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Published: October 14th 2009
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Day 6 (Thursday, September 24, 2009)
We decided to do something different for breakfast this morning. We had already eaten at Café Wernbach for lunch and dinner a few times, so why not give breakfast a shot? On our way there we ran into the farmer’s market in front of Mirabell Palace! What a pleasant surprise! We browsed a bit and then headed to breakfast. Of course my mom’s good friend, the nameless waiter, was waiting for us. Haha! The food was delicious as always. We sat outside of course but it was a little noisy. There were all these tractors and big trucks passing through the street. I wondered what was going on. We headed back to the hotel to get our cameras for the next tour and then made our way back to the farmer’s market. It was sooo great! All kinds of fresh meats, cheeses, bread, pastries, produce, knodel, juices, flowers, etc. So much goodness! I was very excited to hear that it occurs EVERY THURSDAY! I know where I will be on Thursdays. It turns out all those trucks were stopping in the street in front of the farmer’s market and Mirabell Palace. There were so
many trucks with hay and those painted cows you see around the city. They filled the street for a length of a few blocks and shut down the street. It turns out it was the European Milk Board, or something like that, and I guess they were on strike. There were all sorts of signs but I could not read them since they were in German. A guy got on one of the trucks with a microphone and starting talking but I did’t really know what was going on. It caused a lot of chaos since a main road was shut down.
It came time for our tour but since the road was closed we had to walk a few blocks to meet the van. We ended up having the same tour guide as the day before! We were going on the Mozart tour but it ended up not being what we expected. We were a little disappointed but we still got to see some nice areas. Our tour ended at Mozart’s house and our ticket included admission to the museum. We got to see letters, manuscripts, instruments, etc. from Mozart and Haydn. It was very interesting. Afterwards, we
walked across the river to see Mozart’s birthplace. We didn’t go into the museum this time but I will definitely have to do that while I’m here.
Today was St. Rupert Day, patron saint of Salzburg. All of the kids had off from school and it was the first day of the St. Rupert Festival in Old Town. We decided to check out the festival after Mozart’s birthplace. This is where I had my first grill bosna! Oh it was so good! It is two pieces of sausage served in a bun with mustard, onions, and curry spices. Mom and dad got something else but once they tried mine they had to get one too. While we ate we watched a demonstration of Austrian wrestling. It is actually very similar to wrestling practiced in the states but it was still cool to watch.
When we were done eating we headed to the Cathedral (Dom zu Salzburg). Cathedrals here are out of this world. I cannot believe how beautiful they are! The architecture is amazing! The cathedral was dedicated to St. Rupert and it is also where Mozart was baptized. The baptismal font is located near the entrance of
the church to the left. Some of Mozart’s compositions were written for the Cathedral and he even premiered some of his works here. There are 5 organs, the main one with 4,000 pipes, and 4 smaller ones, one of them named “Mozart’s Organ”. The big green dome, which can be seen from throughout Salzburg, was bombed in WWII but was later reconstructed There is a painting of the Holy Spirit as a dove in the center of it.
After the Cathedral we walked around the festival a little more and wandered into the big tent. It was filled with tables with people eating and drinking beer. There was also a band playing folk tunes. My mom and I had wandered away to take some pictures when I heard my dad calling me. I went back to him and who was with him??? It was the nameless waiter! He had recognized my dad and called his attention. He asked my dad where my mom was. Haha! I hurried to get her so she could say hi. We talked to him for a few minutes before we were on our way. Haha I can’t believe we ran into him! That was
the funniest coincidence!
We decided to head to the Hohensalzburg Fortress next. Many will also recognize it from the Sound of Music. We took the funicular to the top, which took less than a minute. I heard that it makes for a nice little hike to the top so I might have to do that sometime. We thought we had a nice view of the city from the Modern Art Museum the other night, but that was nothing compared to this view! Of course we couldn’t miss an opportunity for some great pictures. We walked around the fortress for a while and then we continued with the audio guide tour. We also got to see models of the different stages of the fortress. Each archbishop added onto the fortress until it became what it is today. We saw the cannons, torture chambers, St. George’s Chapel, the organ called the “Salzburger Stier” and other things. The fortress is now also home to the Marionette Museum/Theatre (that was creepy). You can also enjoy a Dinner Concert of Mozart’s music at the top of the Fortress. We took the funicular back down and walked through St. Peter’s Cemetery and Catacombs at the
foot of the fortress. We heard some music coming from the festival so we headed back that way. We ended up losing mom on the way. Oops! It turns out she had stopped to take some pictures and lost track of us. Since she couldn’t find us she went into the beautiful St. Peter’s church for some more pictures. We reunited and headed back to the festival to listen to the music. The group was wearing traditional dress and playing folk tunes. It was fun to listen to. It was really neat to see so many people dressed in traditional dresses and lederhosen!
After the festival we headed back to my place to get some things done and then we had dinner. I forget what we ate but I’m sure it was good. I don't think we will get a bad meal here.
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