Pick-A-Day

April 2011
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Salzburg Essen

Feel free to rip it off!With 3.5 days in Salzburg, eating was bound to happen.

I stayed in a 4 star hotel, but with a discount rate that did not include breakfast – so all meals were out and about.

There were several notable restaurants.

The person I was with wanted to, quite specifically, eat at St. Peter Stiftskeller. The restaurant claims to be the oldest restaurant in Central Europe, open since 803 AD. It is said that Charlemagne ate at the restaurant. Our meal was, in a word, expensive. It was also small. I think that most of what you’re paying for when eating here is the atmosphere—of which it has plenty. However the portions are, even by European standards, relatively petite. I was left wanting at the end of the meal and opted to try Grandma’s Apple Strudel for dessert – which was, even by European standards, a wee bit on the tart side. It’s not the most expensive meal I’ve ever had in my life, and the value for the money wasn’t there.

We also ate at Bärenwirt, another restaurant with history—however it opened in 1663, meaning that it’s comparatively speaking a youngster. The atmosphere was not as upscale and pretentious as St. Peter; rather it was down home and comfortable. The prices were also much more reasonable and the portions more reasonable, if not too large. I ordered the Großes Rindsgulasch mit Knödel in „Bärengröße“ — Large goulash with (kingsize) dumpling – and, trust me, the Knödel was kingsized. I was stuffed—and didn’t even consider dessert, although my travel companion did – getting the Hausgemachter Beerenstrudel mit Beerenragout und Vanillesauce (berry strudel with berries on one side and vanilla sauce on the other). I tried a tiny bite of it and found it to be much better than dessert at St. Peter Stiftskeller.

View from Republic CafeOne day, for breakfast, we went to Republic, which does quadruple duty as a café, restaurant, bar, and nightclub. The breakfast for two included generous portions of everything promised and we did not leave hungry. About the only warning I have is that if you go on Sunday, they have live music indoors – which we found to be at a comfortable volume sitting outside on Museumsplatz.

View from Café TomaselliAnother morning I enjoyed a cup of coffee and the sunshine at Café Tomaselli, located on the Alter Markt. It was a perfect venue for sitting on its wonderful balcony, watching people, and reading a book. The pricing was slightly on the high side for what it is, but given the fact that Salzburg is a tourist trap, it wasn’t that overpriced – well within a reasonable margin of error.

WC Sign at Salzburg Zoo

When it's all said and done...

Beyond that, food consisted of picking up items from Billa, one of the Austrian supermarket chains, and random other places. I was warned, and it seems pretty accurate, that Salzburg is expensive – especially compared to Berlin – but then again, Berlin is incredibly inexpensive (assuming you’re paid in Euros – the US Dollar seems to be incredibly weak right now). The best street food I had, by the way, was a “Mozart Pretzel”—a pretzel shaped, jam filled, and chocolate covered sweet that cost 2.50€—that I picked up on Universitätsplatz.

I’d go back to Salzburg just to grab one of those again.

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