The morning of August 25 started like all our other mornings
in Vienna with breakfast from McDonalds.
However, this time, I was ready to go early and so I was sent on a
pick-up mission. Little did my American
self know that McDonalds in Vienna (and probably all of Europe) on the weekends
doesn’t open until 7 am. What? Luckily, I was only 10 minutes early and got
to spend some quality time with my Kindle and the drunk people waiting for
their breakfast before (and I’m just assuming here) going home and sleeping
until 4 pm.
We emerged from the cemetery near a bakery that smelled
delicious and then bought the first of many pretzels from an amazing pretzel
stand. We crossed through the twisty
streets and came out right in the middle of the Grunmarkt. It was packed with people and stalls selling
everything from meat and vegetables to crafts.
Also there is the Collegiate Church, which was built in 1696 and has an
impressive façade, though the inside is undergoing some sort of
restoration. We needed to head back to
the hotel to pick up my mom. On the way,
we passed by the Pferdeschwemme Horse-Pond, which served a watering place for
the Archbishop’s horses in 1695. It’s
nicer than any glass I’ve ever used.
With breakfast finished, we headed off to the train station
(Westbanhoff, this time) to catch our train to Salzburg. On the train, I continued reading “Little
Women.” I’d never read the book before,
though I really like the movie (the 1949 film, not the later versions) and it
was free for Kindle, so I decided, “Why not?”
I really liked the book; however, it took me FOREVER to finish it. I reached the part where Beth March died
while on the train and I found it to be really sad. Most of the time I don’t become overly saddened
by death in books. When Dumbledore died
in Harry Potter, I was surprised, but I wasn’t sad about it. I liked the way the author described it. Plus, it was sort of a long, drawn out
process, which always helps (has anyone else seen the ending of “My Dog Skip?” How about “Where the “Red Fern Grows?”).
We got to Salzburg and found our hotel and my dad and I went
to explore the city. We saw Mirabell
Gardens, which are the gardens of Mirabell Palace, the home of Archbishop Wolf
Dietrich Raitenau. He built it in 1606
for his wife and large number of children.
From there, we crossed the Salzach River into the old part of town. We saw Mozart’s birth place, the Cathedral,
and Residence Square. Residence Square includes
the Residence Fountain (the largest baroque fountain outside of Italy), and two
archbishop palaces. There is also a
nearby Mozart monument.
We crossed Chapter Square and saw the Neptune fountain, and
then we angled our way up the hill. We stopped
for lunch and I got a “chicken burger” with garlic mayonnaise which is
basically the best condiment ever invented.
We walked up the hill towards the fortress a little ways before heading
back down and eventually finding ourselves in St. Peter’s cemetery, which is
where the Von Traps hid from the Nazis in The
Sound of Music. I plan on doing an entire Sound of Music post
later on, so I’ll just save the details.
We emerged from the cemetery near a bakery that smelled
delicious and then bought the first of many pretzels from an amazing pretzel
stand. We crossed through the twisty
streets and came out right in the middle of the Grunmarkt. It was packed with people and stalls selling
everything from meat and vegetables to crafts.
Also there is the Collegiate Church, which was built in 1696 and has an
impressive façade, though the inside is undergoing some sort of
restoration. We needed to head back to
the hotel to pick up my mom. On the way,
we passed by the Pferdeschwemme Horse-Pond, which served a watering place for
the Archbishop’s horses in 1695. It’s
nicer than any glass I’ve ever used.
After collecting my mom, we again passed through Mirabell
Gardens and crossed the river into the old town. We were on a mission to visit several
churches that I’d picked out in the guide book.
First stop: Salzburg
Cathedral. Completed in 1628 (and reconstructed
after an Allied bomb collapsed the dome), it is amazing! It has a barrel-vaulted ceiling painted with beautiful
murals and the carved moldings are fantastic.
There is also a baptismal font that was forged in 1321 that depicts
several bishops as well as scenes from the Bible. I had to wait over 5 minutes to get a picture
of it because this tour guide would not move.
I swear she was reciting the names of every baby ever baptized by its
waters.
We moved on to St. Peter’s church. The church was built in stages staring in
1250. It also has a barrel-vaulted
ceiling but it is decorated completely differently from the Cathedral. It has vine-like moldings and only a few
large murals.
On a whim, we popped into the Fransciscan Church. It was built in two different time
periods. The nave is from 1167 and the
choir was built in 1400’s. So, we have a
Romanesque nave, a gothic choir, and a baroque altar. It is also interesting because the church has
many support columns holding up the ceiling rather than it being
free-standing.
After that, we went back to the hotel for dinner and watched
The Big Bang Theory on my dad’s
I-pad.
And so ended Day 1 in Salzburg.
