Who knew that Mozart's balls tasted so sweet?

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Geo: 48.0765, 12.9132

Crappy breakfast. Pate and cheese were not good. Ate with the Italian lady and her daughter (the one that helped me with laundry last night). Nice lady, from Torino. Off to Salzburg. Maribell Gardens ... beautiful. Stunning sculptures. Old-town - lively, with a fruit market. Had a burenwurst ... tasty! Kollegiekirche - interesting Baroque style. Mozart's birthplace - boring, but doing something Mozart related is obligatory here.

Had a chocolate "Mozart Ball". Unlike the balls that Chef from "South Park" makes, they were not salty chocolate balls. Rather, they were sickly sweet (marzipan?). Continued walking and saw the largest Baroque fountain in the world. Cool. Reminded me of the Bartholdi fountain in Washington, DC, though both are quite different.

Went to the "Dom" (cathedral, not an S&M practitioner you sickos!). Just another church. The clock tower nearby was a giant glockenspiel that chimes at certain times. Mozartplatz - not much there. Started raining - hid inside a coffee shop. Coffee weak but strudel was goooood.

Walked back to the new town. City Centre mall was dead. Nothing inside. Saw a Chinese restaurant - pricey. Went to a dollar store looking for some undies. If I had one more pair I could do laundry only once per week! This has now become my mission for the trip.

There were nothing but boxers or banana slings. How do you say "briefs" in German??? Doner for dinner. Cheap, tasty, and loads of veggies - basically all 4 food groups. It was in a bun instead of a pita but was still good. Relaxed at the hostel for a while and then back to the old town.

Tickets for the Mozart festival events are sold out well in advance so the city sets up a big screen in a plaza to show them live. Tonight, an opera (cosi fan tutte) was the event. I had no idea what it was supposed to be. Beautiful setting - fountains and monuments were magically lit. Very romantic - if only I had brought the Isabel doll. Don't worry baby, Daddy's coming home in October to give you some sweet lovin'!

Hardly any people showed up - too cold and rainy. Stuck around for less than 1 hour as rain started up again. Hungry, so I had a kasekrainer sausage. Grilled, with cheese oozing out .... served with a spicy ketchup. Yummy. Back to the hostel. Streets were dead ... I had an eerie feeling as I walked back. Creepy.

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Photos

a
The house where Mozart grew up ... or was it where he was born? To be honest, I really don't care!

b
Beautiful Maribell Gardens.

f
Whew! I managed to get lost in this maze. I can't believe they made it so difficult. Luckily my cries of "I want my mommy" were heard by a 4 year old and he managed to lead me to safety. Pretty exceptional 4 year old!

h
More Mirabell gardens.

i
If someone is fahrten, I would run too!

j
He shoots he scores! Nothing but net! Getting blocked by the net .... it's like when I play volleyball.
But seriously - why do they need nets like this? Do Austrian men have problems with kidney stones?

k
Mexican Double - what's that? Having tequila and then getting the runs?

l
One of the gayest statues I have ever seen.

m
The Mozarteum.

o
o

p
Cool church built in the side of a rock face.

q
Self explanatory.

r
Mozart's birthplace or where he lived. Again, who knows and who cares?

s
Some of you know the story about the hideous ice cream lady from Nerja, Spain. This baby Mozart is probably 1/10 as freaky as she was.

t
It always strikes me how much some people are affected by people like Mozart. I could never imagine respecting or loving someone that I didn't know personally so much as to bring a rose for the person. Unless Homer Simpson was a real person. Then I'd bring him a box of donuts and a case of beer.

u
A lock of Mozart's hair. Nasty. I wonder how much it's worth on Ebay?

v
Creepy, almost like something out of the "Poltergeist" movies.

w
Famous Mozart "balls". The highlight of my trip to Salzburg was tasting Mozart's balls. Wait a second, that didn't sound quite right ...

x
I think these were some performers doing a unique form of Mongolian singing. A very gutteral, throaty type of singing ... I wasn't that impressed. I can make the same sounds when I have a bad sore throat and lots of phlegm. Cough it out people, then you won't sound like that!

y
y

z
I don't know why, but there were all these Audis on display. Freddie, you would've been in Heaven!