Austria: Salzburg

Salzburg, Austria: view of the old city with the hohensalzburg fortress at the top
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Following the World Cup is a tough act to follow, but Salzburg was absolutely a worthy city.  I arrived at the YoHo hostel in Salzburg mid-afternoon, after a wonderful two hour train ride through the mountains.  Salzburg is quite the small city, and you can walk through the historic parts of town easily.

The city is the birthplace of Mozart and the setting for The Sound of Music.  Tours that follow the scenes in the movie are everywhere, but I resisted considering I've never seen the movie (I know..I'll see it someday).  The skyline is dominated by the magnificent Hohensalzburg Fortress (most will know this castle from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - "Castle Grundewald").

Birthplace of Mozart, Residence of Maria von Trapp

Salzburg, Austria: alley
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The short, steep walk to the fortress provided scenic views of the numerous steeples and towers of the old town, all very beautiful.  The fortress itself was nice, although I mainly wandered around the walls for the views and stayed away from most of the exhibits (aside from a sweet exhibit on Marionette Puppets!).

In the old town's main square the city set up a massive "stadium" with a three-story high video screen and about 1,000 seats to watch the World Cup games.  And Austria isn't even in the tournament!  This is where I watched the U.S. bow out to Ghana - not an enjoyable experience.  As a matter of fact, outside of any B.C. sporting events, this was the worst I've felt about a team in a long, long, long time.

Salzburg, Austria: mozart's birthplace
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I really wanted to see the U.S. go farther in the tournament, just so the rest of the world would get upset.  Instead, I watched as lots of people in the stadium cheered on Ghana at the end, thrilled that the U.S. would be eliminated.

It was actually quite ironic that there were virtually no American fans at the stadium, as I saw more American tourists in Salzburg that in any other city I've been in during the last two years.  They were everywhere, mainly older Americans that were part of tour groups.  I guess it shows how much America really cares about soccer.

Salzburg, Austria: quiet spot inside the hohensalzburg fortess
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Oh well, Viva Portugal!