Day 10, Part 1: Salzburg's Old Town

Monday

There are so many photographs I want to put up here that I’m going to divide day ten into two parts. (There’s probably not enough room on the server to store all the photographs I made in Salzburg, so I'll have to be choosy.)

We slept in a little bit. It was pouring rain in the morning, which we expected. Frau Balwein prepared a breakfast of cereal, milk, orange juice, coffee, hot tea, rolls, cheese, meats, soft-boiled eggs, yogurt, fruit, and lemon coffee cake. Quite a delicious feast! By the way, they know how to make coffee in Europe. And bread. And cheese. And...

It’s funny how photographs conspicuously change from horizontal to vertical when you enter the city. Everything seems to be soaring upward, especially all those churches, cathedrals, and monuments to every battle, poet, and saint under the sun.

After breakfast, we left in the rain for the bus stop, just around the corner from Frau Balwein’s. We arrived by bus at Salzburg’s Old Town, near Mozartplatz. Our guidebook included a “walking tour” of the old town, so we decided to do that. It was a pretty comprehensive tour of the city, and our feet paid for it.

We entered Mozartplatz and saw the statue of Mozart, then walked across the courtyard into Residenzplatz. Beautiful fountain and surrounding buildings. We decided to take a time out and tour the Salzburg Panorama. I think only Jared took pictures. There were paintings exhibited there of one man’s trip around the world painting what he saw. The main attraction was the panorama, which was a 360 degree view of Salzburg in 1829, displayed in a round room. It was incredible.

We then entered the Salzburg Cathedral which was transcendent. We walked down to the crypts to see the old foundations of the cathedral and tombs. Exiting the cathedral, we entered the courtyard, which was spectacular, very lofty and sheltered, filled with spring breezes. A man was playing impressive classical guitar to a group of would-be donors and the acoustics were absolutely incredible. The music echoed all around us.

We then entered Kapitelplatz and saw people playing on the giant chessboard, a frightening sculpture of a monk with no face (like the Ghost of Christmas Future), and, on the far side, the monument/fountain/horse bath built by Leopold. We walked through St. Peter’s Cemetery, saw the tombs that were the inspiration for those in the Sound of Music, saw the monks’ caves in the cliffs, and then left to tour St. Peter’s Church.

The church was beautiful, smaller than the cathedral, but full of roccoco frescoes and glorious architecture. Leaving the church, we entered the Toscanini Hof, and got to see the 1925 Festival Hall where the von Traps performed before they fled Austria. The hall was unfortunately closed, so we only got to see the outside.

We then came to Universitatsplatz which hosts the open-air produce market and all the sausage stands. After leaving the market, we walked down Getreidegasse, the street where Mozart’s birthplace is and where all the wrought-iron signs are.

This was the first half of our day. Needless to say my feet were screaming bloody murder. After lunch we made the (long) trek up the hill to the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which I’ll share with you tomorrow.






The side of the Salzburg Cathedral and the Hohensalzburg Fortress on the hill in the background. It seems you can see the fortress from everywhere.






Cathedral Platz and the Alte Residenz buildings.






One of the many paintings on the ceiling of the Salzburg Cathedral.






Inside the Salzburg Cathedral. One of the few shots that wasn't too blurry. Very dark in those old buildings, and setting up a tripod feels too irreverent.






I believe this is a courtyard behind St. Peter's Church.






Entering St. Peter's Cemetery.






Inside St. Peter's Cathedral.






A closer view of the front of St. Peter's.






Judengasse. We ate at the Saran cafe (marked by the orange sign) that night... the apple streudel was amazing...






(Limited) View from the hill above the Toscanini Hof. Jared and I were upset they were doing construction on the Salzburg Cathedral. Of course, they are always doing construction on a cathedral over there. In every town we visited we could be assured that somewhere a cathedral was undergoing construction.






Getreidegasse, famous for its wrought-iron signs.






The humble birthplace of Mozart, and the hajj of music pilgrims everywhere.