Art lovers call Salzburg the Golden City of High Baroque; historians refer to it as the Florence of the North or the German Rome; and, of course, music lovers know it as the birthplace of one of the world's most beloved composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91). If the young Mozart was the boy wonder of 18th-century Europe and Salzburg did him no particular honor in his lifetime, it is making up for it now. Since 1920 the world-famous Salzburger Festspiele (Salzburg Festival), the third-oldest on the continent, have honored "Wolferl" with performances of his works by the world's greatest musicians.
Salzburg has some of the best—and most expensive—restaurants in Austria, so if you happen to walk into one of the Altstadt posh establishments without a reservation, you may get a sneer worthy of Captain von Trapp. Happily, the city is plentifully supplied with pleasant eateries, offering not only good, solid Austrian food (not for anyone on a diet), but also exceptional Italian dishes and newer-than-now neue Küche (nouvelle cuisine) delights. There are certain dining experiences that are quintessentially Salzburgian, including restaurants perched on the town's peaks that offer "food with a view"—in some cases, it's too bad the food isn't up to the view—or rustic inns that offer "Alpine evenings" with entertainment. Some of the most distinctive places in town are the fabled hotel restaurants, such as those of the Goldener Hirsch or the "S'Nockerl," the cellar of the Hotel Elefant.
It's difficult for a Salzburg hotel not to have a good location—you can find a room with a stunning view over the Kapuzinerberg or Gaisberg or one that simply overlooks a lovely Old City street—but it's possible. Salzburg is not a tiny town, and location is important. It's best to be near the historic city center; it's about a mile from the railway station to historic Zentrum (center), right around the main bridge of the Staatsbrücke. The Old City has a wide assortment of hotels and pensions, but there are few bargains. Also note that many hotels in this area have to be accessed on foot, as cars are not permitted on many streets. If you have a car, you may opt for a hotel or converted castle on the outskirts of the city. Many hostelries are charmingly decorated in Bauernstil—the rustic look of Old Austria; the ultimate in peasant-luxe is found at the world-famous Hotel Goldener Hirsch.
Salzburg Nightlife
Before you arrive in Salzburg, do some advance research to determine the city's music schedule for the time you will be there, and book reservations; if you'll be attending the summer Salzburg Festival, this is a must. After you arrive in the city, any office of the Salzburg Tourist Office and most hotel concierge desks can provide you with schedules for all the arts performances held year-round in Salzburg, and you can find listings in the daily newspaper, Salzburger Nachrichten.
Salzburg Shopping
For a small city, Salzburg has a wide spectrum of stores. The specialties are traditional clothing, like lederhosen and loden coats, jewelry, glassware, handicrafts, confectionary, dolls in native costume, Christmas decorations, sports equipment, and silk flowers. A Gewürzsträussl is a bundle of whole spices bunched and arranged to look like a bouquet of flowers (try the markets on Universitätsplatz). This old tradition goes back to the time when only a few rooms could be heated, and people and their farm animals would often cohabitate on the coldest days. You can imagine how lovely the aromas must have been—so this spicy room freshener was invented.
Salzburg Features
Mozart is sunshine." So proclaimed Antonín Dvořák—and how better to sum up the prodigious genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756–December 5, 1791)? Listening to his rococo orchestrations, his rose-strewn melodies, and his insouciant harmonies, many listeners seem to experience the same giddiness as happiness. Scientists have found Mozart's music can cause the heart to pound, bring color to the cheeks, and provide the expansive feeling of being thrillingly alive. Yet, Mozart must have sensed how hard it is to recognize happiness, which is often something vaguely desired and not detected until gone. It is this melancholy undertow that makes Mozart modern—so modern that he is now the most popular classical composer, having banished Beethoven to second place. Shortly after Amadeus won the 1984 Oscar for best film—with its portrayal of Mozart as a giggling, foul-mouthed genius—Don Giovanni began to rack up more performances than La Bohème. The bewigged face graces countless "Mozartkugeln" chocolates, and Mostly Mozart festivals pay him homage. But a look behind the glare of the spotlights reveals that this blond, slightly built tuning-fork of a fellow was a quicksilver enigma.
Already a skilled pianist at age three, the musical prodigy was dragged across Europe by his father Leopold to perform for empresses and kings. In a life that lasted a mere 35 years, he spent 10 on the road—a burden that contributed to making him the first truly European composer. Growing up in Salzburg, the Wunderkind became less of a Wunder as time went by. Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo enjoyed dissing his resident composer by commanding him to produce "table music" with the same disdainful tone he commanded his chef's dinner orders. Being literally forced to sit with those cooks, Mozart finally rebelled. In March 1781 he married Constanze Weber and set out to conquer Vienna.
Hated by Mozart's father, Constanze is adored today, since we now know she was Mozart's greatest ally. Highly repressed by stuffy Salzburg, Mozart came to like his humor glandular (he titled one cantata "Kiss My XXX") and his women globular, a bill Constanze adequately filled. She no doubt heartily enjoyed the fruits of his first operatic triumph, the naughty Abduction from the Seraglio (1782). His next opera, The Marriage of Figaro (1786), to no one's surprise, bombed. Always eager to thumb his nose at authority, Mozart had adapted a Beaumarchais play so inflammatory in its depiction of aristos as pawns of their own servants, it soon helped ignite the French Revolution. In revenge, wealthy Viennese gave a cold shoulder to his magisterial Don Giovanni (1787). Mozart was relegated to composing, for a lowly vaudeville house, the now immortal Magic Flute (1790), and to ghosting a Requiem for a wealthy count. Sadly, his star only began to soar after a tragic, early death. But in company with fellow starblazers Vincent van Gogh and Marilyn Monroe, we assume he must be enjoying the last laugh.
Few Salzburgers would publicly admit it, but The Sound of Music, Hollywood's interpretation of the trials and joys of the local von Trapp family, has become their city's most eminent emissary when it comes to international promotion. The year after the movie's release, international tourism to Salzburg jumped 20%, and soon The Sound of Music was a Salzburg attraction. In the meantime the Salzburg Marionette Theater shows its own fairy-tale version, and the Landestheater has produced the musical.
Perhaps the most important Sound spin-offs are the tours offered. Besides showing you some of the film's locations (usually very briefly), these four-hour rides have the advantage of giving a very concise tour of the city. The buses generally leave from Mirabellplatz; lumber by the "Do-Re-Mi" staircase at the edge of the beautifully manicured Mirabell Gardens; pass by the hardly visible Aigen train station, where in reality the Trapps caught the escape train; and then head south to Schloss Anif. This 16th-century water castle, which had a cameo appearance in the opening scenes of the film, is now in private hands and not open to the public.
First official stop for a leg-stretcher is at the gazebo in the manicured park of Schloss Hellbrunn at the southern end of the city. Originally built in the gardens of Leopoldskron Palace, it was brought out here for photo ops. This is where Liesl von Trapp sings "I Am Sixteen Going on Seventeen" and where Maria and the Baron woo and coo "Something Good." The simple little structure is the most coveted prize of photographers. The bus then drives by other private palaces with limited visiting rights: Schloss Frohnburg; and Schloss Leopoldskron, with its magical water-gate terrace, adorned with rearing horse sculptures and site of so many memorable scenes in the movie. The bus continues on to Nonnberg Convent at the foot of the daunting Hohensalzburg fortress, then leaves the city limits for the luscious landscape of the Salzkammergut. You get a chance for a meditative walk along the shore of the Wolfgangsee in St. Gilgen before the bus heads for the pretty town of Mondsee, where, in the movie, Maria and Georg von Trapp were married at the twin-turreted Michaelerkirche.
Tour guides are well trained and often have a sense of humor, which they use to gently debunk myths about the movie. Did you know, for example, that Switzerland was "moved" 160 km (100 miles) eastward so the family could hike (and sing) over the mountains to freedom? It all goes to show that in Hollywood, as in Salzburg and its magical environs, almost anything is possible.
Salzburg Panorama Tours (Schrannengasse 2/2, Salzburg. 0662/883–2110. www.panoramatours.com.)
Salzburg Sightseeing Tours (Am Mirabellplatz 2, Salzburg. 0662/881–616. www.welcome-salzburg.at.)
Sternbräu Dinner Theater. For something different, try the Sternbräu Dinner Theater with the Sound of Austria. Its dinner show features those unforgettable songs from the Sound of Music, as well as traditional folksongs from Salzburg and a medley of Austrian operettas, daily from May to October. The cost of the dinner show is €48; without dinner it's €34. Griesgasse 23, Salzburg. 0662/826617.
original on fodors.com
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