It was another rainy day to start with, but we were more prepared for sun and heat later in the day, so this time we left the jumpers and raincoats behind. We set off very early for Salzburg, but soon encountered problems on the motorway. There were miles of roadworks and the traffic was at a complete standstill, so we left the motorway for smaller roads. This meant driving slowly through small towns and villages, but at least we were moving, unlike the motorway traffic. We were fascinated by the number of churches with onion domes like this one - not a very good photo, taken through the windscreen of the moving bus in the rain, but it’s typical of some of these churches.
The journey took two and three quarter hours, so we didn’t arrive until 11.15, and we then embarked on a 2 hour guided tour of the city - which probably explains why I am so exhausted. There were two guides, but one said she would go more slowly for the older members of the group, so we joined the other one because it’s slow walking that aggravates my back problems.
We began at the Mirabell Palace, built in 1606 by one of one of the Prince bishops of Salzburg for himself and his mistress. Salzburg was not originally part of Austria, it was an independent principality which was part of the Holy Roman Empire, and was ruled by a series of Prince bishops. It was annexed to Austria in 1805.
Part of the palace is now administrative offices but the Marble Hall is accessible to the public and is a popular location for weddings. The gardens have been public since the 19th century and are laid out geometrically. As well as the fountain you can see in the background, they contain many mythology themed statues.
From here, we walked into the town past the marionette theatre and paused to look at the Mozart Residence.
The Mozart family lived here from 1773 (when Mozart was about 17) until 1787, in an eight-roomed apartment on the first floor. It’s now a museum. We had hoped to visit later, but there was no time.
We walked on down to the river Salzach, pausing to look briefly at the house where Herbert Von Karajan was born, and then crossed the river into the old town. The Main Street here is called Getreidegasse and is lined with shops and historic houses, of which the most notable is Mozart’s birthplace.
The Mozarts lived here in a small apartment on the second floor, also now a museum. We did manage to visit this later.
There are many medieval buildings in the town, and to draw attention to their age, the date they were built is often displayed on the building.
The handsome pink one here was originally built in 1300, as you can see. The other date, 1999, is the date of the last renovation. Adjacent to the church of St Peter, which we visited shortly afterwards, there is a restaurant which claims to have been open since 803. The church and monastery of St Peter dates back to the 7th century, and the building that houses the restaurant was documented as being an inn in 803.
St Peter’s also has a fascinating old cemetery with catacombs just nearby.
It’s rather crowded, and only notable people were buried here. The catacombs are not underground tunnels, they were built into the rock face you can see here - you may notice some of the tiny windows. The monks lived here, and the guide didn’t mention anything about them being used to bury bodies, so I’m not sure why they’re called catacombs.
We passed on through the Residenzplatz to view the Salzburger Glockenspiel, set at the top of a tower.
There are 35 bells, covering 3 octaves, and it can play over 100 different pieces of music. Quite a few of these pieces are by Mozart, either father or son. It only plays 3 times a day though, and unfortunately, none of the times was while we were in the city.
You cannot fail to notice the lorry here at the front of the photo and the wooden stage in front of the lorry. This is because Salzburg is getting ready to celebrate my birthday. Yes, really! September 24th is the name day of St Rupert, patron saint of the city of Salzburg, and there are huge celebrations all over the city. I wish I could be there.
After the tour was over, we took ourselves off to Mozart’s birthplace, to visit the museum there.
The apartment really is very small, just a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, a study, and a small store room. Mozart’s parents rented this apartment and lived in it for 26 years. 7 children were born there. Only 2 of the children survived though, Wolfgang and his sister.
This is the kitchen
The stove was masonry and the firewood was stored at the side. The kitchen would be smoky and soot would build up on everything so there were few furnishings. This kitchen was luxurious in that it had a drain in the window sill to get rid of waste water. Many people kept chickens in the kitchen, though it isn’t known if the Mozart family did.
There were various artefacts, possessions of Mozart or his family. One nice touch was his little violin, which he received at the age of 6. He could already play both the piano and the violin by the age of 5.
This is a replica of Mozart’s piano.
There’s a letter from his father mentioning how often the piano had to be carried out of Mozart’s house in Vienna to be taken to wherever Mozart was giving a concert. More than 12 times during his visit to his son, he claimed.
The museum also has Mozart’s clavichord.
According to his wife, Mozart used this instrument to compose The Magic Flute, La Clemenza di Tito, and the Requiem.
After this, I was beginning to flag a bit so we went to a cafe for some refreshments. After that, there was little time left so we visited St Peter’s church, which was, disappointingly, rococo inside though the exterior was quite austere.
We met the rest of our group and I sat to rest while everybody assembled and was counted. I was sitting behind this instrument.
I’m not sure what you would call it. The side facing me is a Hygrometer which records the humidity - 70% in today’s case. And one of the other sides records the temperature - 30 degrees. I was too exhausted to examine the other two sides.
We then had a route march back to the bus, which took nearly half an hour. Coaches are not allowed in the city centre. Once in the bus, it was decided to avoid the motorway which was still having problems, so we drove back to the hotel using much smaller roads. The journey took two and a half hours but was through some interesting scenery.
I’m hoping tomorrow will be less exhausting. Apparently, according to the weather forecast, it will also be pouring with rain. We might well need the raincoats this time!
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