Salzburg, Austria

[VRoss]

Birthplace of Mozart, Unesco world heritage site, Rick Steves recommended... blah, blah, blah...

Can't say I enjoy touristy places, but it was there, close to the hotel and why the heck not?

The fortress, guarding the town:

St Peters church. you walk through the tunnel to the right of the entrance and to the left of the oldest restaurant in Europe and

there you are in the church cemetery at at the base of the cliff. Space is at a premium so the graves are leased. Once the grieving relatives burn through your inheritance and stop paying, you are out.

Monks used to live here in the caves dug into the cliff face. Now replaced by tourinsts, who pay to walk up the stairs:

behind the cemetery there are remains of the old water works. The system of canals would bring water from Berchtesgaden and provide sanitation for the city. Tuesday was the trash pick-up. They would use the water works to flood the streets and the trash would pick itself up and float away. Apparently that worked well enough, as Salzburg had managed to avoid the plague.

 

[VRoss]

Up from the water walks there is a path to the fortress. Pretty steep, but manageable.

 

[VRoss]

This is where they had catapults. See the projectiles neatly stacked in a pile? They practiced low impact warfare back then. After the war you would pick up the stone projectiles (very expensive!) down below and bring them back up to the fortress. Al Gore would have being proud. What I can't figure out is why they were set in concrete as if they thought some tourist could take one home as a souvenir...

 

[VRoss]

The view from the archer's gallery, nice

 

[VRoss]

To the other side of the hill, the waterway is guarded by artilery

 

[wanabeguru]

Beautiful, thanks for sharing!

 

[VRoss]

Welcome. A few more pictures from below the fortress. They have build this part of town as a series of interlocking squares, so you end up walking the squares rather than streets.


That pink church goes back to roman times, 4th century AD, I think.

Wow, an e93!

They loved gimmics back then too. the statue of Mary is being crowned by aangels on the cathedral's facade, that is if you stand in the right spot. There is a line of tourinst to stand in the right spot.

Mozart conducted here. This here is the best spot, acoustically speaking

 

[VRoss]

Mozart was born here

I liked the doorbells, one per floor!

 

[VRoss]

Street pictures.

 

[VRoss]

There is even a small farmers market there

Strawberries that don't taste like Styrofoam, what's the secret? This consumer of California grown crap that is passed for straberies desperately wants to know....

I mean it's that good

 

[VRoss]

Cafe Tomaselli got crappy service but great deserts

.

This was probably the best iced coffee I didn't drink. Can you guess why. See where that right hand is going?

 

[RedPill]

I'm envious. My wife and I planned to go to Austria this year, but with my layoff, that had to be shelved. She has wanted for years to go to Vienna to see the Spanish Riding School.

 

[humanrace]

Nice pictures. Ship the iced coffee to me, I'll drink it. What doesn't kill you will make you stronger. Your baby looks mighty strong and I'm sure both hands regularly go into the baby's mouth.

 

[ekms377]

Great pics...thx for sharing!

 

[Texas T]

You went to Austria and didn't pay homage to Herr Glock?! Blasphemy!!

 

[VRoss]

Nice pictures. Ship the iced coffee to me, I'll drink it. What doesn't kill you will make you stronger. Your baby looks mighty strong and I'm sure both hands regularly go into the baby's mouth.

The little hand in that picture went for the napkin, the one under the glass. One little tug and presto, the iced coffee/icecream mix went right on that nice silver tray. I got to drink that thimble of water though....it's ridiculous what passes for a glass of water in some places, isn't it?....

 

[VRoss]

I'm envious. My wife and I planned to go to Austria this year, but with my layoff, that had to be shelved. She has wanted for years to go to Vienna to see the Spanish Riding School.

Sorry to hear that, really am. For us it was both the 10th anniversary of our wedding and another multiple of 10 for me . ED was a long time dream. With some luck, everything kind of clicked together...

 

[VRoss]

You went to Austria and didn't pay homage to Herr Glock?! Blasphemy!!

Now that I think about it, you are right, by golly. A proper penance will have to be extracted. At a match next Saturday, what I am thinking!

 

[elwood]

Your posts stir happy memories of a trip I took > 10 years ago, and I said I'd be back soon! Oh well, best laid plans, Should I expect some pix of neuschwanstein next ? Maybe Englicsher garten? Keep 'em coming!
Elwood

 

[VRoss]

Can't oblige you with Neuschwanstein. It was the other direction from Munich so we've decided to forgo it. I've got a few shots of the next best thing though, Schloss Herrenchiemsee.

 

[VRoss]

Basically a 3/4 Versailles Palace and a great adoration piece for french royalty. Ludwig the 2nd loved all things french to the extent he attempted to faithfully copy the entire Versailles before the funds ran out. That was before the Federal Reserve when "no more money in the treasury" meant just that -- no more money, even for a king. So we get 3/4 scale of the Versailles on the outside but only half of that on the inside. I am told Neusschwanstein is not even furnished on the inside. Hard times, cry me a river.

If you go, take an audio or a german tour. I went for an English tour, which was probably a part of an elaborate inside joke on the Americans. "That candelabra consists of 287 pieces of dingleberry crystal and weights 589 pounds an 7 ounces. The amount of gold that went into plating this room is 55 pounds which did cost xxx shenkels, etc, etc."on and on adnd on..It was the history reduced to dollars, pounds and days, wghich apparently are the only things the dumb yokels from across the pond can relate to. Best save your pennies and go drink beer in the monastery. That's a lot more relevant than the circumference of king ludowig's toilet seat.

 

[Drumboy]

Is that the fountain from Sound of Music?

 

[VRoss]

Is that the fountain from Sound of Music?

Either that or a 17 century copy of the one from the Hollywood set

 

[Thrasherg]

Either that or a 17 century copy of the one from the Hollywood set

I can see this vacation has not affected your sense of humor!!

Gary

 

[VRoss]

Now if my memory serves me, that fountain is indeed a copy of a fountain by Bernini (in Rome? in Florence? that part escapes me). The Archbishop that ruled Salzburg at the time grew up in Italy and probably figured that getting some flunky to copy the known (and hence approved) work of art is a heck of a lot safer politically than letting that flunky exercise his creativity. Being both the local prince and the catholic bishop in one administrative title of a wealthy commercial town that traded with protestants the Archbishop had to walk a fine line when it came to ideology, or risk the wrath of catholic church. I don't think if worked out too well for him in the end though...