We spent our first day in Salzburg exploring the old town and the castle fortress perched on the craggy cliffs overhanging Salzburg's old town while the Wendy's explored the markets and excitement which is "Octoberfest" in this part of the world. Wendy Allan insists it is part of a religious celebration and observance of some kind, but from what I could see, beer, food, people dressed in traditional clothes ( men women and children) more food, beer and lots of noise and excitement...it looked a lot like Octoberfest to me!
Salzburg from the castle...festivities in the market area below.
The castle was very interesting an Michael and I spent a good couple of hours exploring ( read getting lost in the alleys and tunnels) the various exhibits and history of the fort in the museums and galleries.
A creative display of warfare before gunpowder
Interestingly every Medieval town we have visited has had a Torture Exhibit .....which we have avoided, but there was no avoiding this one. Man's inhumanity to man writ large.
Our journey to Vienna had a couple of interesting detours which made it a long, but very interestIng day. Just out of Salzburg is the famous Nazi "Eagles Nest" where Hitler and his henchmen plotted much of their war strategies including the methods of implementing their "final solution".
It sits, like an eagles nest, on a rocky, exposed bluff with magnificent views all around and to get there we had to catch a large shuttle bus up the narrow cliff-hugging road ( too dangerous for general traffic) and then through a very long, deep tunnel and finally into a large lift which took us what seemed an awful long way to the very top, into the clouds.....and what a view....quite mesmerising really.
Our destination was Vienna but along the way we had to stop for "cake & coffee" at a little township called Bad Ausee and then to Grundelsee, where Mike & Wendy regularly holiday in Winter. It being Autumn (feels like summer at 22 degrees) it was a bit of a novelty for them to see it leafy and green. The scenery all through the alpine region with cows and chalets and barns in the field....so Austrian.......so lush, so pretty.
Bad to the bone!
Vienna was not as we had imagined. Much bigger, much more spread out and far more modern than we thought it would be. Certainly the centre of town, where our digs were (the very funky Alma Boutique Hotel) was obviously old, but it seemed also to be quite gentrified.....which is not a bad thing.
We got in late and did a quick orientation after dinner and the next day we took a "hop on hop off" tour to get our bearings. It is a hugely historic place, intellectually, politically and artistically. We saw where Freud had his practice and did much of his work, the streets where Mozart and Strauss lived and worked and the streets and cafes that were rife with revolution in the late 1800s. It is the setting for the film "The Third Man" written by Graham Green about the Cold War in the 50's and they say there are still probably about 300 spooks and handlers still in residence today.
In its prime it was the centre of a mighty empire and the size and number of cathedrals, museums and public buildings are testament to its importance then, and still in Europe today. Interestingly, in the 30's Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky and Lenin we're all in Vienna at about the same time and in the same district...maybe even the same cafe!
We took in the Music Museum ( Mike), and the Vienna Library (Wendy) and where the dancing, prancing horses perform their routines before finishing our fleeting visit to this dynamic city with a Mozart and Strauss concert in the evening....but not before Sacher Tort and coffee at the famous Sacher Hotel in the heart of the city.
Tough life for some!
No comments:
Post a Comment