I have always said that I have been unlucky in having a birthday one week before Christmas Day. As a child I found it restricted the amount spent on my presents with the two events so close. This year saw my 65th birthday on 18th December 2008. We like to celebrate special occasions with travel. So it was that we decided to have a few days in Salzburg, the home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! We flew from Manchester Airport on Monday 15th December and returned on Friday 19th December.
I hoped for a magical time in Salzburg and I was not disappointed. Throughout Advent there are the Christmas Markets and also real ice skating in Mozart Plaz! We arrived at our hotel by taxi from the airport and checked into room 501. There was a TV of gigantic proportions and a minibar with pricey drinks. We found it best to place a glass each of tap water in the fridge and leave it to chill. After all, if you wanted a drink you could get one in the bar at a reasonable price. The hotel had also a 350 seat cinema, the Mozart Kino, and had an Italian Restaurant next door with direct internal access for guests. It was full of antique furniture on the landings etc. Right next to our room was a staircase kept out of use because it was adorned with the most amazing Baroque-style murals from top to bottom.
We dined in the Italian place that night and awoke next morning ready to explore the Aldstadt or Old Town. We walked in what we thought was the right direction and found Mozart Plaz with it's skating rink. The local children were having a wonderful time skating around at great speeds. One small boy was kitted out with a full ice hockey strip and shields. To the left we spotted the Christmas Market in Residenz Plaz. We had been to the Christmas Markets in Manchester staffed by German traders but this was huge in comparison and I have never seen so many different Christmas decorations. There was a large fountain protected by a great glass and aluminium frame. It must have been impressive in summer. In one place they were completely renovating a magnificent fountain and this was not to be complete until later in 2009. Great hoardings prevented one from seeing anything happening there.
We walked through the archway into what was called Dom Plaz (Cathedral Place) and behold there was yet another Christmas Market going on! The weather was quite cold so we opted for the local Christmas central heating - gluwein. It was delicious and acted as a true winter warmer. Later we discovered a 300 year old coffee house known as Tomasellis. We found its no smoking room and sat down at a table with an elderly Austrian lady who beckoned us over to join her. The tradition here was that the male waiters took orders for drinks and the ladies dressed in black dresses with white lace aprons brought gateaux. The coffee was served in the local tradition with a small glass of cold water. This goes back to the time when Turkish coffee was served and many grains entered the mouth of the drinker. The water was introduced to wash away the grains. The tradition has simply continued. The internal decorations in the coffee house were timeless with much wood panelling. The atmosphere was genteel and quiet. Just the ticket!
Near the coffee house we saw the local Fiakers drawn up in lines. These were two-horse carriages which were available to take visitors on a tour of the Aldstadt. We could not resist taking a ride and the driver gave us a commentary as we went along. He pointed out old churches and told us there were 41 of them in Salzburg alone. We drove past the Horse Ponds which had originally been used for washing the Prince-Archbishop's horses many years before. It was a magical ride and we did not regret it for a second.
On our second day we decided to take the Funicular Railway up to the Hohen-Salzburg, high above the Old Town. This is possibly the largest fortress in Europe and there was plenty to se up there. One interesting feature was the museum of marionettes. There were numerous glass cases showing beautifully crafted marionettes collectively forming the cast of an opera or musical. Close by was the church of St George which acted as the fortress chapel for all who found themselves up there in times gone by. A few yards from this was a 300 years old lime tree. As we walked round we came to the point where we were able to see the surrounding countryside. In front of us was a green area with paths forming a cross. At this crossing was a small white cottage which used to be the abode of the public executioner!
As we came round to the final quarter of the fortress we saw a full size model of a bull painted grey on one side and black and white on the other. A plaque on the wall explained this to us. Many years ago at the time of a siege of the fortress the people were getting close to running out of food. The fortress commandant suggested a plan to convince the enemy below that they still had plenty of food left. They walked the last remaining bull across in front of the soldiers below. During the night they painted the bull a different colour and allowed it to graze along the battlements. The next night they washed the paint off and painted it a different colour. The next day the bull was grazing along the battlements. This was repeated for a few days and the enemy were convinced that a herd of bulls still existed up in the fortress and gave up and left the area! To this day Salzburgers have been irreverently referred to as "bull washers"!
On 18th December (my birthday) it began to snow. We had booked on a trip up to the mountains and lakes above Salzburg. This became a tour of the locations used by Robert Wise, producer of "The Sound of Music" film. In the foggy snowy weather we saw the mansion used as the Von Trapp residence for exterior shots. It looked out over the lake into which Maria and the children fell from their rowing boat. Then we drove to a park where the city authority had relocated the glass gazebo used for the song, "Sixteen, going on Seventeen." Later we started up the road that led to the mountains and here we became stuck in the snow. Some friendly motorists helped by pushing the minibus up the hill until it gained traction again. After stopping at a village used in the opening shots of the hillsides we went on to see the church in the small town of Mondsee.
This church (more like a cathedral) was that used for the wedding scene and the whole building took my breath away! I walked to the great altar and then turned back down the aisle towards the great organ. Someone was practising on the instrument and was playing Bach's Toccata and fugue. Wow! It is only my favourite piece of organ music! We went back over the street and had a drink and a strudel in the local coffee shop and this was excellent in quality. Then we were driven back to Salzburg and dropped off close to our hotel.
That night we had a wonderful meal at a restaurant we had patronised on the Tuesday evening. It's name was the Alt Salzburg (Old Salzburg). They specialised in Austrian food and we thought it was amazing. On the Tuesday we had ordered Tafelspitz, which is a rump steak boiled with vegetables. The steak fell apart just as a quality grilled steak would do at home! On the Thursday we decided in favour of duck breast. This is a dish we often have at home and it compared very well indeed. Also featured on the menu are fish such as River Char which were tempting too. We would recommend this establishment to any visitor to Salzburg. It is slightly off the centre of the Aldstadt but only minutes away. It is built into the Monchberg which is the steep hill on which the Hohen-Salzburg sits. The staff were very friendly and we had a quality evening.
The next morning saw us taking a taxi back to the airport for our short 45 minute flight to Zurich and then our flight to Manchester. It had been wonderful. On reaching Manchester I felt a little cold as we located our car for the drive home. Two days later I was in hospital with pneumonia! But that's another story.
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