All the Pretty Things

10th of June

First glimpses of Austria from the train window.

Bright and early we were off on the train to Salzburg, Austria. Negotiating the train station etc. was painless and our first class ticket continued to please us, with the nice wide seats and comfortable cabins. The train attendant even gave out free kitkats at the start of the journey. In all honesty, the train journey was too short. We were coming to relish those times where we could just sit and relax (and for me, catch up on the blog and organising the photos...).

  

Our offices.

Salzburg welcomed us with yet more grey skies and drizzles/rain. Luckily the accommodation was up the road from the station. But unluckily we were way too early for our room to be ready, so it was a matter of leaving our bags and going to get some sight-seeing in! I had a wee plan from the guidebook. We bought 'Salzburg Cards' from the hotel reception as they granted you free access to all public transport as well as 'free' entry to pretty much every attraction Salzburg had to offer. After a brief bus tutorial from the hotel lady, we headed back to the station, jumped on a bus and headed into town.

We started at the Mirabell Garden, attached to the Mirabell Palace, because I had an idea that we might be able to buy tickets to a Mozart concert inside the palace for that night from there. We wandered around the building and the gardens but couldn't find anywhere for this, but enjoyed seeing the very pretty garden.

Salzburg fortress on the hill in the background.

Staircase inside the mansion - as far as the public can go.

Then we started on the guidebook's 'Mozart walking tour' as Mozart was born and raised in Salzburg and they fiercely lay claim to him even though it seems he was never that happy here... Anyway the tour was a good way as any to tour the cities main sights and we both have an interest in music so yeah...

The 'Mozarteum'

Model of Mozart Family Residenz as it wouldhave been, taken before I was told I wasn't allowed photos.

The first 'attraction' we went into the the Mozart's Residenz, the upmarket townhouse the family moved into after Mozart made the family rich (he started composing from about 8 years of age. (Basically a child star/genius). The place was interesting enough but there were also some gaps in the story of Mozart they told and Greg said he left 'feeling like he still didn't really know anything about Mozart himself'.

Then we carried on the tour and over to the main streets of old Salzburg which were pretty quiet on a rainy Sunday when all the shops were shut. We found some lunch at the Austrian version of a hotdog stand – Austrian sausage in a bun for Greg and a schnitzel burger for me. Not bad for a cheap and chirpy lunch although both of us were pining for vegetables...

Mozart Statue

Me and a Really Big Fountain

Me and Another Big Fountain

We went and had a nosey in the Cathedral and found and information spot that sold Mozart chamber music concert tickets in the marble hall in the Mirabell... I really wanted to go but the price was higher than I expected and the Salzburg card didn't afford us a discount as I had expected. Disheartened we went away and thought about it. Later after we had thought about it we decided that it would be something special and we hadn't really 'splashed out' on anything so far these four weeks into the trip, so why not?

Cathedral looming behind other looming statue

 

Man standing on golden ball.

Bust of man connected to the Salzburg Residenz.

To escape the rain, even though we were still a bit weary of palaces etc. from Versailles and Chambord, we decided to check out the Residenz Museum, a restored Palace from the time of the Archbishop Princes. Compared to Versailles, it was deserted, and since it was warm and dry, was actually a really interesting and enjoyable visit. Good examples of Baroque Stucco decorations everywhere, and the place also wasn't so massive as to be overwhelming. 

Stucco, stucco, everywhere...

The ovens were pretty and in every room!

Greg loved the chandeliers

Often the mirrors where the only original furnishings in the room

The floor is original.

This clock was really cool! It told so much more than time!

The 'white room'

At the end there was an art gallery filled with pieces from Austrian and Flemish artists including Rembrandt. The paintings were lovely and I could have spent ages looking but we had to leave to get back the hotel, check in, change and still have enough time to eat before the concert.

We did all these things. After the failed attempt at fast food the night before, we succeeded today and had burger king for tea, which tasted exactly the same as in NZ, funnily enough. Then we caught the bus back to the Mirabell Palace.

The concert was simply perfect. The hall was smaller than expected, but beautilful, decorated with marble, gold, and mirrors. The string quartet was made up of a group of very talented ladies, some of whom had won critical acclaim in Europe. The two hours flew by, listening to music by Mozart and Beethoven, some familiar, some stuff I didn't recognise. I took some sneaky video.

 

After the concert the rain had let up so we enjoyed a night time stroll home.