September 2, 2015

September 2, 2015

It rained all night as forecasted and we woke to overcast skies. This is a good time to explore Salzburg.  We hop on the bus and four miles later we are downtown. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg in 1756 and is probably why the city is on the tourist map.  Our first stop is Mozart Wohnhaus where he grew up.  It now holds a museum on his life.  We spend an hour listening to the audio tour but the music falls on deaf ears with us. Mozart and his sister were music prodigies from early childhood (composing music at the age of five).  They caused a sensation in Europe and toured the royal courts putting on exhibitions.  This experience added to their extensive musical education. Years later Mozart toured Europe looking to find a royal patron with little success. Fortunately he was a successful free-lance artist selling operas that subsidized his lavish lifestyle. Sadly Mozart died at the young age of 35, probably because of the constant travelling he endured. Being a musician in the pre-LP and CD era was tough.

Crossing the Salzach River we enter the Old Town and walk down Getreidegasse.  This is the old commercial street and is famous for all the wrought iron signs hanging from every establishment. Many are not that old including the one for McDonald's.  Others are cute with symbols of their wares.  

We pass several churches.  The first, St Peters has an attached cemetery.  It is unusual in that the graves are in cubicles with iron fencing.  It was the inspiration for the graveyard scene in the Sound of Music.  We also walked through the Salzburg Cathedral.  It is big and grand reflecting the wealth that the salt trade brought to Salzburg. We finished our tour by hiking up the mountain upon which the castle looms over the city.  We don’t tour it but we do enjoy the fine views of the city below.