Salzburg: Zweimal

Hohenfestung taken from the Mirabell gardens

To those who knew I travelled to Salzburg just a week past, it might come as a surprise that I already returned this past weekend. I found however, that Salzburg was the one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I had looked up online the ten sights to see in Salzburg and on my first trip only gotten to see five. I promised I would return to see the other five. The interesting thing about this, though, is that unlike Vienna, Salzburg feels like a city where you could, with some work, "do it all." So even though I got done more in two trips, probably, than any tourist normally does, ever, I still wonder what little gems there might be. It was great to have the opportunity to come back and finish things up, though.

My first stop was Mirabell Palace, which I stumbled on almost by accident given the way the bus routes run. The odd thing about Mirabell palace is that, in some ways, the gardens are the most exciting thing about it. I must add the caveat, however, that it is still an operating building, and so I didn't get to see much of the inside. By taking a side street I entered the gardens and was at the end of a long walk. Interestingly, this long walk was set up to highlight the elevated section of the gardens and Hohenfestung castle, but not Mirabell itself as the palace is to the side. I think it is this, combined with its square toroid shape and uniformity, that make the exterior of the building itself not particularly spectacular. This walkway to the gardens, however, was gorgeous. I'm certain it would be pretty any time of year, but with the fall colors, it was simply stunning. There are unfortunately inevitably going to be tourists swarming, but it seemed like such a calm, peaceful place as well. I can definitely see why the row was put here, even if it highlights something other than the palace proper.

 The gardens proper suffered a bit due to the season. Some of the flower beds intended to make up patterns in the grass were just dirt, either because they don't keep flowers in them during the winter or because they are changing the flowers to winter varietals. Still, everything that wasn't a flower was, like the walkway, in exquisite fall colors. Also, the fountains and statues added to the ambiance. While I have railed against Mirabell proper and the fact that the walkway of trees doesn't lead up to it, the main gardens do, and they did contribute something to the main palace, making it look stately, if not beautiful or incredibly grand. Next to the palace, sort of triangulated between the building, the tree-lined walkway, the main gardens, and the elevated gardens is a fountain with a prancing horse on it. I'm not sure what the significance of the horse is, but it was a nice pond. Behind it was some kind of conservatory.

Lover's garden

After exploring the lower gardens I headed up to the upper gardens. One upper garden was across a bridge and had strange gnomish figures and suffused with fallen leaves from tall, yellow-orange colored trees. The main upper garden was directly in front of the fountain, however, and was in line with the row of trees from earlier. This garden was headed off by stairs guarded by a gate and flanked by unicorn statues on either side. The stairs split, offering two ways to the top. Between them a sign heralded the Franz Josef I in gold lettering against red marble. Once I got to the top there was a rose garden that, I think in a better time of year would have been more impressive, but nonetheless was pretty. A young couple was making use of this garden when I stopped by. The most spectacular view, however, was coming back the other way, looking out at Hohenfestung, the fountain, and the trees, with everything in line. That's the photo that heads off the post.

There was a sort of annex garden next to the main garden that I actually didn't get to until after going through the actual Mirabell Palace itself. I'll post it here for continuity, however. The hedges were a more integral part of this garden, and the main features were the conservatory on one end and the fountain in the middle. The fountain was really cool, a woman with birds perched all over her body with each bird spitting out water. The conservatory was pretty small, but had some tropical plants in it. There was also a big bird cage with a solitary tropical bird. I tried to get a picture of him but the camera kept focusing on the grid of the cage and not on the bird, really. He also wasn't very cooperative in posing!

Finally, I did walk through Mirabell Palace, going through an archway into the central courtyard. This cobblestone courtyard wasn't particularly beautiful, but it was kind of fascinating to see the cars of the people who now worked their parked in the middle. It made for a kind of strange chronological juxtaposition. There was one door to the interior that was open and I did go inside.

Sci-fi or reality?!

The decoration in this entryway and on the stairs was mind blowing, but it felt almost like it was from some sort of science fiction or fantasy architectural style rather than one that would have been accepted when Mirabell Palace was built. I went up the stairs to try to see the concert hall but the door was closed and locked. I think they keep it that way since there's a concert you can pay for almost every night to see in there. Still, it was cool to get a glimpse of the Palace interior, even if it was not of the most spectacular portions or a very large cross-section.

After finally leaving the Mirabell Palace complex I headed over to Mozart's Wohnhaus, which was just nearby. I must say that the museum contained herein was significantly less impressive than the one contained in Mozart's Geburtshaus on the other side of of the river. Nonetheless, it was cool to see more relics of the Mozart family. The exhibits on Leopold Mozart and Nannerl Mozart (Wolfgang's father and sister) were particularly impressive. It was also nice to have an interactive map that highlighted each of Mozart's journeys throughout Europe. As a sort of side note I was fascinated by the obelisk containing Mozart's entire works in it. It was an impressively tall tower! The main thing, that on its own would have made the visit worth it, were the dance-master's hall and what it contained. The woman from whom the Mozarts rented this house was a dancing master (or mistress) and this was the long, rectangular room, with parquet floor, that the dancing actually would have occurred (though I'm not sure if it occurred while the Mozarts were occupants). There were several exhibits against the walls, including some instruments from Mozart's time. Also, at the end of the room they had two musicians playing duets on violin and forte-piano. Except that this wasn't just a forte-piano. It was Mozart's forte-piano. Incredible.

That's Mozart's forte-piano...

After seeing Mozart's Wohnhaus I took a quick stop for lunch and had a gorgonzola pizza at a quaint half-underground restaurant with an eccentric but funny waiter who, I think, may have actually originally been from an English speaking country. This restaurant was right nearby the St. Sebastian monastery/cathedral, which was one of the other destinations I had wanted to return to visit.

Unfortunately the actual cathedral and monastery buildings were closed, so my explorations were limited to the graveyard. I was entirely out of luck with the cathedral building, but the old monastery building or whatever exactly it was in the center for the graveyard only had a grate locking it, so I was able to get a glimpse of what it looked like and a few rough photos. 

The graveyard itself was impressive and felt very well put together in its square shape. One of the major gravestones, which was highlighted by (most put there by overseers, I think) austrian flags and wreaths, was that of Leopold Mozart. The story is that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's body is lost because he was buried in an unmarked mass grave. Apparently, the museums informed me, this was normal for Mozart's time, and that though he did have trouble managing his money, at the end of his life he had enough that it wasn't poverty that forced him into this burial, simply custom. I wonder though, why Leopold's grave is marked and known. Did burial procedures change that much between the deaths of father and son (which weren't as far apart as they should have been due to Mozart's untimely demise)?

How did this grave get here?

This is from the Residenz Palace it just looks like Greece!

My final stop that was actually in town was at the Residenz Palace, the primary residence of the Prince Archbishops who ruled Salzburg. It's true that they also had their seat in Hohenfestung, but that was, most likely, not used to receive guests in peace time. The Residenz Palace, on the same square as St. Peter's Cathedral, is, not unlike Miraball Palace, rather unassuming from the outside. It is the inside of this palace that make it particularly impressive (or opulent!). I really appreciated the way that each room had a painting from the life of Alexander the Great on the ceiling, the red walls and furniture (with white and gold, very beautiful), and the exquisite woodworking in the building.

Gallery of stuff at the Residenz Palace:

Original 17th Century Murano
glass mirror

 

Parquet floor

Trick! This was actually in the Mozart Wohnhaus, but also incredible! 

Helbrunn Palace

One of the still operating fountains,
though I bet the others are more impressive....

My final trip was out to see Helbrunn Palace and its special fountains. Now, this was a situation where not thinking things through and not preparing led to some significant problems. There is some way to get there on public transportation (that's how I came back) but I didn't take it. Instead I walked for several miles to get to the palace. Now, granted, it was an incredibly beautiful walk, but my feet really hurt by the end of it, and I was beginning to get a headache. Perhaps the worse problem, however, is that the palace is shut down for winter, as are most of the fountains (duh... too cold). I still got to see some of where the fountains would have been, the side garden, and the building itself. I also got to check everything off my list of things to do. I was a bit disappointed, but it was okay.

The side gardens with their water features.

After returning to town, I went and got an ornament for our family Christmas tree. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't find a place easily that had stuff made in Salzburg. Nonetheless I fell in love with a little snowman from Innsbruck. I wanted her to give me the exact one on display but instead she got a box out of the back. I guess you have to say, "oh well," about such sentimental thoughts. Let me leave this post with some beautiful fall photos, gorgeous, whimsical, and stunning.

Taken on the main bridge in Salzburg before I left for Helbrunn

Doggie on top of the harvest!!

Maybe the best photo I've ever taken.