Austria (Part 8: Erl)

The whole reason for this short trip was to see Jose Carreras sing in an opera. This was his first time back on the opera stage in over 10 years, I believe, and I'd thought he was permanently retired. So when I learned that he was making a comeback for this new role, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him in an opera for the first (and probably last) time!

The opera was held in a tiny (tiny!) village in Austria. I really don't know why it was there and not, say, La Scala in Milan or the Liceu in Barcelona ("El Juez" is, after all, a Spanish opera). But, I was perfectly willing to check out Austria for a few days before the performance.

Anyhow, I had to get myself to Erl, and that entailed flying from MSP through Iceland to Munich, taking the train from Munich to Salzburg, taking the train from Salzburg to Kufstein, taking a bus from Kufstein to Erl with a stop mid-way to change buses, and then walking from the bus stop to my hotel near the opera house. (And then doing it all in reverse the morning after the opera to fly back home!)

Totally worth it. :)

Changing buses at the bus stop in some tiny village.

Not a bad view!

The bus dropped me off just down the hill from these two buildings. 

The one of the left is Erl's Passionsspielhaus.

The one on the right is the opera house.

Hotel Beim Dresch, 

about a 5 minute walk from the front door of the opera house

A public sitting area on the 2nd floor of the hotel

My room

The view from my balcony!

After arriving, I went for a walk to check out the village.

A bridge over the stream near my hotel

Stream

Walking back toward the hotel

And then after dinner, I headed to the opera house. 

:) 

Very futuristic looking building

Cold, stark interior

 

Waiting....

Blurry curtain call, front row left to right: 

Composer (far left), librettist (woman in short, black dress), 

Jose Carreras (center), soprano lead (jeans)

After the crowds had left.

It was surreal!

Austria (Part 7: Kufstein)

On Tuesday morning, I took the train from Salzburg to Kufstein, and then the bus from there to Erl. 

View from the train to Kufstein

I had a couple hours free in Kufstein, so I wandered into town, had lunch, and did a little window shopping. The train station was on the opposite side of the river from the town square, fortress, and cool restaurants. I had to cross the river to get there, and this was the view from the bridge: 

The fortress above the town and the shops to the right of the bridge

Note the "Weinhaus Auracher Lochl" directly below the fortress. 

That's where I had lunch!

The shops, apartments (?), and cafe to the left of the bridge

The backside of those same shops (note the same color scheme)

Town square straight ahead at the end of the bridge

If you turn right at the picture above, this is your view: 

Cool little street

Getting closer

The Auracher Loechl is an inn and restaurant that I'd read about before my trip.

I decided to go inside for lunch.

Inside the entry.

Go upstairs to find the restaurant.

The view of the dining room from my table

My lunch! Tiroler Grostl, described as 

"crunchy potatoes with meat and bacon, fried egg, and cabbage salad". 

I avoided the egg, and the rest was delicious!

Three charming gents on the wall outside

A little window shopping after lunch

Sadly, I didn't buy anything. 

Next: Erl!

Austria (Part 6: Maria Worth)

After lunch in Villach, we drove to Maria Worth to check out an old church and some great views!

The approach to the church. 

Note the low, angled roof in front of the church. 

That's a covered walkway.

Covered walkway at the top of the steps

The cemetery 

View from the cemetery

View of the lake beyond the church

After this, Irene and her dad drove me back to the train station in Villach, and I headed back to Salzburg.

Austria (Part 5: Villach)

On the second day of my 5-day trip, I took the train from Salzburg to Villach, a town in southern Austria quite near the Italian border. Luckily, it was the one day of my trip without rain.

The train ride provided some gorgeous views:

When I arrived in Villach, my Italian friend, Irene, and her father picked me up at the train station and spent the day showing me around this beautiful part of Europe. 

Our first stop was an old castle in the foothills overlooking the lakes: 

Castle

Amphitheater at the back of the castle

Lakes in the distance

A beautiful little farm next to the castle

(This is one of my favorite photos ever!)

After the castle, we drove town to one of the lakes to eat our picnic lunch. 

This was our view during lunch! 

After lunch, we walked part-way around the lake and enjoyed the sights and weather.

Check out those desserts!!

Mmm....

A cool building across from the bakery

Ornate roof

Town square (triangle? trapezoid?)

Coming up next: After lunch by the lake, we drove a bit further out to visit the town of Maria Worth. 

Austria (Part 4: Still More Salzburg!)

Warning: This is going to be pretty picture-heavy! Click to see larger versions of the photos.

Our tour of the Old Town continued. 

This is an old street lined with shops. 

A random restaurant

A very old church (on the right) with a very old painting (on the archway)

An old square. Notice the well-lit archway on the far left side?

In that old square, we encountered Europe's oldest restaurant

(in the center of this photo; the archway on the right is the entrance to the restaurant)

It was founded in 803AD!

We also found a 12th century bakery with really good bread baked in the original wood-fired ovens!

The streets around this bakery smelled amazing, and were very loud on account of the waterwheel that supplies some of the bakery's power. 

One of many open squares/plazas with the fortress keeping watch 

Soggy horses

A statue of Mozart in Mozartplatz.

The statue was installed in 1842 in the presence of Mozart's sons.

His wife died just a few months before the unveiling. 

Evening in the Old Town

Fortress at dusk