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Untersberg
May. 12th, 2015 03:06 pmIt was hot today. Even at 7pm, the local street thermometer was indicating 28'C.
Having bought a 3 day Salzburg Card we were intent on making full use of it. The plan was to do Untersberg and Hellbrunn Palace. However, Untersberg filled the day; the air being so clear it was impossible not to linger on the summit and simply drink in the views. A short bus ride out of the city took us to the Untersberg cable car and an 8 minute ride had us some 1300m higher. The air was noticeably cooler, so I put my jumper on. However, that didn't last long and it was soon off again and remained in my bag for the rest of the day. Tramping up the mountain to the highest point took us over the remains of the winter's snow, but still we didn't need jumpers. The views from the top were sublime, of course. Mountains to one side, Salzburg the other. With birds circling lazily overhead and a hand-glider catching the thermals rushing back to visit Hellbrunn seemed inappropriate.
When walking, Junko prefers to go at her own pace and finds my presence a little intimidating, so I arrived at the summit first and sat on a bench relaxing in the glorious sunshine. I was chatting with a young Hong Kong woman when a man approached, held out his hand saying, "Hello Mark, how nice to see you again." It turned out that he'd been chatting with Junko who had prompted the joke. "You did look a bit like a rabbit in the headlights." Walter told me afterwards.
Our Hong Kong friend was spending a month travelling post-graduation and had started her journey in Siberia and was going on to Prague. Walter and his wife Stephanie were from Canada and also doing a grand tour. Amazingly, he was born in Kamloops, where Junko & I were married. When I mentioned my friend who lives in Battle Street, Walter's reply was, "That was my paper round route." Small world.
Junko & I had our lunch in the café at the cable car station. We sat on the terrace and watched the hand glider floated around the hill top. At one point he dropped very low and I thought he'd gone in to land, but he soon reappeared as high as ever. It is obviously a great place for riding the thermals.
We rushed back to the town, as we'd spotted a concert that would begin at 5pm. In fact, Walter and Stephanie had said they were also going there, with their son, who is studying at the Mozarteum. Sadly, although we just arrived in time, we discovered the price was a little more than we'd bargained for and didn't have enough cash with us. I hope our new friends don't think we'd snubbed them.
Having bought a 3 day Salzburg Card we were intent on making full use of it. The plan was to do Untersberg and Hellbrunn Palace. However, Untersberg filled the day; the air being so clear it was impossible not to linger on the summit and simply drink in the views. A short bus ride out of the city took us to the Untersberg cable car and an 8 minute ride had us some 1300m higher. The air was noticeably cooler, so I put my jumper on. However, that didn't last long and it was soon off again and remained in my bag for the rest of the day. Tramping up the mountain to the highest point took us over the remains of the winter's snow, but still we didn't need jumpers. The views from the top were sublime, of course. Mountains to one side, Salzburg the other. With birds circling lazily overhead and a hand-glider catching the thermals rushing back to visit Hellbrunn seemed inappropriate.
When walking, Junko prefers to go at her own pace and finds my presence a little intimidating, so I arrived at the summit first and sat on a bench relaxing in the glorious sunshine. I was chatting with a young Hong Kong woman when a man approached, held out his hand saying, "Hello Mark, how nice to see you again." It turned out that he'd been chatting with Junko who had prompted the joke. "You did look a bit like a rabbit in the headlights." Walter told me afterwards.
Our Hong Kong friend was spending a month travelling post-graduation and had started her journey in Siberia and was going on to Prague. Walter and his wife Stephanie were from Canada and also doing a grand tour. Amazingly, he was born in Kamloops, where Junko & I were married. When I mentioned my friend who lives in Battle Street, Walter's reply was, "That was my paper round route." Small world.
Junko & I had our lunch in the café at the cable car station. We sat on the terrace and watched the hand glider floated around the hill top. At one point he dropped very low and I thought he'd gone in to land, but he soon reappeared as high as ever. It is obviously a great place for riding the thermals.
We rushed back to the town, as we'd spotted a concert that would begin at 5pm. In fact, Walter and Stephanie had said they were also going there, with their son, who is studying at the Mozarteum. Sadly, although we just arrived in time, we discovered the price was a little more than we'd bargained for and didn't have enough cash with us. I hope our new friends don't think we'd snubbed them.
