Scenic Drive Into Salzburg

We got up early, met our group for an insanely good breakfast (far better than anything I’ve had at hotels in the USA), and departed Munich on the road to Salzburg. The highway was so scenic as we got out of the city and onto the autobahn. Seeing the Alps, first at a distance, then getting closer, was unreal. We skirted around Salzburg to visit Trumer Brewing, who also operates a location in Berkley, California. We got a full brewery tour of the facility and got to taste their crispy flagship pilsner in a tasting room with ceiling to floor glass walls overlooking the expansive landscape. They also make a sweet and hoppy syrup called d’Hoferin Hopfensirup. Just pour some in a glass, add a little water and your have a surprisingly refreshing beverage. Unexpectedly yummy! During their downtime during the pandemic, the owner also had ideas of making an organic biomilk from barley, similar to oatmilk. It was also surprisingly good!

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Then we journeyed into a more rural town at the base of the alps called Kuchl. We visited Maria and Nikki Rettenbacher at their dairy and cheese farm, Bio Hofkaserai Furstenhof. Only twenty acres, yet so much impact! Organic milk, different types of cheese, soaps and cosmetic items were among their many offerings. Flavored yogurts, jams, jellies, and more! The farm has a small inn that they closed in 2020. Today, it houses interns that come for two weeks to two months to learn the farming trades and work about four hours a day. So for a budget friendly Austrian vacation idea, you can come work on a farm four hours a day and stay for free!

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We checked into an adorable hotel in Salzburg. It’s quite common for hotels here to not have air conditioning, but as my luck would have it, Salzburg was having a record breaking heat wave while we visited. But temps aside, our guide Anja knew we had purchased trachten in Munich, so she insisted we wear them this evening. We did a brief walking tour of Salzburg and had a nice dinner with the group. We had wienerschnitzel, a thin pork cutlet breaded and fried, served with a squeeze of lemon. After dinner, we wandered the neighborhood, found a schnapps shop, tried a few varieties and called it a night.