Scenic Salzburg Weekend

The adventures continue! I got to leave Hungary for the first time since being here and traveled to Salzburg, Austria! Fun fact: the Sound of Music was filmed here, and I got to see the gardens that were used in multiple scenes of the movie! To say this weekend felt like a movie was a complete understatement!

Shayar, Eashan, and I traveled by train to Salzburg and only took us 5 hours! Being able to take a train and be in a different country in the same day is honestly the best part about being in Europe. I was shown just how accessible travel is in Europe. Austria is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and I got to see the hills in the Austrian countryside and my happiness could not be contained.

We started the weekend off with a Friday night dinner/drink at a rooftop bar and saw the city of Salzburg from above, which was very cool! Shayar and I then went to walk along the river, which was gorgeous and so peaceful, and it was the break I needed from the hustle and bustle of classes. The next day, Eashan went to Munich for Oktoberfest (which I went to this past weekend, vlog is coming soon on that) so Shayar and I started the day early to see all the sights!

We went to Mirabell Palace and Gardens first, and it was STUNNING OMG! We managed to go there when it wasn't raining, so the pictures turned out amazing and we weren't miserable walking around! I felt like a total princess and Shayar and I couldn't stop saying how lucky we were to be there enjoying this beautiful scenery!

We then went to Mozart's Birthplace and I geeked out SO HARD! Getting to see Mozart's childhood violin was absolutely amazing and being able to see some of his first handwritten scores made me so giddy. I also picked up a music box of Eine kleine Nachtmusik and alcohol that was in a violin shaped bottle, scroll and all!! Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience I won't forget.

We then got to see the Fortress which overlooks the entire town of Salzburg and you can also see all of the hills from there. And what a fortress it is. We went to the top of the watch tower and got to appreciate the scenery to its fullest - complete with Shayar twirling me to make me feel like a princess :) There was so much to do at the fortress and we ended up being there for a couple hours. It was freezing and raining so not the ideal weather but we made it work!

After dinner at a really cute pub, we got some rest and got ready to take on Sunday with Eashan back from Munich!! We actually got to go to the hills and walk in them and appreciate the beauty that inspired the Sound of Music! The hills were indeed alive with beauty! It was again freezing and raining and windy so it wasn't the most enjoyable but the clouds finally cleared and we could get a panoramic view of the city and it was a fantastic way to end the trip!

This weekend made me really grateful for being here in Europe, and getting this opportunity to be so carefree and enjoy life is really refreshing. I am incredibly lucky to have someone like Shayar to travel with and experience all of these places with! The entire weekend we couldn't believe how lucky we were and how this was our life right now. I think the video can clearly show I was genuinely the happiest I've been in a while on this trip :)

I also created a gallery for photos for those who don't follow me on Instagram to see, so I will continue to populate that in the next couple days, so be on the lookout for that! Give me some time, I am mentally and physically and emotionally recovering from Oktoberfest!

xoxo, Mackenzie