Sunday in Salzburg
Today was about two guys:
Rick Steves and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
We love travel guru Rick Steves and have used his books and television shows and YouTube videos quite a bit to get ideas for The Grand Tour. On Sunday we wanted to visit Salzburg again and learn about the town. We decided to do Rick's audio tour of Salzburg.
The Mister downloaded the free tour to our phones, we each had our own headphones, and off we went. Wait! Before we get started, let's take some photos of the pedestrian bridge into old town. (The Mister just loves when I suggest such things!)
We began our tour and did pretty well with the starting-and-stopping and other logistics of two people using their separate devices.
Rick gives just the right amount of history and fun details to suit us, as he takes us by impressive sites ...
And into the Salzburg Cathedral. We have our earphones in and Rick quietly tells us so many interesting facts about this glorious place. Did you know Salzburg has 38 churches and 37 of them are Catholic?
For instance, Rick tells us that Mozart was baptized in this holy fountain (below). He went on to be the organist at this church.
BTW, BIG MISTAKE! We had heard that the 10:00 Sunday Mass in this cathedral is supposed to be spectacular. But on Saturday, the forecast for Sunday was storms all morning long. To get to Salzburg we have to drive to a park-and-ride and then take a bus and walk a bit to the cathedral so we decided to not let wimpiness happen again.
But then on Sunday morning there was NO rain and none predicted! We went to Salzburg to do the audio tour but were too late for Mass here. Rick told us on the audio tour that the 10:00 Mass is "not to be missed" with, in addition to the main organ at the back of the church, FOUR organs (two are in photo below) around the front of the church being used.
He said there are musicians and a choir -- and we let the threat of rain stop us. Dang. Are we 95 years old? We were disappointed and made a resolution to not have that happen again.
Rick also told us that outside, quite a way away from the cathedral, is a statue of Mary, looking away from the cathedral. He said if you stand just the right way, you can position Mary so the crown that's on the front of the cathedral appears to be on her head. You can crown Mary! The first picture (below) is "off" so you can see in photo #2 the right way.
We walked Salzburg where he told us to go and realized in many cases we were leaving behind the throng of tourists, such as when we went to see a water wheel that brought fresh water to Salzburg for centuries. They would wash the streets every Thursday -- and, as a result, Salzburg didn't suffer from the plague as other European cities did.
Rick showed us how to find the performance hall (below) where the real Von Trapp family sang Eidelweiss...
... and the graveyard that the real VonTrapp family cut through to escape after the performance.
After our Rick Steves Audio Tour, I decided there was another VonTrapp scene (below) I wanted to know about first-hand: a carriage ride through Salzburg! Let's giddy-up!
We found the place to rent a carriage (below) ...
And before you can say "Do-Re-Me" we were off!
What a fun time!
And I haven't even told you about the evening! We got tickets a long time ago for a small concert at Mirabell Palace in Salzburg.
Before the concert, we wandered the gardens (below) -- pretty in themselves -- and even more fun because of scenes from the Do Re Me song in The Sound of Music.
The famous "tunnel" (below) and steps (below) from the song ...
Then it was concert time! Inside Mirabell Palace and up steps, this time palace steps (below).
Our location was the famous Marble Hall (below). This is where Mozart played his music for the prince archbishop!
Guess where we sat? Front row center (below)!
With a camera on my lap, here's our view of the stage (below) ... but, of course, I didn't take photos after the concert started.
The pianist and violinist (using a violin from 1772) played Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms. I loved the Mozart the most because I could conjure up him playing here.
The crowd was perfect. No talking, rustling -- even no applauding after a movement! I'm very pickey and they were perfect. During intermission, we talked to a couple from Serbia ... and another from California. The California guy is a musician and he told me about growing up in California in an Asian culture with parents wanting their children to win musical competitions.
The encore piece was not listed in the program and is one of the prettiest pieces of classical music I ever heard. I am determined to find it! It was introduced in English and German but both people were hard to understand. It was either written by a female student of Mozart's or he wrote it for her and her name might have been Marie or Maria or Teresa. We have emailed the violinist, thanks to Earl's internet skills.
I left walking on air. ("Earl, do you think Mozart's foot was on this very step?") We have waited for this night for months and it was so grand! I think that's why it's called The Grand Tour.
Thanks for reading about my Sunday!
Jane
Rick Steves and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
We love travel guru Rick Steves and have used his books and television shows and YouTube videos quite a bit to get ideas for The Grand Tour. On Sunday we wanted to visit Salzburg again and learn about the town. We decided to do Rick's audio tour of Salzburg.
The Mister downloaded the free tour to our phones, we each had our own headphones, and off we went. Wait! Before we get started, let's take some photos of the pedestrian bridge into old town. (The Mister just loves when I suggest such things!)
We began our tour and did pretty well with the starting-and-stopping and other logistics of two people using their separate devices.
Rick gives just the right amount of history and fun details to suit us, as he takes us by impressive sites ...
And into the Salzburg Cathedral. We have our earphones in and Rick quietly tells us so many interesting facts about this glorious place. Did you know Salzburg has 38 churches and 37 of them are Catholic?
For instance, Rick tells us that Mozart was baptized in this holy fountain (below). He went on to be the organist at this church.
BTW, BIG MISTAKE! We had heard that the 10:00 Sunday Mass in this cathedral is supposed to be spectacular. But on Saturday, the forecast for Sunday was storms all morning long. To get to Salzburg we have to drive to a park-and-ride and then take a bus and walk a bit to the cathedral so we decided to not let wimpiness happen again.
But then on Sunday morning there was NO rain and none predicted! We went to Salzburg to do the audio tour but were too late for Mass here. Rick told us on the audio tour that the 10:00 Mass is "not to be missed" with, in addition to the main organ at the back of the church, FOUR organs (two are in photo below) around the front of the church being used.
He said there are musicians and a choir -- and we let the threat of rain stop us. Dang. Are we 95 years old? We were disappointed and made a resolution to not have that happen again.
Rick also told us that outside, quite a way away from the cathedral, is a statue of Mary, looking away from the cathedral. He said if you stand just the right way, you can position Mary so the crown that's on the front of the cathedral appears to be on her head. You can crown Mary! The first picture (below) is "off" so you can see in photo #2 the right way.
We walked Salzburg where he told us to go and realized in many cases we were leaving behind the throng of tourists, such as when we went to see a water wheel that brought fresh water to Salzburg for centuries. They would wash the streets every Thursday -- and, as a result, Salzburg didn't suffer from the plague as other European cities did.
Rick showed us how to find the performance hall (below) where the real Von Trapp family sang Eidelweiss...
... and the graveyard that the real VonTrapp family cut through to escape after the performance.
After our Rick Steves Audio Tour, I decided there was another VonTrapp scene (below) I wanted to know about first-hand: a carriage ride through Salzburg! Let's giddy-up!
We found the place to rent a carriage (below) ...
And before you can say "Do-Re-Me" we were off!
What a fun time!
And I haven't even told you about the evening! We got tickets a long time ago for a small concert at Mirabell Palace in Salzburg.
Before the concert, we wandered the gardens (below) -- pretty in themselves -- and even more fun because of scenes from the Do Re Me song in The Sound of Music.
The famous "tunnel" (below) and steps (below) from the song ...
Then it was concert time! Inside Mirabell Palace and up steps, this time palace steps (below).
Our location was the famous Marble Hall (below). This is where Mozart played his music for the prince archbishop!
Guess where we sat? Front row center (below)!
With a camera on my lap, here's our view of the stage (below) ... but, of course, I didn't take photos after the concert started.
The pianist and violinist (using a violin from 1772) played Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms. I loved the Mozart the most because I could conjure up him playing here.
The crowd was perfect. No talking, rustling -- even no applauding after a movement! I'm very pickey and they were perfect. During intermission, we talked to a couple from Serbia ... and another from California. The California guy is a musician and he told me about growing up in California in an Asian culture with parents wanting their children to win musical competitions.
The encore piece was not listed in the program and is one of the prettiest pieces of classical music I ever heard. I am determined to find it! It was introduced in English and German but both people were hard to understand. It was either written by a female student of Mozart's or he wrote it for her and her name might have been Marie or Maria or Teresa. We have emailed the violinist, thanks to Earl's internet skills.
I left walking on air. ("Earl, do you think Mozart's foot was on this very step?") We have waited for this night for months and it was so grand! I think that's why it's called The Grand Tour.
Thanks for reading about my Sunday!
Jane
Excellent report. I envy your detailed planning. I/We tend to be a "wonder what THAT is?" sort or "Hey let's go check THAT out !"
ReplyDeleteOh, we do a ton of that, too.
DeleteWow! Everything about the concert sounds just perfect! I have memories of the gardens...was our friend still trying to make it up the steps?
ReplyDelete