As I am sitting aboard the DB Bahn ICE train from Munich to Salzburg, I get the feeling I always get when traveling to new places. The feeling of unknown and nerves but yet excitement. Most of my excitement was for the fact that I was shortly checking into the Schloss Leopoldskron. The Schloss Leopoldskron is a hotel in Salzburg now but before it holds a lot of history. The history that was most exciting to me was that it was one of the places the Sound of Music was filmed. Salzburg is known for that as a whole. The Sound of Music is my all time favorite movie & being on the grounds of it being filmed was simply magical. I was able to see some of the rooms that were an inspiration to the film sets, too. If you’re ever in Salzburg, I highly recommend this hotel. The service is one of a kind, it is in a quiet location, the rooms are charming, and the breakfast is fabulous! Unfortunately my time in Salzburg was very short, less than 24 hours, so I was unable to take the Sound of Music tour where they showed a lot more from the movie but that’s ok! I will be back!

I had the opportunity to explore the city with a woman from Innsbruck, Austria. Katerina is her name! We were both very unfamiliar with the Salzburg streets so that lead to an “adventure”. By adventure, I do mean getting “lost” on the streets. I am very good with directions, if I do say so myself, and Salzburg was very difficult to figure out. Getting “lost” in the streets is the best way to stumble upon little gems that do not show up when you may google. I do find that being one the best parts of traveling somewhere new. Now I do typically leave a city feeling confident if I go back that I can find my way around. Not Salzburg. Maybe if I would have had another day? Thankfully, I will be back and ending my trip in Austria there for a whole different experience! We’ll see about my sense of direction then. Stay tuned!

Anyways, we walked the streets and saw many different types of people and different shops. Salzburg is know for the Sound of Music, yes, but it is also the birthplace of Mozart. No big deal! The people are very proud of this and one of the biggest “attractions” is to go visit Mozart’s birthplace, which is now a museum. As my introduction to Mozart and how proud those from Salzburg are that he was born there, I was given a Mozartkugel. A Mozartkugel, is a small, round confection made of marzipan, nougat and dark chocolate. It was originally known as the “Mozartbonbon”, and was created by Salzburg confectioner Paul Fürst in 1890 and named after Mozart. These are very popular here & you can find them about anywhere in Austria, not just Salzburg.

That evening, I was also able to taste my first Austrian apple strudel. I was so excited! I was taught how to make a proper apple strudel (stretching the dough and all) in pastry school but had always wanted to taste in in Austria. It certainly lived up to my hopes! It is so tasty. Spoiler – I have the opportunity to make it in Vienna, too. What an amazing experience and I will certainly go into all those details to come, too.

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The morning I left, I work up to a blizzard! This was the same day the East Coast was experiencing Jonas and so I felt right at home. Salzburg is even more beautiful in the snow.

My time in Salzburg really did “fly” by. It is time to board the train to Vienna where my travels with take a different route. I am apart of ATB show, which is held by the Austrian tourism board. It is an event to network and build professional relationships between suppliers and buyers. It is pretty amazing to not only have people together in one room from all over the world but to interact with them, too.

Vienna – I am ready for you!

xo