Saturday, September 15, 2012

SALZBURG

September 15, 2012

 Well, I have to say that Salzburg is a stunning city.  I loved every moment of our visit.

The first day we went right to the parking area Don had programmed into Trexie and found a good spot and parked our car.  It was a short walk to the tourist information center and we got a city map and purchased a Salzburg Card.  Some websites recommended against the card, but it turned out to be a big money-saver for us.  The card got us in free to most of the important points of interest and discounts at all of the other places and had more than paid for itself by the end of the first day.


Right away we walked from the tourist center to one of the famous castles of good ole Archbishop Wolf Detrich von Raitenau, the Residenz.  This imposing building, which was built originally in the 13th century and modified, expanded and embellished over 500 years, was used not only as a residence for the Archbishop, but also to hold important meetings and audiences with statesmen and diplomats from around the world.   It sits across the plaza from St Peter's church and abbey and also next to the famous Salzburg Dome. 

We walked up the massive regal staircase, the first of 7329 staircases to walk up in the Salzburg area, as we listened to the audio guide.  Today the Residenz is furnished with decor and furniture from the period of Archbishop Wolf Detrich, around the end of the 17th century. 
We strolled through the state rooms of the Residenz and enjoyed the baroque plaster work, beautiful ceiling murals, gorgeous Venitian chandeliers, paintings of the gentlemen and ladies of the court, intricate clocks and period furniture.  The walls were covered in precious tapestries, or rich ruby red damask, and one wall was covered in beautifully patterned Chinese paper depicting scenes of China and Chinese gardens, birds and plants.  The original floors are still in use.  They are intricately patterned parquet made of oak, mahogany, ash, and maple woods.

I was particularly impressed with the enormous, beautifully tiled stoves used to heat the rooms. These monsters are 10-12 feet high and about the size of a small building.  They usually stand in one corner of the room and some poor attendant had to huddle in back of the stove, feeding it fuel. 

After leaving the Residenz we walked across the square and into the famous Salzburg Dome to admire the ornate golden altar, ceiling murals and the dome itself.


We strolled across the river and through the beautiful Mirabel Gardens, which were in full bloom and beautifully maintained.  There we saw many bridal parties having their photos taken with the fountains and blossoms as a backdrop.  We tried to keep out of their pictures, breaking our long tradition of accidentally walking right into the formal photo of bride, groom and family.  Many years later they look at that photo and ask each other, who are those people?  One of the brides was dressed in a snowy white flowing gown and the other was dressed in traditional garb.

After a bite of lunch we meandered through the cemetery where Mozart is buried and then on to the house where he was born. 

Time to go home, so we bailed our car out of the convenient parking lot, 18 euros! and made our way out of the city and back into the countryside and home to our scenic valley.

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