kasknocken, Mr. Strange ordered the steak, and LS got…a pretzel. Sadly, no kids menu here, and despite my attempts to get her to try some of mine (I mean, it’s basically mac & cheese, right?), she opted for just the pretzel. The food was delicious, however.