Austria Day 1: Zell Am See

Background

We drove to Zell Am See, about an hour and a half south from Salzburg. This picturesque lake side (see side) town was pretty, quaint, and very scenic. It served as a starting point for two of the major things we wanted to touch in Austria.

We had given up the car in Munich and decided to take a train, about 2 hours east to Salzburg. Where we would pick up another car for the drive to Zell Am See.

This meant that Salzburg was focal point.

Introduction to Salzburg

Salzburg is not the capital of Austria. Vienna is. (Also, not the capital of Australia, which would be Canberra…)

No, Salzburg is in Austria, the European country that borders Germany and is known for Alpine mountains and, wait for it… music. We shall get to that in a bit! (Note of warning: There may be some disappointments in store…)

NOTE: We did get into it. See Day 5 and Day 6

Also, sweets and desserts, mostly because of that, … you know, that musician chappie.

Arrival

Our arrival in Salzburg was exasperated, yeah, not expedited, by the German Railway System, DeutscheBahn, an abysmal network of sporadic and frustrating train service that finally gave up the lie on Teutonic Efficiency. Something I had heard so much about lay shattered, and it destroyed my belief system in culture and legends, adding to the healthy (or not) cynicism that I am already full of!

We walked from our hotel in Munich Zentrum to München Hbf Holzkirchner Flügelbahnhof, aka Munich Central station. This was a simple 11 minute walk with a backpack and carry-on roller for each of us. We arrived at the platform and  we got on and found nobody else on the train. We were just about to settle in when a conductor came down the aisle.

“This is the train to Salzburg, right?”

“Ja, but not the right coach, this half of the train will not be going all the way to Salzburg. You need to get to the other half of this train.”

We thanked with a Danke Schon (and not merci beaucoup… which is usually my default setting) and found the correct coach in the correct half of the train.

The Train from Munchen to Salzburg

And so we left, more or less on time. Hurrah for DeutscheBahn (DB)!

The train slid along in the rain, a gentle downpour, not like the torrential stuff happening way down south from whence we had come, which had caused flooding, cancellations and general chaos to add to DB’s self-created chaos.

Everything was fairly easy, it seemed our journey, oozed along until!

Dramatic minor chords, thudding drums and a hollow voice over the PA system!

“This train will not be going all the way to Salzburg, but will terminate at <doesn’t matter now where>. Passengers bound for Salzburg should get off and walk over the Platform 93 and the train there will take you to Salzburg”

(It may have been Platform 95, they do have weird Platform numbers in Deutschland… remind me!)

We looked at each other and said “DeutscheBahn strikes again!”

We hauled ourselves over out of the station, out on the street, turned to our left and followed the other people to a new platform in a different station next door. From there, we got a train that got us to Salzburg.

We hauled ourselves out into the street, and started walking to the Europcar rental office down the street, stopping once to check progress and shelter from a sudden increase in rainfall.

Europcar was efficent, friendly and a far cry from the sullen Hertz guy in Heidelberg, who we found out later gypped us out of an additional fee…

We loaded up our luggage and drove down to Zell Am See.

The Drive to Zell Am See

The drive was interesting.

At one point, the GPS directed us to a traffic circle and insisted we should take a road, a road which had a sign that said “Road Closed”. 

We drove around the circle a few times (“look kids, Big Ben!) as we um debated a course of action. Then we drove backwards a bit to a town and asked a local for directions. (Yeah, I know!)

Finally, we arrived in a town. Right in front of our hotel, as we turned left, was an Arabian restaurant. Restaurant Al Khalij.

Once we checked in and went for a walk, we saw many other Arabian restaurants.

And lots of Arabian people…

The town was full of them. Out near the See (lake), was a casino, with gold everywhere. Arabian people, drove by in expensive cars, dressed as per Arabian norm, and the general air was one of expense and Arabia. 

We were left a little puzzled.

We walked along the shoreline, to see the See. See below, looking rather ominous or mysterious.

Then stopped for a nice dinner, with a live band playing old rock classics. We sat out on the patio, the heaters helping us stay warm.

Then we walked back to the hotel and called it a day.

Tomorrow, we would do one of the two things that had made us come to Zell Am See, about 1.5 hours by road, south of Salzburg.

Come back and check that out! (When I get around to posting that!)