A Day in Salzburg
I listen to travel podcasts before every trip. They can provide great advice but mostly I enjoy listening to descriptions of the places I am going to visit as I look forward to my upcoming adventure. I found the “Free Walking Tour Salzburg” and took Gerhard’s advice quite seriously. He said buy a Salzburg Card, so I did. He also said that I had to visit the Salzburg Museum in the New Residence. I put that first on the list for my full day in Salzburg.
How was that working so far? The card did not work when I first tried it. Now I learned that the museum was closed for renovations. Okay, Gerhard, let’s hope things improve.
I had not bought the hotel breakfast, so headed out early. It was another beautiful walk along the Salzach River.
When most people hear Salzburg, they probably think about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the city’s most famous son, who was born here in 1756. My first stop on this day was a building once known as The Dancing Master's House that is now called the Mozart Residence for its famous former inhabitant.
I first had to get inside. I tried again with my Salzburg Card. I showed it to the lady at the desk, but she did not understand what I needed to do. Then, like the day before, it would not scan. I logged into the museum’s Wi-Fi, just as I had done at the funicular. Perhaps it was a better connection, but for whatever reason, the card finally registered the required beginning time. It was now operational. The lady scanned it, and I entered the museum.
This was Wolfgang Mozart’s second home. In 1773, to get away from their cramped home where Wolfgang was born, the Mozart family moved into an eight-room apartment in this building. It came with a large hall that was used for concerts, teaching, and storing the keyboard instruments that Wolfgang’s father sold. Wolfgang lived here from the age of 17 until he moved to Vienna in 1781.
The museum gave me a real sense of history. The atmosphere was enhanced by the bells chiming from the Holy Trinity Church next door.
After my visit, I went the café downstairs and enjoyed my breakfast of a cappuccino and croissant.
Continuing with my Mozart tour, I went across the river to the Old Town to the "Hagenauer House", where Wolfgang was born in 1756. His family lived there for 26 years, from 1747 to 1773. I listened to the audio tour as I walked through. His music really added to the experience. There are models of the sets of his operas.
I passed the university and its Wild Man Fountain which has been there since the 17th century. The fountain was once used to keep fish fresh at the market.
I walked through the Kapitelplatz again. I had seen the "Sphaera" sculpture the night before. It is one of the pieces on Salzburg’s “Walk of Modern Art” and was created by the German artist Stephan Balkenhol. He also created a second piece, the "Woman in the Rock".
My route took me past St Peter's Abbey which was founded in 696. The adjoining Petersfriedhof or St. Peter's Cemetery is quite interesting with its catacombs and chapels. It dates from 700.
I arrived at the funicular station.
I passed right through with my now functional Salzburg Card. The car was just about full, so I stayed back so that I could be first onto the next car. With that I had a great view on the way up.
The Hohensalzburg Fortress was built in 1077. Changes were made over the following centuries making it one of the largest castle complexes in Central Europe. The complex contains various museums, a panorama, marionettes, and arsenals as well as a tower to climb with a great view of Salzburg.
I chose to walk down rather than return on the funicular.
Once down I glanced into the funicular station to see the price of the ride and fortress entrance and determine how much I had saved with the Salzburg Card. After my initial problems, I finally decided that the Salzburg Card purchase had been a good thing. Thank you, Gerhard, for the great advice.
I passed a sign that advertised a wiener schnitzel special, and even though I was not even thinking about lunch, decided to go in. The restaurant was in a shady, quiet courtyard. The special included a soup. I added a beer. It was good.
From there I walked past the Salzburg Cathedral. Its present structure dates from the seventeenth-century. The first church on the site was built in 774 and rebuilt in 1181 following a fire.
I loved the street underneath the Mönchsberg cliffs on the west side of the river.
The church is the Ursuline Convent Church.
The statue was created by German artist Markus Lüpertz. It is his image of Mozart and is titled "Mozart — A Homage". Not everyone was impressed with this depiction of the great composer.
The Herbert von Karajan Square is an historic area although the name is relatively new, being named after Salzburg born conductor Herbert von Karajan. This is the The Pferdeschwemme, or horse trough which dates from 1693. This is where the prince-archbishop’s prized horses were once brought to drink and be groomed.
The Gstättentor was the northwestern city gate for Salzburg’s city fortifications. It was built in 1000 and then rebuilt in 1618.
I stopped at a nice cafe along the river path for my afternoon cappuccino.
I rested at my hotel for about an hour. I then reread my list of places to visit and realized that I had not taken a photo of the “real” Mozart statue (not the Lüpertz one). I had to go back out and find it.
I passed the same snack bar where I bought my supper the night before and decided to try them again. This time I ordered a sausage with cheese sandwich. It was good, but I preferred the Bosna.
I found the Mozart statue in Mozartplatz.
I asked a man to take my photo. I checked it and found out that he had cut off Mozart's head. I asked a second person and got both of our heads into the photo.
I took a few photographs in Residenzplatz Square and along the river as I walked slowly back to my hotel.
I was quite tired. Not that I was counting (my watch was), but I had set a personal best for most steps in a week. During a week that began with my train to Zermatt, I had done 111,506 steps, about 90 kilometres or 56 miles. That might not be Camino type distances, but it was a lot for this old guy.
I talked to Po and packed. I had two trains the next day to Brussels as I continued my way back to London and then home.
This featured blog entry was written by Bob Brink from the blog Searching for Magical Moments.
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