Climbing Mountains (kind of)

View from the top of the Lookout Tower

When we left for this trip a few weeks ago I did not anticipate having to hike, yet I’ve done so twice.  In Prague we went up to the Petřín Lookout Tower, which our tour guide called “The Eiffel Tower of Prague.” There was a tram that took people to the top and we chose to walk up the hill that led to the tower, and then we walked up the 299 steps to the top of the lookout. Needless to say, it was a pretty good workout. The view from the top was incredible, and well worth the climb. When we did our tour of Prague our guide said that the tower was built on a hill, and that while the lookout is much shorter than the Eiffel Tower, the tops of each tower have roughly the same elevation because the lookout tower was built on a hill.

Here you can see the fortress in the top right of the photo in the back

Just the other day our class walked up a mountain to the Hohensalzburg Fortress where we got a very interesting tour. Our guide took us to places inside the fortress where most people are not allowed. We got to see a very creepy wine cellar, the kitchen, and views of Salzburg that are hard to find anywhere else. One of my favorite parts of the guided tour was when our guide told us about how hard it would have been to break in, including several gates, archers, fire, and even boiling oil if someone got close enough. He told us that he has thought of several ways that people could attempt to take over the fortress, and he couldn’t think of one good way. One of the most interesting parts of the tour was when our guide told us about a tower that could only be accessed by leaning out of a walkway that was pretty high off the ground to grab a ladder that was on the side of the tower. This tower held fine herbs and poisons that were valuable. We learned that when anything was needed from inside the tower, two guards that did not get along with each other were sent to the tower together, so if one tried to steal the other would get them in trouble. 

Another view of the fortress

One of the viewpoints we got to go to had a roof that was built in the 1700s, while the fortress was built in the 11^th century. The date was etched into one of the wooden beams, and another date from the 1800s was etched into a separate wooden beam to mark when they updated the roof. This viewpoint was one that is not typically open to the public, and it was amazing. I could even see the Abbey where they filmed parts of The Sound of Music, including “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria.” All in all, while I did not expect to go hiking on this trip, the views were so incredible that I will be climbing up more hills, towers, and mountains the next time I am here.