If Mozart and Maria von Trapp shared a meal…

After awkwardly lugging our suitcases through the dining car of the train—desperately trying not to hit the table legs and knock over the crystal wine glasses—Jason and I made it to the second class car, taking a seat next to an old German woman who was most likely less-than-thrilled with the bundled, luggage-bearing Americans now sitting next to her. But here I am, riding the train away from the snowy Alps and the beautiful town of Salzburg, on my way to Vienna—the imperial capital of art, music, and culture. With the journey ahead more than two hours long, no better time than to reflect on my visit to Salzburg and the weekend past.
We arrived in Salzburg from Munich early Friday afternoon, and made our way to the beautiful Hotel Kasererbrau in the heart of the Altstadt. Jason and I were in complete awe of the rooms, the delicious breakfast buffet with unlimited espresso, and the attached Italian restaurant and movie theater. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t the least bit giddy.
Now, Jason was in charge of planning the “to-do” list for this city. I followed him to the Residenzplatz and then to Domplatz, scanning the city hall, the huge Baroque church dedicated to St. Rupert, and the Residenz. The city’s consistent Baroque and Rococco architectural style (mostly designed by renowned Italians), gave the city the name “little Rome”. In fact, the Church owned the city until the early 1800s when it was finally given back to Bavaria. Looking back, Jason and I really took advantage of the Italian influence, since four of our meals were at Italian restaurants.
We strolled the main shopping streets, came across open-air markets with stands selling everything from brotwurst to flowers to hand-painted, wooden toys. I quickly realized two themes that dominate Salzburg. The first has been around since the 17th century: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart statues grace the main squares, and Mozart busts, key chains, and chocolates grace the souvenir shops. The second has been around since 1964: the Sound of Music. From von Trapp family dishes to avid fans singing (and jumping) “Do, a deer a female deer; Re, a drop of golden sun…” up the Mirabell Garden steps, it is quite obvious that although winter is quickly stealing the leaves off all the trees, the hills will always be alive here (nerdy pun intended).
Jason and I fully exploited these two themes. We were able to see Mozart’s birthplace, the house where he wrote his first compositions, and the church (the renowned St. Peters) where he performed his first concert. We indulged in round chocolate-amaretto candies called Mozart Balls, toured Mozart’s theater in the Festival Houses, and took a picture next to his statue. On Saturday, I began singing quite early “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm, woolen mittens, silver white winters that melt into spring, these are a few of my faaaavorite things”, much to Jason’s annoyance I am sure ☺. Anyways, we were off to take Panorama Tour’s Sound of Music excursion. Herded onto a bright red bus—the von Trapp family from the film painted on both sides (singing of course, with Maria in the lead)—with thirty or so other Sound of Music fans, we embarked on a four and a half hour adventure through Salzburg and the surrounding towns. The whole point of course was to see all the important places that were in the movie, learn more about the film itself, and of course sing along to all of our favorite songs playing through the bus’s stereo system (which was quite good). While I was spouting off the order of the songs, singing “Edel Weiss… Edel Weiss…God bless my homeland forever….”, and practicing my yodeling, Jason was only slightly bemused. For instance, when I sang, “I am sixteen, going on seventeen…”, Jason jokingly interjected, “Oh no, I am here in Europe with a minor”; he has to have his fun somehow ☺. Through the course of the tour, we saw the lake where the children all fell into the water, the trees they were all hanging from in their curtain clothes, the home that was used for the von Trapp family, Nonnberg abbey, the Mirabell Gardens, St. Matthews church in Mondsee where the Baron and Maria were married, and of course the infamous gazebo where our favorite, oh-so-romantic songs (voice slightly sarcastic) were sung. Jason and I had some delicious hot chocolate and apple strudel with vanilla sauce while we had a break in Mondsee, which I almost forgot to mention (and you should know by now that I always have to detail the “essen” or “eating” part of our journey).
The sights of interest, an extremely witty guide, and a lively atmosphere all made for an incredible tour (even with the romanticism-diminishing knowledge that the real von Trapp family never hiked over the mountains of Austria into neutral Switzerland, but instead merely caught a train to London, and then a boat to the U.S. Oh well.) On Sunday, Jason and I also toured the outdoor amphitheater where the “von Trapp Family Singers” made their debut and won the festival. We also walked up to the abbey, and took pictures at the gate. I wanted to pull the “We’re here to see Fraulein Maria” line, but Jason surmised that wouldn’t be something they hadn’t heard before.
On a different note than the exhausted Sound of Music theme, a highlight of our stay in Salzburg was early Sunday morning when we climbed to the Festung Hohensalzburg, or the large, white castle sitting atop the mountain above the city. A clear, crisp morning welcomed our arrival at the top, and we looked out to see the snow-capped Alps on one side, and sleepy Salzburg on the other. The fortress itself was quite informative (or at least it really would have been if I was fluent in German). Entire sections of the structure were dedicated to a WWI museum, dealing specifically with the Austro-Italian front. The rest of the museum was devoted to the history of the fortress, its 600-year plus building add-ons (each new architectural style depending on the preference of the arch prince-bishop ruling), various rooms, its torture chamber, and marionette theater museum, (which for Jason, with his real fear of these creepy marionette puppets, was a torture chamber).
Jason truly did a fantastic job researching this city. His tour choice, predetermined walking routes, and general knowledge of Salzburg proved to me that it was time to cut those puppet strings, and let the first-time traveler do his own exploring ;-). (Please don’t read into that too much) ☺.