As the afternoon came to an end, we visited Mozart’s Birthplace, capturing some delightful photographs from the tour.
Continuing our walk, the majestic Hohensalzburg Fortress stood proudly in the mountains, providing a breath taking backdrop to the city.
At 18:30, a chauffeur named Josef from Naturhotel Forsthofgut greeted me at the Tourist Office. The scenic 90-minute drive to the hotel offered magnificent views of rivers, majestic mountains, waterfalls, and misty landscapes, setting the tone for a relaxing stay.
Upon arrival, Naturhotel Forsthofgut paid close attention to small details, making me feel genuinely welcomed. Before reaching the main reception, a heart-warming blackboard greeted each family individually. The reception area exuded a warm ambience, and the staff, dressed in traditional attire, offered refreshing handtowels, a lovely gesture.
Once settled in my room, charming surprises awaited. A personal note accompanied a traditional Gugelhupf cake, delectable with a cup of tea. The room featured amenities like a yoga mat, allowing me to stretch and unwind at my leisure or take it along for outdoor yoga in nature’s embrace.
The touchscreen phone provided easy access to the daily itinerary of activities in my preferred language. The attention to detail extended to even the hairdryer supplied in the room. As someone with long hair, I often struggle with hotel hairdryers, but the Naturhotel Forsthofgut surprised me with a Dyson hairdryer equipped with accessories in my room, spa and changing areas, making drying my hair after a swim or trip to the spa more efficient and enjoyable.
The hotel offered a variety of welcome drinks, including a delightful homemade citrus lemonade – a perfect choice for me, as I rarely drink alcohol. These thoughtful gestures made me feel included and valued.
The hotel’s restaurant was a culinary haven, boasting three five-course menus and attentive staff. Our server, Viktoria, treated me like family, ensuring a delightful dining experience. The food was exceptional, with unique presentations and a wide array of delectable flavours. On the first night, I ate:
- Fresh Salad from the delicacies market
- King Prawn Fritti (sorry no photo I tucked straight in 😂)
- French Onion Soup
- Guinea Fowl Breast with BBQ polenta, zucchini, and bacon jus
- Cherry dumplings with dark chocolate and cherry water caviar.
My first day in Salzburg was filled with excitement, knowledge, and culinary indulgence. Exploring the city’s musical heritage, experiencing the Salzburg Festival’s buzz, and enjoying the warm hospitality of Naturhotel Forsthofgut made for an unforgettable journey.
Grateful for the beautiful experiences, I eagerly looked forward to the next chapter of my Salzburg adventure, filled with captivating tours and moments. Stay tuned for more!
Thanks to Naturhotel Forsthofgut , Salzburg Tourist Office, Saalfelden Leogang Tourist Office
Lovely, Charlotte!
Thanks Holly, I’m teaching myself how to do these little videos, I wish I could figure out how to stop it ending so abruptly 🙃. I can’t believe how much we fit into our first day, I learnt so much about Mozart and his family that I didn’t know.
Best wishes
Charlotte 💕
I would love to visit this beautiful city, Charlotte! You look lovely. ❤️
Thank you John, you would love it to photograph alone, everywhere you turn there are beautiful views.
The first three photographs are 1. Mozarts hand written notes and score when he was a child, 2. outside the Mozart family home and now museum and the font that he was baptised in, babies were often baptised at just a few hours old as so many didn’t make it out of infancy, five of his siblings died.
The other photos are his first violin (child protégés are still invited to play it today), the buttons are gifts he would receive often from royalty and the children in the portraits are Mozart and his sister Maria Anna (Nannerl) who lived until 1829. The one oval picture of Mozart is meant to be the most realistic image of him.
If you look closely up the path of the hotel shot you can see me and my Mum walking to reception.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Thank you for this information, Charlotte ! Amazing. ❤️❤️❤️
What a fabulous place and great time to be had. Fun adventures, learning and great looking food. Were there boats on the pond for you to paddle around in like in the video?
Yes, but I didn’t, my Mum tried to persuade me to do some Pilates on the paddle boards as she’d watched a number of women doing that to show how balanced they were! I suggested she try it but she just laughed and said her balance on the land was challenging enough. I stuck to my yoga mat on my balcony and tried to catch a class but the timing wasn’t quite right as it clashed with a spa treatment.
Best wishes
Charlotte
A lot of women paddle board down the Rio Grande out here. It looks like fun. I’m with your mum on having a hard enough time staying balanced on land.
I think knowing her wicked sense of humour she was half hoping I’d fall off and she’d capture it on film. We had a few chuckles as I roped them in as iPhone video helpers, my Dad nearly electrocuted himself walking backwards down a mountain slope into a little low electric fence videoing me but that’s another tale, I’ll have to cut out my Mums laughter as he gets a sudden little ⚡️.
Best wishes
Charlotte
One of the many dangers of being a cameraman.
The way a hotel should be. Thanks for the description. Sounds delightful.
I couldn’t believe how lovely it was John, did you enjoy the Mozart I timed to fit the room reveal.
Best wishes
Charlotte
I certainly did. It was a great touch.
I felt pampered and I wasn’t even there! Carry on, dear Charlotte, having a beautiful experience.
Day 2 was a lot more energetic, a trip up the mountain ⛰️ and a martial arts class, I’ll try to finish the post for Wednesday but my personal Brontë Opera practice has kicked in now too.
Best wishes
Charlotte
What a fabulous hotel! The food looks and sounds delicious and the room so comfortable.
There was a second course photo missing, the king prawn fritti, it was so delicious I ate it then remembered I should have taken a photograph 😂. I was trying an artistic moving shot, like the cherry pudding one, pouring my tea and I slopped it in the saucer, then the teapot lid nearly fell off, Mum was laughing whilst videoing and the camera was shaking so we couldn’t use it. 🙄
Best wishes
Charlotte
Oh, how funny! You’ll get there, I’m sure and be an expert in no time at all xx
It’s a great place to visit! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. I was there at Christmas a few years back; an amazing experience. Through your posts, you’ve now made me think it would be nice to visit in the summer too!
It was warm on the following two days and even when it drizzled it was over quickly, it was never cold even at the top of the mountain where my Mum caught a bit of sun on her neck and shoulders. The mountain trails in summer are beautiful to see and instead of skiing people use mountain bikes and use the cable cars to transport them up to the top for either a leisurely cycle down or two more daredevil trails. I wish I’d had longer than three days there.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Looks lovely, Charlotte 🙂 Gary
It was lovely Gary, I got up quite early on day two and went for a swim in the outdoor pool before everyone else rose, it set me up lovely for an active day.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Sounds so nice! I’ve had some nice adventures lately, but of a much different sort — have hitchhiked through 9 of the 32 Mexican states so far 🙂
I’d love to visit Mexico, are you hoping to do all the other 23 States?
I will certainly add a few more when rainy season ends, but no goal to hit all 23. I do have a goal to add more countries though (17 countries hitchhiked so far) 🙂 . Mexico is wonderful. If you come this way, message me. As you can imagine, I’ve picked up a lot of ground-level intelligence with my mode of travel 🙂
Thank you I will 😊
Sounds like a wonderful first day! Mozart’s birthplace, of course, is great, but that hotel looks fabulous!
It is a family hotel and has been in the Schmuck family for five generations starting as a farm and a couple of rooms for tree fellers to what they’ve built it up to today with 102 varied size rooms, I was so impressed I walked straight back out of the room and video’d myself going back in before I put my things out 😂. Then I added the perfect Mozart 🎶 as though written for just that clip. I just need to learn how to end it less abruptly.
Best wishes
Charlotte
looking at the photos, I understand your enthusiasm! (and I understand having to practice video/music syncing…)
You can get these apps that sync music to your reel but they didn’t feature any Mozart!
How amazing – even the way the bed was laid out was imaginative.
I know like a little heart, I didn’t want to disturb it 😀.
Best wishes
Charlotte
That is the most divine hotel room Glad you are being treated as you deserve.
It was much more than I expected when I was invited to visit. I’d never been to a spa resort before. I persuaded my parents to come on a short break with me because George is over in Japan. We all want to go back.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Great day.
It was indeed, we’d got up early and our outbound flight was delayed a couple of hours due to an aircraft technical fault so I thought I wouldn’t make the tour on time but all was well as the pilot made up 15 minutes on the journey I think he must have been late for his lunch date 😜.
Best wishes
Charlotte
What an absolutely perfect day! Enjoy that luxury – soak it in!
What a fabulous experience for you!! So happy you’re having such fun…Pretty and I also went to the Mozart Museum when we visited Salzburg, but for sure we didn’t have the luxury accommodations you’re enjoying!! Onward.
What a great experience, Charlotte, and a beautiful photo of you!
What a gorgeous place!
I’ thrilled with the little videos you are taking. They say a lot about where you are.
Thank you, Charlotte!
It’s been a learning curve making the reels, I’ve done a short one in the petting zoo that was a funny morning.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Next time someone models a gown, I’m going to take some video.
Funny I never thought of that before.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Resa ❤
Its good because you can take stills off it too, it was only taken on my iphone, I found a couple of little programs you can run them through to add music, although I didn’t use one because it didn’t have enough classical music in its set list.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Sounds good! Thanks for the tip! Cheers!!