After my morning shower, my feet took me across the river back to the old town. I had spent time in a beer garden here the previous evening, but had yet to explore further. This was my opportunity.
With Mozart’s greatest hits playing in my ears, I joined the hoards of guided tours at Rezidenzplatz. Here I found the fountain where Maria sings part of “I Have Confidence” at the very beginning do the 1965 classic movie musical “The Sound of Music”.
I found a number of street outlets selling souvenirs, alongside one selling pretzels of various descriptions. I had one filled with cheese, and prosciutto ham, accompanied by a coffee. This made a fine breakfast.
As I enjoyed this on a bench overlooking the fountain, I considered what made me different from the “…hoards of guided tours…” previously mentioned. I have an arrogance that tells me that I am somehow better, and more worthy than your average tourist. In reality, I am no different in that I am only ever scraping the proverbial surface of any area I am experiencing, but do not live, and work in. I told myself to get down of my (again proverbial) “high place”, and simply enjoy where I was, and what I was doing.
I enjoyed my pretzel and coffee.
Afterwords, I explored some of the shopping streets in the area. The city feels incredibly clean, and well-kept compared to other places I have been.
I particularly enjoyed the graveyard at St. Peter’s Church. It reminded me a lot of Langemark, the Word War I German graveyard in the Ieper area in Belgium I had visited a month and some before. It was very green, and there were flowers growing abundantly on every grave. This tied in with something our Battlefield guide had mentioned in that Germanic cultures associate growth, nature, and horticulture as a very healthy way to commemorate lost love ones. This their graveyards perhaps appear darker places than those in the UK as a result of the abundance of growing trees. I had to agree wholeheartedly with this attitude, and marvelled at the beauty of this place. I believe this graveyard does briefly appear in the previously mentioned musical movie, albeit with many of the actual scenes in the sequence filmed elsewhere. It was however very much the inspiration for the set design, as I am led to understand.
I walked up to Stift Nonnberg. This again appeared in “The Sound of Music” as the abbey Maria leaves to become governess to the Von Trapp family. I managed to find an application that allows matching of a photo to a shot taken previously, and took a number of nice “matches”. I did go inside the chapel itself. For a time I was in my own, and enjoyed the peace, and coolness of the space.
I lit a candle.
By this point thirst was getting to me, so I enjoyed a “Black Orange Lemonade” back at an establishment in the town. For a time I read Michael Morpurgo’s “Kaspar, Prince of Cats”. This was another recommendation from Morag the bookworm, and I was enjoying it. I am pleased to have a similar taste in literature to my nine year old niece.
I took myself to the cathedral, and spent some time learning about the history, and present day use of this place. I particularly enjoyed the internal architecture, and the way that all the marble was enhanced by grey paint. This give a startling three dimensional effect, accentuating the detail. I also admired huge number of paintings, and frescos in the building, as well as a fascinating modern day art installation in the crypt. This was simple, but effective and had a row of small metal sculptures with candles in front of them. The shadows of these then became the focus of the eye, as they flickered in the gloom.
A brief stroll took me back to Mirabellgarten, where I enjoyed a sparkling elderflower juice.
My entertainment this evening was a production of “The Sound of Music” at the Salzburg Marionette Theatre. I took a guess that there were not many Austrians in the audience. There was perhaps a high chance this would be seen as a very “touristy” thing to do. However, I saw the opportunity to do something I knew I would enjoy, so I took it.
The performance was fantastic. The marionettes were beautifully made, and expertly showcased. This was essentially an abridged version of the stage production of the show, running at 1 h and 45 minutes with an interval. This meant that songs were omitted such as “I Have Confidence”, and “Something Good”, and some included such as “How Can Love Survive”, and “No Way to Stop It”.
Despite my concerns over the lack of authenticity in terms of how locals would view this, I was very glad I went. In fact, the puppet theatre in Salzburg has a history going back over 100 years. I think it is a “no brainer” that they should present this particular show. I would recommend this experience highly, and would be interested to see other shows performed.
My evening subsistence was taken at Augustiner Bräu Mülln. This is a series of very large Beer Halls with food outlets surrounding. It reminded me a lot in ethos of the “Edinburgh Street Food Market” that I frequent regularly with my nieces. It took me some time, and a bit of research to figure out the order of things, but eventually I found myself with a tray of beer, and some very satisfactory comestibles.
Finding somewhere to sit was a problem, and I was initially rejected from a spot which seemed free to the uneducated. However, as I was searching around, a couple took pity on me and waved me over saying that they were “leaving soon”. We exchanged a brief “cheers” as I took in the atmosphere, and was grateful for kind people.
As I made my way back to the apartment. I was sad to be leaving this beautiful city, but excited for my next stop in the capital of this nation, and the promise of more long-term stability for me.
