2024 Weekend in Salzburg

 Anif, Austria

Thursday

View from Mark‘s Apartment

Direct from Denver to Frankfurt

Salzburg was not on the travel agenda this summer…until Mark was offered a position with Red Bull Enterprises there in April. They moved to a corporate apartment in late May and found a permanent apartment in July. Perfect timing for us, we had a trip planned to Nice, France for a cycling tour. We changed the outbound flights and gladly accepted accommodation in the extra bedroom at Mark and Lindsey‘s place. 

All our bags made it to Salzburg

We are able to change our flights on United with out any snags, but had to add a second stop since Salzburg is a small town with a small airport. So we routed through Denver and Frankfurt to get there, and happily all our bags arrived too!

It was near the end of Marks workday on Thursday when we arrived and he picked us up at the airport and took us to his apartment in the village of Anif. After we settled in we headed across the street for dinner at a great beer garden.

Friday

Friday morning we gathered around the dining table for an Austrian breakfast of fresh bread (from the bakery next door) cheese, salami, and liverwurst! Our plan was to take the bus (the stop right across the street) downtown and tour Salzburg.

First stop was the shopping district and we stopped into the Red Bull team shop. It was packed!

We had some rain earlier in the day and Riley had on his rain pants since the playground was wet!

Papa and Mema are very happy, but perhaps a bit jet-lagged from the previous travel day.

We had a great lunch at Mark and Lindsey‘s favorite beer garden near the river. In addition to an ample supply of the frothy brew, there was a ‘food court’ with all kinds of local favorites.

We walked back along the Salzach River. We will visit the Salzburg castle tomorrow!

Saturday

Hellbrunner Allee

I put the bikes together on Friday while Mark was at the office and early on Saturday morning we headed out for a bike ride. I found a route that looked interesting, and it included some roads that Mark uses to ride to work so we headed right out.

There was some heavy climbing and we realized that we would not be able to complete the loop in the allotted time on our respective kitchen passes, so we turned around about an hour into the ride and headed back.

The Red Bull Base where Mark works. It is an WWI era military base that has been converted into an office complex. It is about a 10 minute bike ride from his apartment.

Great bike paths and even better views in Salzburg.

Around every bend the mountain views are awesome. The Salzach river is normally very clear, but the recent rains have washed large amounts of sediment into the river. 

One moment you are riding through a residential area, then suddenly a corn field!

We returned to the apartment after a wonderful 90 minute bike tour to clean up and have another Austrian breakfast.

Next stop was the Hellbrunner Zoo. It was walking distance from Mark’s place and a fanstastic local zoo. We purchased Salzburg Passes for the day which gave us entrance to the Zoo, the Castle and an all day bus pass!

View from the Castle

After touring the Castle we headed back to the market area and had a great lunch selected from a number of different vendors and sat in the old square. While rain was in the forecast it never materialized!

When we were headed back, we saw a coffee shop with some tables in the shade near a lovely fountain. We decided to make one more stop before getting on the bus for the ride back to Anif.

Sunday

First stop; the local parish for Sunday Mass. We arrived 10 minutes early to an empty church, it was nearly full at Mass Time. 

Then we headed back into Salzburg on the bikes. Mark on his new Gravel/Commuter bike, Lindsey on her city bike, Deb on her Calfee, and yours truly on my Calfee with Riley and Wyatt in tow in the side-by-side Thule trailer.

We stopped for lunch in the shade along the Salzach River. Everyone enjoyed Döner and fries from one the kids’ favorite places.

After lunch we headed to Hanger 7 at the Salzburg airport. It was full of Red Bull aircraft and motor sport  vehicles from F1 to motocross and everything in between! It was quite warm in the the greenhouse-like hanger, so we had an ice-cream before heading home!

Back on the Hellbrunner Allee heading home

We made a run to the Maxie Mart (think WalMart and Whole Foods had a baby) for fresh veggies and a selection of bratwurst. The grill is in the back yard next to a mountain stream. The water is ice cold and running from the mountains…our beers were chilling in it!

Apartment ‘Building’

The kids found this great place in Anif. Its three floors, their apartment takes up the top floor, another family with a middle school aged son on the second floor, and the ground floor is a Doctor’s office! The apartments share the lovely backyard and the cellar/bike barn underneath! 

Monday

Gaisberg

Panarama view

Back in Salzberg

Mark headed to work and I decided to complete the climb up to Gaisbert that we started on Saturday. It was only a 20 mile loop, but had 3000 feet of climbing with grades up to 15%! It took an hour and 45 minutes to reach the top, and only 15 minutes to get back down! As I was racing through Hellbrunner Allee Debby called me on my cell. I had just passed them at the playground! I quickly turned around and found them near the sandbox!

Wyatt votes yes for extra play time!

Packed up and ready to head home for lunch

It was lunchtime so Debby and Lindsey headed back to the apartment. I let them get a 20 minute head start and stayed with the boys for some extra play time. The Thule trailer converts easily from stroller to trailer, so I removed the wheel and hitched it to the Calfee, and we were at Mark’s house within 10 minutes!

After lunch, Debby and Lindsey were headed to the Mall in Salzburg,  so I packed up the boys and headed back to the park, and the ‘splash pad’ near the playground. It’s actually a fountain with a walk-in ramp. The water is fresh stream water from the mountains, crystal clear and quite cold. When we arrived we had the whole thing to ourselves. By the time we left, a half-dozen families with kids off all ages had joined the party.

Wyatt was not sure about heading into the fountain

He had more fun sitting on the edge with Papa

Riley had no hesitation…

… jumping in!

Time to head back!

After 2+ hours of playground and splash pad time, we headed back. Mark picked up more Döner and Fries and we enjoyed dinner at their house. We watched the Iron Man movie and called it a day.

Tuesday morning Mark headed off to work, I packed up the bikes, and Debby and I caught an Uber to the airport to head to Nice France for the conclusion of the Tour de France and the start of our Corsica Cycling Cruise. WHAT A WEEKEND!

Hope you enjoyed it, because we sure did!

End of a great weekend