Friday, 24 August, 2012
I strode out the apartment door on a mission. I had some Salzburg sights to see, and I was getting a late start from sleeping so late. It was time to catch the bus, hop out at the city center, and get this day off the ground.
Then I looked to the stretch of farmland to my right, and moody clouds, leftovers from the storm the night before, brushing the peaks of the Alps. Thoughts of the bus flew from my head, and I just started walking toward the open land.
The roads around here are twisty, and I ended up winding my way through several small villages, in between walking the open road and gaping at the tapestry of mountains spread out before me. I said hello to cows and skirted the edges of cornfields and watched as the mountains unveiled their beauty to me with each little turn I took.
The Alps around Salzburg are different from any mountains I have ever seen. I’m used to the Smokies, massive rolling hills cloaked in green; the Rockies, bones carved from the earth, jutting up in impossible peaks; the Cascades, evergreen at the bottom, bare snowy tips.
The Alps here are a mix of everything. Looking at one mountain is an adventure for the eyes. They are covered in patches of texture with no pattern to them: water-splash shapes of trees, swatches of green meadows, rills of bare rock, cliffs of all angles. Their silhouettes are unique, jagged as the line of a seismograph. One day, I hope to return and do some hiking in them for real, but you never know where life will take you.
I wandered the country roads for well over an hour, and by that time, I was close enough to Salzburg that I realized I might as well hoof it. Waste money on a bus when could just walk? I should say not!
Of course, without a map of the outlying areas, I got pretty lost. That’s hard to do when there are so many huge landmarks (mountains, castle on the mountains...). But I excel at getting lost. Still, it was little more than an hour before I found myself against the river, which oriented me to everything else, and, after a brief salad break at My Indigo, I ended up at the huge fountain in the courtyard next to the Salzburg Cathedral. Here I indulged in reading again, finishing The Secret Garden. I will now forever associate that book with Salzburg.
What next? More hiking, of course! Georgi had told me about a view that I couldn’t miss, pointing it out on the map. As I climbed the paving-stone streets toward the ridge of the mountain that supports the castle, I realized that I wasn’t out of breath as I was two days previous. Maybe I’m getting used to climbing mountains. But how can I keep up this skill when I’m back in Missouri?
I retraced a bit of my trail from two days ago, but diverged at a place that I hadn’t realized was a hiking path. This led me to the view that Georgi had told me about. I thought I had seen amazing views before. This was all the amazing views put together. I was so delighted I felt like laughing aloud, so I did.
Oddly enough, it was staring at Salzburg through a viewfinder that made me realize that it is a fairy-tale city. Seriously, this is the city you put in a movie, with the nice white buildings and all the church spires and the simple but majestic castle perched on the very top of the mountain. Somebody should make a movie about the city! And call it “The Music of Sound,” or something like that.
I spent the rest of my day wandering, as I am apt to do. I explored the walking path that runs by the river, which was milky brown from yesterday’s rain. I visited the Hauptbahnhof and bought my ticket to France for tomorrow. I said a little farewell to the Mirabell Gardens, and nodded my goodbye to the city center.
My time in Salzburg is drawing to a close. Anybody could spend a lifetime here, getting to know every detail of its beauty, but I’m happy that I’ve had three days. Tomorrow I’m going on to France, where a new adventure awaits. Auf Wiederhesen, Salzburg!
~~~
No comments:
Post a Comment