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Last Updated: 03. Mai 2000
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Austria
Salzburg, Baroque Country
Salzburg
Hohensalzburg
Salzburg Parade
"Sound of Music" Tour
Working at the Salt Mines
The Salzburg Card
Salzburg
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One of the most beautiful city skylines in Europe is found in Salzburg Austria. The great cathedral, the Hohensalzburg, and the other great Baroque buildings are unspoiled by modern skyscrapers. Our campground had a good view of this all. Throughout the city, you can see many examples of baroque architecture. One needs to just wander through the streets, squares and churches. During our visit of Salzburg, we investigated the Old City, Salzburg Dom, and Hohensalzburg. Just remember, Mozart is everywhere.
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Walking through the city, one can just imagine this city as it was during the Renaissance and Baroque Eras. In the old city, Mozartplatz has a statue of Mozart erected in 1842. Nearby is the Residenzplatz. This and the Residenz were built by Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich who had good Renaissance plans for Salzburg.
Among the clip-clop of the horse and carts, the Residenzplatz and the Cathedral are the centerpiece of this Baroque city. The fountain in the middle of the Residenzplatz tries to be Italian with a Triton as the centerpiece. Across from the Residenz is the New Residenz with the famous Glockenspiel that plays a changing tune three times a day.
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The center of the old town is the Cathedral (Dom). The modern Cathedral was built in the 17th Century. However, there has been a church on this spot for a long time. Below the Dom are excavation with 2nd Century Christian-Roman mosaics and the foundations of the Romanesque and Gothic churches. It is always interesting to walk around Roman ruins and discover the previous building's foundations. I guess it's something related to rummaging around in the basement. Though this cathedral was built in 1628, there was a need for a major reconstruction in 1959, after the damage caused by the Second World War.
Walk across the Domplatz and stand under the middle arch and one can see that Mary is positioned to be crowned by the two angels on the church facade. Even though it took a while to find the correct point, we did see it. Obviously, it was designed to be viewed when a person walks through the arches.
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A little west of the Domplatz is St. Peter's Abby that dates for around 850 AD. Take time to wander around the graveyard, which is lovingly tended. This is the inspiration for the graveyard scene in the Sound of Music. It is obvious that the director and producers of that movie took much liberty in reconstructing the movie set.
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Then walk past the wonderful Festival Hall to the Horse Fountain. There Getreidegass begins. Getreidegass was old Salzburg's main street. Today it is still upscale and has wrought iron store signs hanging out over the street. Even McDonald's has a wrought iron store sign!
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Mozart's Birthplace on Getreidegass is filled with scores, portraits and old instruments. It is fascinating to see where Mozart traveled with his family. We are following a similar path during our European adventure. Across the river is the Mozart Wohnhaus. This is a recently renovated museum with a good gift shop. There is a good overview of his life with scores and instruments. The highlight is a film about his life and family. There is also an interactive movie about all of Mozart's travels. One can specify which journey to investigate.
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Further along the river are the Mirabell Gardens and Place (Schloss). This was said to be built by Wolf Dietrich for his mistress. This is a wonderful place to wander and you may recognize the gardens and statues. The Pegasus Horse fountain, featured in the Sound of Music, is here. Also, the trellis where the children ran through to get to the fountain is also here. Behind the Mirabell Gardens, we found another playground. There were many pieces of play equipment, so it was a great play time for Erika.
Salzburg old town is small enough, and Baroque enough that a stroll throughout town and along the river can be romantic.
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Hohensalzburg
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After exploring the old town we took the funicular up to Hohensalzburg. This is built on a rock 400 feet above the river. This mighty fortress dominates the skyline and offers a great view of the area. It's a fun place to explore and the Marionette Museum and exhibit is enjoyable for kids. At the Hohensalzburg, we ate lunch at an outdoor café. in the courtyard of the castle overlooking the Austrian Alps - the view was great. The food was good and Pat was introduced to Gemuse Strudel - what a scrumptious treat. Instead of apples the chef prepared an interesting mixture of broccoli, carrots mushrooms and onions for this delightful strudel.
After riding the funicular down to the Marktplatz we investigated the Markt and found many varieties of pretzels. In addition to the basic salted variety, we found cinnamon raisin, garlic and onion, sesame, poppy seed and powered sugar pretzels. We also found a furry yodeling stuffed teddy bear for Erika. In the Marktplatz, there is often a large scale chess game in progress.
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Salzburg Parade
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On our way back to the campsite on our first day in Salzburg, it started to rain. The rain continued for 36 hours and was accompanied by high winds. Needless to say, we were stuck in our Westphalia for the entire time. We were glad we had the awning. We read, sent e-mail and caught up on schoolwork for Erika.
Because of the rain, we extended our stay in Salzburg. We found out that a major parade and celebration would occur in the city. It was to begin on the day we originally planned on leaving, so we stayed and had a great time. We attended the parade in the old city of Salzburg. This parade celebrates the traditional folk life of Austria and it is only held once every 10 years. The parade started off with the government officials from Salzburg Stadt followed by people from the Lands. Each Land or state throughout Austria is represented in the parade. Men, women, and children are dressed in the traditional dirndls, jackets and lederhosen of Austria. Accompanying them are the local militias and bands. The parade lasted for hours with thousands of people marching and watching. There were black powder cannon being fired right in front of us, jugglers and teams of whip crackers competing against each other to determine which team could crack the whip the loudest. The cracks sounding like loud firecrackers going off. Though our campground was a few kilometers away from the old town, we could hear the cracking whips starting early in the morning.
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"Sound of Music" Tour
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This tour shows nearly all the Sound of Music sights including the stately home (Leopoldskron Palace), the famous gazebo, and wedding church in Mondsee. Besides giving some insight into the movie, the tour also shows a lovely stretch of the Salzkammergut region.
At St. Gilgen, on the Wolfgangsee in the Salzkammergut region, we stopped at a tourist gift shop. At the tourist gift shop, Brain, our guide, introduced Erika to some Austrian salt. It is very tasty with different types of flavorings. On our way to the gift shop, we heard some lovely Austrian yodeling. A young couple was getting married and apparently, instead of throwing rice, the young couple's friends serenade them with yodeling from the church to the reception. When we stopped in Mondsee, we enjoyed a mid-afternoon break of Afpelstrudel. In other words it's worth it.
We had a good time on the tour. Our daughter, Erika, made fast friends with the tour guide, Brain (www.panoramatours.at). With his bright yellow suit, one couldn't miss him. Even the next day when we went on the Berchtesgaden salt mine tour, she found him out to say hello.
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Working at the Salt Mines
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Panorama Tours, the same tour group that does the Sound of Music tour has one to the Berchtesgaden salt mines. The nice thing about the tour, you don't have to drive and find the mines, and when you get there, despite the long lines of people waiting to get in, there is only a short delay. At the salt mines you put on miner's outfits and board a tram down into the mines. While in the mines you hear the history of the mines, get to slide down long, slick, wooden banister-like slides.
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The Salzburg Card
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This may sound like a advertisement but it is really a helpful hint. In many large cities such as Salzburg, Vienna, Berlin, Paris, the local tourist office created special discounts. In Salzburg, it is the Salzburg Card. With this card, one can use it for free admission to all major sights, and free public transportation. It is really a bargain! Typically, one can purchase it for a specific number of days. It is possible to purchase at the local TI (tourist information) office or even the local campground.
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Die Fotogalerie von der Österreich
You can contact us by email to either Chris or Pat.
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See you all later.
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