After another month of craziness, I am finally getting back here again. We had our house delivered and that just took over our lives. We were, however, able to get away, for the first vaction in several years, that just included the two of us. I journaled our trip while there and am finally getting around to posting.
Here is the first day...
Journal from Day 1 – Salzburg (30/09/2006)
The morning bells were ringing at 11am with the Glockenspiel ringing in our day. It is a a pretty day with just a few clouds. We had breakfast at the lovely little hotel restaurant – a fabulous continental breakfast, including pate, croissants, and fancy cheeses – the antique tables, buffet and cabinets were in a traditional setting with modern touches – picturesque! - Karen Brown never steers us wrong! (if you like boutique hotels, you should check her out: http://www.karenbrown.com/ The small room was busy with visitors, always a good sign of a good hotel.
The Hotel Wolf is very close to one of the main plazas - Mozartplatz which is also next to the main cathedral, the Dom. On the plane coming in yesterday I was actually sitting next to two women in a Choir from Bray, Ireland which was performing at the Dom today at 'half eleven'. We stopped in at the beginning of the service/performance and listen to the large choir fill the cathedral with music. Since is was a full Catholic service, we only stayed through the fist couple sung prayers, but with the pipe organ, soloists and choir it was a majestic scene.
Up the hill a bit we stopped off at the very quaint graveyard of St. Peter which looks like a scene out of Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings. I have never seen wrought iron grave markers which were so charmingly designed and maintained with plaques and flowers. Some of the family mausoleums were alcoves in the colonnade lining the wall of the fortress and had family members buried there going back hundreds of years. There were painted family portraits, devotional oil paintings and other carvings open to the elements. I wonder how long they have been there! The cemetery led to the catacombs actually carved out of and built into the side of the cliff below the fortress.
We took the funicular up to the fortress, started in 1077, with quite the Bavarian history. It was such a lovely day with the sun peaking through the clouds washing the white stucco walls in warm light. We had the loveliest lunch of goulash, wurst and sauerkraut while sitting out on the patio overlooking the Tennengebirg valley. The veiled Austrian alps were in the distance in graduating shades of grey and blue rising into the sun. One of my favorite things about visiting museums and historical venues is reviewing the cafes – this one definitely rates very high with the great food and spectacular views!
We did our normal thorough tour of the fortress including the underwhelming audio tour. It had some interesting tidbits of information, but the only historical points of note were the views from the top and the 'bull' or pipe organ from 1502. After a stroll through the museum, mostly containing implements of war and war making (not my forte or interest) we meandered down the very steep entry path to the Stift Nonnberg, a Benedictine convent which has been in constant use as an Abby since the 8th century, the oldest in the German-speaking world. While in the chapel, which we had to ourselves, a nun in full habit came to change the candles. I felt I was on the set of the Sound of Music, which was very poignant since this was the church use in the scenes of Maria at her Abby. It was a picture out of another century, especially since there was no artificial lighting, just the natural sunlight coming through the small high windows and the stained glass above the high alter.
We walked back the Motzartplatz and are sitting facing the Residenzplatz which has the sun setting just below the roof of the Residenz building. It is the perfect place to people watch and we are enjoying a glass of rotwein and Reeves his only vice, eis.
To quickly recap yesterday - Last evening when we arrived, we were starving for dinner, but en route while walking to the restaurant we came across a traditional band playing the Mozartplatz and followed it as the proceeded, marking band style, through the plaza and over past the Dom. It was such a magical evening, the perfect weather and the back drop of the city seemed like a movie set with the perfectly backlit and up lit buildings. Everything seems is so clean and perfectly restored here – gotta love the preciseness of the Germanic peoples.
We walked down the main shopping street, the Getreidegasse, and although all the shops were closed, the window shopping was lovely. We couldn't find the restaurant we set out for, but came across a traditional looking villa with yummy food and our own private dining room. It actually held two tables, but the other couple sitting in the room left shortly after we arrived, so we were left alone to enjoy our dinner and view of the little plaza below.
The architecture here reminds me a bit of Switzerland, but the colors of the buildings are softer with a more muted pallet. The buildings are taller and a bit more symmetrical than Geneva, but the city is such a lovely intimate size, without being too small for lovely cathedrals and palaces. And they even have a Hermes boutique to boot!