Salzburg & Munich

Last weekend, we traveled to Salzburg, Austria, and Munich, Germany. We left Friday morning at 8:00am and arrived at our hostel in Salzburg around 11. We took a tour of the city for a couple hours and then ate lunch at the Sternbrau, a cute restaurant that had indoor and outdoor seating. After lunch, we had free time for the rest of the night, so we just walked around the city, looked in the little shops and ate ice cream :). Around 6 or so, we started to make our way to the Augustiner for dinner, "the happenin' place" according to Fr. Brad. It was outside of the actual city, so we took pictures on our way with Salzburg as the background (shown here).

The Augustiner used to be an old monastery (started by St. Augustine I'm assuming), and apparently they brewed beer. Therefore, the Augustiner is still known for it's beer, and there's a whole traditional process that you go through to get it. You have to get a ticket after you choose either .5L or 1L, get your mug, go to the fountain and wash it out, then take it to a guy who checks your ticket and fills it with awesome tasting beer! The best part is that this place is huge, and there are food windows everywhere. You can get almost anything you want, from burgers and pizza, to fish and ribs. The seating is outside, but it is still within the monastery. It's more of a courtyard I guess. We were there for a couple hours, then we headed towards this castle that sits above Salzburg.

We were told that you could hike up there to the castle, so that's what we tried to do...Unfortunately, we got up there but the doors to get closer up to the castle were closed. Instead we just looked out over all of Salzburg at night, enjoying the scenery, quietness, and beauty. Some churches and buildings were lit up from lights on the ground and it was absolutely amazing. The weather was perfect too, and it was a great ending to a great day! We got back to the hostel after stopping by some fountains and cafes, and hung out a little bit, prayed together, then went to sleep.

The next morning, Saturday, the buses left at 9 for Munich, Germany. Munich is definitely bigger than Salzburg, but still great. We had Mass in the cathedral that Pope Benedict XVI used to hold Mass at when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. It's not considered one of the most beautiful cathedrals though because it was apparently destroyed in World War II. However, I still thought it was pretty, there just weren't as many pieces of artwork and decorations. For lunch, we went to the Hofbrauhaus, Munich's equivalent of the Augustiner. This place was known also for it's beer, but unfortunately you couldn't get anything but 1L size, unless you wanted a weiss bier. To solve my problem, I just got the 1L Hofbrau Original anyways and didn't drink it all :). I figured if it was going to my only time in Munich at the Hofbrauhaus which is known for beer, I should get their original. For food we had brotwurst and pretzels mmmmm. Afterwards, we got more ice cream and had hot chocolate at a small coffee shop. My friend Chris and I were on the hunt for aviator sunglasses all day and never found any until evening right before dinner. We both bought a pair, then went to McDonald's for dinner haha. Everyone was craving cheeseburgers, and apparently so was the rest of our school. Inside, we found at least 20 other Franciscan students, and even Fr. Brad! We ate with him then got back on the buses to return to Salzburg.

When we got back to our hostel, it was only about 8:00pm, so we left again and went to a little stand and bought more brotwurst and water. The next morning, we had Mass with the Bishop. Apparently, it was a really big deal because it seemed that the whole city was going to this Mass. They had an actual orchestra playing the music and everything was in German (obviously). Some people didn't even seem to be there for the Mass, but rather for the music. We had a couple hours free time after Mass, so we got hot chocolate and coffee again before leaving.

Salzburg is by far the most beautiful city I've ever been in, and so far it is my favorite place in Austria. I'm really excited for parent's weekend when we get to go back!