Salzburg

City of Salt. Mozart’s hometown. Filming location of the Sound of Music. Besides being a sort of Mecca for musical theatre and opera-lovers, Salzburg is a very lovely city. There was far too much for us to do in the one day we had allotted ourselves, so we decided to start with the fortress and see how far we got.

Walking to the fortress from our hostel, we crossed a bridge beneath which ran the river that divides the city. The water, fresh from the mountains, was the most beautiful colour of milky light turquoise. After crossing the river, we came to a street called Getreidegasse, which seemed to be the main shopping street. Walking up a few paces we found number 9, Mozart’s birthplace and home for his first 17 years. Sandwiched between H&M and a fast food fish store, the main level is half gelato shop, half Mozart museum.

In the shadow of the fortress mountain, we found ourselves in a square, enclosed by four noteworthy and historical buildings. We wandered into the cathedral, one of the more beautiful ones I’ve seen, which had it’s dome blown off during some war in the last century (they all sort of blend together after a while, you know?) and rebuilt. It was kind of neat to see a dome constructed and decorated in the 1900’s, as opposed to any of the many centuries previous, though it’s modern construction wasn’t really recognizable. This cathedral (Mozart’s location of infant baptism being it’s claim to fame) had it’s crypt open, so we climbed down through the stone floor and admired the eeriness of the dimly-lit rock basement with bodies in the walls. In the centre of it all was a silent prayer room, to ensure we always keep our attentions on that which is most important and not become overwhelmed by death.

We skipped the funicular car and climbed the mountain to make it to the fortress, one of the oldest in Europe, nearly 1000 years old. From the top tower we got a view of the city and the Alps and on the lower levels we admired all that was created before church and state separation took political power, funds and hopefully, corruption, away from religious leaders.

On our way down from the fortress, we noticed windows carved into the cliff face. Wandering through the cemetery of the church and abbey where the real Maria von Trapp used to live and teach school, we noticed people looking out of the windows in the cliff. How had they gotten there? Suddenly we were standing directly in front of black iron gates through which was the entrance to the catacombs. We paid one Euro and climbed up the ancient stone steps and into the cliff. A chapel had been set furthest into the mountain, with the remnants of wall paintings barely visible. Candles lined the path of the two levels of rooms in the cliff where we paused before heading back down the way we came.