23 May 2010

This morning we bid farewell to Prague and headed toward Salzburg. The drive through the Czech countryside was lovely, through rolling farmland and forests. After a couple of hours we crossed the border into Austria. Since the EU, there is no stopping at borders or visa stamps in your passport.

Our lunch stop was in Austria at a new rest stop named Landzeit. It reminded us of the Marche we had seen in Toronto and Frankfurt. Lots of choices of food and very good.

We arrived in Salzburg a little ahead of schedule, so we couldn’t check into the hotel. Therefore, we got back on the bus and headed to the old city center. We were scheduled for a walking tour of Salzburg, which was a good introduction to the city.

Our tour began at the Mozarteum and continued into Mirabellgarten. There are always flowers in bloom here. It is a very nice place in the middle of the city. (It is also the site of scenes from The Sound of Music.) We continued and crossed the Salzach River. On the way were grand views of the Hohensalzburg Fortress and the Dom. The skyline is filled with towers and spires of many churches.

We walked down Getreidegasse, with its many shops, each with a unique wrought iron sign. These signs are from the time of the medieval guilds. This street been a Salzburg staple for shopping since before the time of Mozart. On the street is the house in which Mozart was born. Here he composed some of his earliest works as a child. We toured the house. It gave a good idea of life then.

The next stop on the tour was the Residenz Platz with its fountain. It has been a center of Salzburg activity since Roman times, and includes a residence of the Archbishop. Then we were on to the Cathedral, or Dom. Officially it’s the Cathedral of St Rupert and St Virgil. This has been the site for a church or cathedral for many centuries beginning in 774. The present Baroque cathedral was built in 1628. It contains a large central dome over the crossing, which is beautifully painted. The dome was reconstructed after WWII. The transept contains domes, also. There are five organs, four at the crossing and one in the gallery. Our guide told us they used all five this morning for Pentecost. Too bad we were traveling on a bus!

After the formal tour ended here, we considered taking the funicular up to the Hohensalzburg, but did not have enough time. So we walked a bit more around the old section, taking a somewhat circuitous route back to the bus. We stopped at two more churches, St Peter and the Franciscan. Our tour was complete with a crossing of the Salzach River and a few more blocks to the bus.

Dinner was schnitzel at the hotel. It was quite good. Tomorrow it’s on to Munich and Oberammergau.