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Geo: 47.8005, 13.0444
Breakfast was mostly the usual fare this morning, but it had a little Mediterranean accent. There were olives, as well as marinated olives with feta. Also, sliced tomatoes with mozzarella; hard-boiled eggs too!
Our local guide was Brigitte, and she took us first to the Mirabell Gardens. Pretty, but not at all on the scale of, say, Versailles. But there is a wonderful view from the old palace (now government offices) through a fountain and to the cathedral and up to the fortress. Outside of the gardens is Mozart's house, but not the one he was born in. Across the street from that is where Christian Doppler was born. The Doppler effect has something to do with the change in frequency of a sound in relation to the observer (thank you, Wikipedia). In Austrian German, a "doppler" is a double flask of wine, so the “Doppler effect” can mean something completely different!
We crossed the river (going by the Sacher Hotel, home of Sacher torte) into the old town and then over the next two hours saw so much stuff, I couldn't keep track of it all. One of the nicest things was St. Peter's cemetery, full of pretty little (and
Mozart's Wohnhaus
Where Mozart lived as a young man.old) graves, including some family tombs. Brigitte said that at Christmas, people go to the cemetery to see the graves, which have been decorated with lit Christmas trees, and a brass band plays carols. Then the bells in the Cathedral toll, and that is the beginning of Christmas for most Salzburgers.
We also saw the inside of the cathedral. It's very baroque and reminds me a little of St. Paul's in London. There is a huge organ at the back of the church, and then under the dome at the four corners are four more smaller organs, complete with balconies so that other musicians can play along. All four organs were intended to be played at once, and there are surviving instructions from Leopold Mozart (Wolfgang's father) as to how that was done. One balcony would have all string instruments and the organist; the other balcony would have all brass instruments and the organist; etc. The organists, however, face in toward each pillar, so they can't see each other. According to Herr Mozart, each organist had someone standing behind him to hit him on the shoulder when he was supposed to do something. It sounds very complicated, but the sound is
apparently amazing.
Our tour ended in front of Mozart's Geburtshaus (where Mozart was born). Earlier we had seen a statue of Mozart in a small plaza, and Brigitte says it's the worst depiction of Wolfgang anywhere. It does look a little too Roman, like Mozart was actually a senator or something. But there are plenty more depictions of Mozart around town. Just about every shop capitalizes on the Mozart connection, and several of them have life-size Mozarts outside their doors. Also, Mozart balls seem to be sold in every other shop, though John and I tried the original and best Mozart balls at Fuerst, the confection's inventors. The original ones are wrapped in blue and silver foil and are not exported, whereas the balls wrapped in red and gold foil can be found all over the world. We feel so authentic now!
We decided to go up to the fortress that overlooks the city. We walked to the other end of town (it takes about ten minutes to walk from one end to the other) and took an elevator up to the modern art museum (not open today) and then walked along the ridge of the Moenchsberg (Monks' Mountain) to the fortress.
Naturally, it was another day of blazing sun and there was more walking uphill. It wasn't as bad as yesterday's hill (until we got to the fortress where there was a hill that was practically vertical), but it was still hot and sweaty work. Still, there were some nice views over the city.
The Hohensalzburg Fortress dominates the town. It was never actually used as a fortress, which was the idea. Imposing equals “we'd better not bother to attack that.” The first thing we needed after finally gaining access was a pretzel and a Coke. Ahhhh! Reasonably refreshed, we visited the royal apartments and a small military museum, mostly dedicated to a particular regiment from World War I. We spent a couple of hours walking around the various courtyards and up and down staircases (it's awfully big) before taking the funicular back down to the town.
We strolled back to our hotel via the Getreidegasse (main shopping street) with all its pretty shop signs hanging from above the doors (including a “KK” sign, which stands for “Kaiserlich und Koeniglich,” or “Kaiser and King”😉, as well as the Swedish Candyshop (for a gummi fix), and the DM shop for supplies we're running
low on.
We're now resting up and watching “Star Trek” dubbed in German before going to a Mozart dinner concert near St. Peter's tonight. I think we'll be getting back fairly late, so I'll have to remember to report on it tomorrow.
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Mom
non-member comment
Love that shop corner! There must be so many charming touches in the towns you're visiting. Lucky you! Checked the house again today and all was well.