“Salzburg is, nevertheless, both a must and a joy.” Rick Steves
Carol writes: The train from Vienna to Salzburg was fast, efficient, and clean. Often overshadowed by Vienna, Salzburg is a graceful city that is also worthy of the world’s attention.
Like Vienna, our Salzburg accommodations were exactly as advertised. This time we booked through VRBO.
Our one-bedroom apartment
had an even better equipped kitchen—this one with a microwave, which is a huge convenience when you want to whip up quick meals after a long day. Our living room was cozy with a large TV,
and the bathroom seemed newly remodeled.
Our location was only a 10-minute walk through a pleasant neighborhood to the nearest bus stop on the other side of what looked to be a swiftly flowing canal.
The bus into Old Town was only a 10-minute ride.
As an introduction to Salzburg, our Rick Steves guide highly recommended that visitors take his “Salzburg Walk on the Town” audio tour. He rated his own orientation walk higher than any other attraction! Hmmm… Nevertheless, we did navigate the Rick Steves audio tour and found it to be an excellent choice. We easily got the lay of the land that incorporated all of Old Town’s best sights.
We started at a walking bridge across the Salzach River,
and familiarized ourselves with the landmarks and sights we would devote more time to in the coming week.
We took a quick peek inside Salzburg Cathedral, a fussy Baroque masterpiece,
and a good place to catch up on reading in our guide book.
Part of what makes Old Town Salzburg so picturesque is one of Europe’s mightiest castles, the looming Hohensalzburg Fortress, which is perched 400 feet high atop a rocky prominence which looks down on all of Salzburg. Steep cliffs dominate three sides, giving this fortress a huge defensive advantage throughout the centuries.
Access to the top is possible by hiking up a trail or riding the funicular. Hands down, the funicular was our choice.
The view from the top was terrific!
Tourists jockeyed for obvious lookouts for a little more creative photography.
For me, the thrill was walking the centuries-old walkways and courtyards throughout the 8-acre complex, while at the same time soaking up its medieval aura.
The rich musical tradition of Salzburg certainly was influenced by Mozart, who was born and lived in Salzburg for the first 25 years of his brief 35-year life. His birthplace (Geburtshaus—in large letters on the yellow facade) is one of the most popular museums in all of Austria. It is located on Getreidegasse, Salzburg’s picture-perfect, hugely popular pedestrian shopping lane.
The birthplace museum was a treasure-trove of all things Mozart. The rooms were simple
and the memorabilia were fascinating, like this child’s violin used by Mozart,
and an original score (most likely a facsimile) written by Mozart as a child.
The story of Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, was nicely told. She was a superb pianist in her own right who was always overshadowed by her brother. After Mozart’s death, Nannerl contributed immensely to keeping her genius deceased brother’s legacy alive.
Across town, the other Mozart residence, “Wohnhaus,” was somewhat of a disappointment. Financially comfortable from years of touring, the Mozart family moved here when Wolfgang was 17. Clearly, this residence was a huge step up in standard of living. In reality, the building was a huge reconstruction after being bombed significantly in WW II. The only room of interest to us was the one with Mozart’s pianoforte,
and a painting of the Mozart children depicting Wolfgang and his sister, Nannerl, at the keyboard, his father holding a violin, and a prominent picture of the children’s recently deceased mother hanging on the wall.
All the other rooms of the residence were devoted to an art exhibit that held little interest for us.
The Domplatz is the grand Cathedral Square that lies directly in front of Salzburg Cathedral.
Surrounding the Domplatz on three sides smack in the center of Old Town was the Salzburg Residenz, the former palace home of the Austrian prince-archbishops, powerful rulers in their day. We weren’t expecting much from this tour, but we were pleasantly surprised. The State Rooms were certainly palace worthy.
The stone skyway connected the Residenz with Salzburg Cathedral so that the prince-archbishops had a private and easy commute to church. Today the view from the skyway into the square is usually taken up by the buggy trade—very popular horse and carriage rides all around Old Town.
The Johann Michael Sattler painting exhibition was an unexpected pleasure at the end of the tour. Sattler was an Austrian artist who traveled the world as a travel painter during two extensive journeys in the mid-1800s. It proved fascinating to compare his paintings from 180 years ago to present-day scenes we recognized from our previous travels.
This one of Salzburg Cathedral was better than any of our photos.
Venice and the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, were certainly recognizable.
All things considered, the Residenz tour was certainly worthwhile and had some nice surprises…
Hellbrunn Palace and Gardens was one of those tourist sights that was iffy on our list. Hellbrunn was built in the 17th century by Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus. The palace was designed as a hunting lodge and a place to entertain his friends. Back then, the religious life certainly had its perks.
It would seem that Markus Sittikus was obsessed with whimsical and trick water fountains. The acres of the 17th century gardens were teeming with unique fountains and water features; this was the real draw at Hellbrunn.
There were dioramas with complex animation by means of water pipes and water pressure.
I think most visitors would agree that Hellbrunn Palace itself was underwhelming. The trick fountains might have been a little more fun if we didn't have to dodge on-and-off rain showers without an umbrella.
By now, we only had a few more days before we had to leave Salzburg and head back to Vienna for the flight home. Weather reports were predicting a beautiful sunny day ahead, exactly the kind of day we needed for a very meaningful and relevant day trip out of Salzburg into the hills of Germany.
“If you can’t see the con, you are the mark.”
Maria Konnikova
Carol Galus
Photo-Blogger
No comments:
Post a Comment