Salzburg, Austria: Home to Mozart and "The Sound of Music"

"High in the Austrian Alps lived a beautiful city,

Lay dee-o-a-lay-dee-o-a-lay-dee-whoo"

Salzburg just sings, "Beauty, peace, adventure, eccentric, traditional, entertaining, kosher, and salt!" I do have to say that Salzburg was a good way to end my travel in Europe (even though Rome or Paris could have topped it off with caramel, nuts, and a cherry!) But all in all, it was a very enjoyable trip.

The train took me a little longer than I thought it would but I arrived in Salzburg just in time to give myself a little rest (early morning train rides do wear you out) before attending a performance at the Salzburger Marionetten Theatre. But even before that I had time to walk along the Salzach River and purchase an ice cream cone that was literally melted. At this time I did encounter an odd young man. I would say he was a little topsy-turvy and did not give me a good feeling. I'll spare you the yucky details but I am lucky nothing happened.

The play that I went to at the theatre was "Die Zauberflote" - "The Magic Flute" by Salzburg's own, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was all in German but I was still able to follow along with the story very well since they projected the story line on the side walls of the theatre. I was overwhelmed with amazement of how well the puppets moved - they walked with better posture than I do! The costumes, the scenery - it was fabulous! I recommend a trip to the theatre on your own trip to Salzburg.

On my first full day in Salzburg I decided to just explore the city. It was a Sunday so I took it easy and enjoyed the beautiful scenery around me. The exploring started with a trip to Mirabell Park, made famous by its beauty and being featured as the scenery of the Do-Re-Mi song in the film "The Sound of Music." The Von Trapp family is originally from Salzburg and that is where the true story took place. The park was absolutely gorgeous and what other way to spend a beautiful Sunday morning but with a stroll in the park to enjoy Heavenly Father's work.

While I was taking a stroll in the park I made 27 little friends. I didn't have to clean their house or sing "Heigh-Ho" so that was great. But I did get to take a few pictures. Here is my favorite "dwarf" and I named him Harry 'cause of the glasses.

I had a second treat while at Mirabell Park - an Austria concert! I was so excited because I got to see them in their traditional costumes and not to mention their wonderful music. The concert happened in an open area in the trees. Just a beautiful environment to help eccentuate the music. The rest of the day I walked the streets and just enjoyed the beauty of the area. I pretty much walked the west side of the Salzach river. Monday I did a little less walking and more riding. To save my feet (which are still recovering from the 4 months of student teaching and walking on cobble stones), I signed up for "The Sound of Music" tour and a trip to the Salt Mines. Both of these tours where absolutely wonderful. The weather was a little roasty so I was glad to be riding in an air conditioned bus. Instead of giving all details I will just pinpoint some highlights of each tour...

"The Sound of Music" Tour
*The Gazebo - the famous pavilion that Liesl and Rolf sang "Sixteen Going On Seventeen". There was actually two separate gazebos used for the movie: larger one for the indoor shots and one for the outside shots. I got to see the 'outside' shot gazebo. I also got to skip down Maria's lane where I built up my 'confidence'!

*Palace of Leopoldskron - place where the boating and drinking pink lemonade scenes where filmed. Of course only the back of the palace was used as the 'back' of the Von Trapp's home and then another building was used for the front scenes.

*Nonnberg Abbey - This is the abbey where the real Maria was a nun and was used in the film. This was actually about 500 meters from my hostel. But man was it a CLIMB to the top!

*St. Gilgen/Lake Wolfgang - This picturesque area was featured in the opening sequence of the movie.

*Church of Mondsee - Beautiful yellow church about 20 or so kms from Salzburg where Maria and the Baron got married.

To see pics from Salzburg, click on the Smilebox picture below. A new window will open up with the pictures.


"Salt Mines" Tour

After "The Sound of Music" tour I had a 30 minute break before I headed off to Berchtesgaden (actually in German) to the Salt Mines. Salzburg is named after the Salt Mines; the mines are the reason why Salzburg was built in the area. The mines have been mined for 300+ years! The area is still mined today but in old parts of the mine you are able to go on a guided tour. I liked the tour because I got a cool wardrobe (but to tell you the truth I had no idea when the last time it was washed...).

The tour begins with a 5 minute train ride into the mine. The air drops to almost freezing (luckily I didn't go during the winter when it goes below freezing) and you are ushered to a gigantic hole in the mountain. After a small introduction on how the mining of salt begins you get to slide down a steep wooden slide. You just sit on it, hold up your feet and slide right down. I was SO afraid I was going to get a splinter or two in my buns but that wood is smoother than --okay I'll say it--a baby's bottom. It was exciting. And of course they use this slide as a tourist trap because they do take your picture. I think I had a more frightened look on my face going down that slide than I have had going down Splash Mountain at Disneyland.

The tour goes on for about an hour as you going through the steps of mining salt, getting to learn more about salt, see new and old machinery, go down a second slide, and lick the walls (so salty!). But this is not all of the tour - you even get to ride in a cable car several stories up AND boat across a mirror lake with a light show! AwE-sOmE! Inside the mountain is a small lake and it just looks like glass. What ever is shown on the ceiling is reflected on the water so a magnificent light show is played on the ceiling and reflected on the water to make a circular light show. Can I get a "WOW!"

After the tour of the salt mine the tour bus took us up a very windy road that overlooked the town of Berchtesgaden. From where we were located, we were able to spot Hitler's Eagle Nest.

*****

So you tired yet? I am and I was when I was in Salzburg but Tuesday I had a few hours in the morning to waste before heading back to Germany so I did the most ridiculous thing --I climbed the mountain up to the Fortress! What look liked a simple climb after a few hundred steps to the Abbey ended up being a HORRIBLE climb. And once I reached the cashier to pay to get inside I still had probably 1/3 of the mountain yet to climb. (And I have to say I had a feeling that the cashier was laughing at me because I was already out of breath, ready to pass out, and he knew I still had a long way to go!) My thighs burned but I made it! Construction of the fortress started in the 11th century and continued until about the 19th century. Ran by Prince Archbishops, each added to the fortress during the 800 years of construction. I was able to climb atop the highest point of the fortress to overlook all of Salzburg and beyond.

Now I knew it would be a lot easier going down that it would be up but I for sure wanted to use the lift to go down. (Yes I knew of the lift before I headed up to the fortress but I thought I was almost to the top after climbing to the abbey okay!)

Here I ended my adventure in Salzburg. Besides the yucky dude in the beginning the trip was wonderful. I splurged on entertainment but I did not regret any of it. I went out with a bang! The train ride back was bitter sweet because I knew I was only days away from leaving "My" Europe. I would go back any day because there are a lot more things to do and see. But for now "Auf Wedersehen, Salzburg!"

Make a Smilebox scrapbook