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Published: June 25th 2005
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Mozart slept here
A lot, probably, since it was his birthplace. Well, if I'm online from Mainz, and I am, then that's an excellent indicator that all the rest of my basic needs have been attended to (contrary to appearances, an internet café is actually
not the first basic need I satisfy upon arrival to a new city).
(Whew! Somehow I accidentally hotkeyed this computer over to the
Arabic keyboard, then had to figure out, in German, how to switch it back....)
Anyway, the morning in Salzburg was excellent. It was inevitable that once I decided to leave town early, I would think of several more things that I no longer had time to see or do (like visit the gate of Nonnburg Abbey, although it would have been a miserably hot climb even in the morning). Such is life. 😊 What I
did get to see and do, however, was both of the excellent Mozart museums, the Geburtshaus (birthplace house) and the Wohnhaus (later residence). Rick was right that the Wohnhaus was the more informative, but both are well worth visiting (I did them and liked them in chronological order). The Wohnhaus offers a free audioguide where, for example, you can hear an appropriate Mozart work that was recorded being played on the actual instrument you are looking at in the museum (a couple of pianos and organs), or you can hear a piece composed for the patron whose portrait you are viewing, or you can hear whatever original score document you're looking at. Making the music central to a Mozart museum experience is obvious and great. It worked out nicely for my abbreviated schedule that the Wohnhaus focuses pretty much on Mozart's family life and career in Salzburg, which effectively ended upon the death of his mother. His adult career was almost entirely elsewhere and is not covered in depth. I was OK with that.
I'm very sanguine about my decision to catch a day train. I
like day trains, to the point of being plain blissed out to be plugged into my iPod, reading an excellent new book, and looking out over the German countryside, which was gorgeous. I had plenty of room in my compartment... 2 friendly fellow travelers from Salzburg to München, then one big, quiet guy with a really big suitcase who sat at the door and by existing, dissuaded anyone else from trying to join us, all the way from München to Stuttgart, then totally to myself the rest of the way to Mainz. I was a little anxious after Stuttgart when I realized I had given the hotel the wrong check-in time
and we were running half an hour late; I wasn't sure how long they'd hold my room. However, I'm here, and I've got my room (in a soulless but comfy hotel chain near the train station), so all is well.
I even decided to work before play, and so recharged my prepaid Handy (darned inconvenient when a German Handy expires in Austria!) and made reservations for both of my next two nights in Aachen and Trier. This takes care of accommodation for the entire trip, unless Drea's parents in Karlsruhe decide they don't like me. 😉
It's cloudy and raining here in Mainz, but so far this has done nothing to relieve the heat and humidity. I'm hoping for a wrath-of-God type thunderstorm to cool things off.
Tomorrow morning, if and only if it's practical to do so, I may try to attend services at the Stefanskirche (St. Stephen's Church), which features windows designed by Marc Chagall. Then, on to Bingen, a short Rhine cruise, Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) and Aachener Dom (Aachen Cathedral) before kicking back in the delightfully-named Hotel Marx in Aachen for the evening. More news to come!
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