Salzburg, Austria

Reasons to visit Salzburg:

It is the prettiest city in Austria

The Sound of Music was filmed there

Mozart was born and raised in Salzburg

It is in the foothills of the Alps

OK, for me it was primarily the Alps, which we have never seen … I am a sucker for mountains and have wanted to visit the Alps for years !! Little did I know that my daughter would book us on a train tour of Switzerland in 2025. But still …

As for Salzburg being Austria’s most scenic city, who knows … I haven’t seen much of Austria yet. What I saw today demonstrates that a rival city would have to it at its best!!

Mozart was born and raised in Salzburg… Above was the home of his youth. Our guide told us that he hated Salzburg. He gave his first concert to the Church bigwigs at age six, and then was expected to write and perform new music for their masses which he found to be very boring and constraining. Our guide also told us a wonderful story which may be too good to be true. At his first concert, six-year-old Mozart jumped on and hugged the Austrian Empress, Maria Theresa, the wife of the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and asked if he could marry her five-year-old daughter, Marie. He was rejected, but it would have been better for Marie Antonette if her mother had consented.

This is the house where Mozart was born … You can tell which ones were his by his name on the buildings. Mozart loved the finer things in life … women, food, and liquor. He died young, in his thirties, perhaps from too much of good things.

On to the Sound of Music … Many of the outdoor scenes were filmed here in Salzburg. The steps behind us lead into the garden and were used to film part of the Do-Ra-Me song.

Here I am, posing in front of the fountain that Julie Andrew’s ran around, splashing a little water… She sings better than I do !!

Surprisingly, the Austrians don’t really care for the movie. They prefer to forget Hitler and the Nazis, rather than have that era of their history come up over and over again. But, the people of Salzburg know where their bread is buttered. So while we were having a late lunch at Europe’s oldest restaurant , dating back to around 80 A.D., we were treated to this:

A couple additional things about Salzburg … There were a series of courtyards, utilized primarily for shopping. Everything from famous chocolates, Dutch cheese, a series of local breweries, and the country’s oldest umbrella store. But the shops were positioned under very attractive signs:

These two marked the presence of a Taylor and Chinese Restaurant

Finally, another tidbit from our cruise … Most of our cities visited in Germany and Austria end in either “burg,” or “berg.”
The “burg” cities, like Salzburg, means they were home to a fortress. The “berg”:cities were located on the side of a mountain. Salzburg had a fortress, dating back to the 1300s on the hill behind the town. It was built for defensive purposes by the local archbishop who literally ran the town. He also had a 45 room residence in the middle of town, overshadowing the city cathedral. As Mel Brooks said: “It’s good to be the king !!!”

We took the funicular up the cliff to the fort to see the views and look for the Alps.

The views were great, but we’ll wait until our visit to Switzerland to say we visited the Alps.