Plucky Survivors See Europe Day 39: Stuttgart to Salzburg

I said goodbye to Stuttgart and hit the road toward Salzburg but had a stop to make on the way.

Just off the highway about an hour from Stuttgart is the city of Ulm, where you can find the Museum Brot und Kunst – The Bread Museum.  It’s located in a former storehouse built around 1592 in the heart of the old town part of Ulm and features art, history, and interactive learning stations all about bread.  You can learn about grains, harvests, baking, and pretty much every step of the process from field to table.  It’s interesting, albeit a little dry for my tastes. I wanted a full loaf and all I got was crumbs.

Sorry, had to be done.

The biggest disappointment is that the bakery they have on the third floor was closed but I was jonesing for some bread, so I wandered the village and found a bakery where I got a small sandwich and a more reasonable attempt at pizza bread.  They were both good, not great.  I’ll keep trying.  Bread is worth the effort.

The drive from Ulm to Salzburg is drop dead gorgeous.

It should take about two-and-a-half hours but a combination of terrible traffic, frequent construction, and a fussy PluckyMobile put it well over three.

Regarding the latter, I was in one of the areas where the road was wide open with no speed limits so I was pushing 100mph when a warning light came on saying that one of the lug nuts on the left rear wheel might be loose.  This is not something you want to hear when you are approaching warp speed.

I quickly pulled over to the nearest rest stop and looked at the tire as if that would give me some clarity on the subject.  It didn’t.  So, I hauled out the suitcases and dug around to find a lug wrench, surprising myself by actually knowing what one looks like.  Feeling butch and manly, I went to go tighten the lug nuts but the lug wrench didn’t fit.  I couldn’t tell if it was because there were covers over the bolts or what, but I eventually gave up with a flurry of invectives that caused great concern among the people parked nearby.

Some Googling told me that it’s probably not serious and that the sensors just needed to be reset.  I followed the instructions and sure enough, the warning went away and I got back on the road.

Twenty minutes later it came back on again.  I was close to Salzburg at that point so I just kept going and when I got to the hotel called Europcar.  If it was a truly serious problem, I could get help or exchange the car here in Austria, but since it isn’t, they advised me to continue on tomorrow to Munich since the car is registered in Germany and it’ll be easier to deal with.  It’s a short drive so here’s hoping the tire doesn’t fall off on the way.

The Sheraton Grand in Salzburg is quite grand, a posh hotel located right next to the famed Mirabell Gardens.  They upgraded me to a terrace room (has someone been reading my website?) and I found a welcome plate of chocolate truffles and a bucolic view outside.  I kind of want to live here.

That was reinforced by my explorations of the historic core of the city.

I started with Mirabell Palace, built in 1606, and the surrounding gardens which are stunning, especially with the mountains in the background and the fortress castle on the hill across the river.  Scenes from “The Sound of Music” where filmed here, so it’s got some Hollywood cred, too.

It’s all lovely but the best part is the Dwarf Garden, an area tucked away in a corner with playful statuary of characters that would be right at home in “Snow White.”  The story goes that 28 of them were installed in the late 1600s, but during the era of Enlightenment they were auctioned off and put in gardens across the country.  Sometime around 1919, someone realized what a big mistake that was and tried to get them all back, succeeding with the 17 that are in the garden now.

Next, I walked across the river into the historic old town at the base of the rocky cliff the fortress sits high atop.  It is beyond charming, with tiny little streets, alleys, and passageways all lined with stores and cafes.

I could’ve spent hours wandering through them but I had a destination in mind: Salzburger Wiehnachtsmuseum, or The Christmas Museum!

I’m not a huge fan of Christmas but I write about it on TV, so this felt like a natural place to go.  It’s a delightful facility that traces the history of Christmas, Santa Claus, Christmas trees, present giving, and much more alongside display of historic Christmas related objects.  Did you know, for instance, that the original version of Santa Claus had a sidekick?  Santa gave out goodies to the good boys and girls, and his devilish partner took care of the ones that were naughty, thus birthing the legend of Krampus.  Or, did you know that before Christmas trees, Christmas pyramids were quite the rage?  These three-tiered pedestals had room for Christmas-themed toys, dolls, angels, and more.

I picked up a couple of Christmas souvenirs from the store – a Santa and a snowman handmade by a local woman out of paper mache.

More wandering around the historic center ensued as I explored narrow streets and found unexpected delights.  I stumbled out into the plaza by Dom Quartier, a museum complex created out of the old Salzburg Residenz, the Salzburg Cathedral, and St. Peter’s Abbey.  Someone was in the middle of the plaza with a giant soap bubble making device, much to the delight of the children (and me!).

Then I made a providential turn down an alley and smelled what I thought might be heaven.  It was coming from Speisekammer Goldgasse, a purveyor of chimney cakes.  I ordered the classic cinnamon and it was made fresh while I waited.  It’s basically a sugar powdered donut but in a tube form.  Hot from the oven, bursting with cinnamon and sugar on perfect dough.  I may want to move here now.

More wandering, more pictures.  Salzburg is charming as hell, y’all. 

Dinner was on the agenda and when I heard about a restaurant that was famed for its Austrian fried chicken, I was in!  Barenwirt (Bear Innkeeper) looks like the kind of place that an Austrian restaurant at Disneyland would’ve been designed after.  It has roots that can be traced all the way back to 1633 when Zum Schwaren Baren (The Black Bear Inn) opened on this very spot.

How, you may be wondering, is Austrian fried chicken different than the kind we know?  It’s mainly in the preparation, prepared skinless, then breaded and pan fried and served with lemon.  To be frank, our way is better, but this was still really good – cooked to a deep golden brown and delightfully juicy.  The roasted potatoes on the side were sort of a cross between what we know as roasted and scalloped potatoes, and I ate every single bite of it. 

Tomorrow, I head back to Germany for a couple of nights in Munich, presuming PluckyMobile remains plucky enough to get me there.