| Austria | Salzburg | 2000.09.05 - 09.10 |
The Home of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born and raised in Salzburg. Though he disliked nearly everything about this city, remnants of his presence are everywhere - a town square named Mozartplatz, his statue, his birthplace, and the Mozart Residence. There's also Mozart chocolate and Mozart concerts several times per week. Of course, the Old Town section of Salzburg has more than Mozart. There's a fortress, an abbey, a cathedral, museums, statues, fountains, and many, many painted cow-shaped works of art.
In addition, there are several worthwhile day trips from Salzburg. Two of these are below.
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Left: The
golden Residence Fountain is a calming piece sitting in front of the
town cathedral. Right: This gorgeous statue is the centerpiece of Domplatz square. |
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The ceiling of the town cathedral is surprisingly bright and colorful. Frescos are in joyful soothing colors, and the white interior walls reflect the incoming light to make this the brightest, happiest cathedral we're ever been to. |
Day Trips from Salzburg
We took 2 excellent day trips
from Salzburg; one to the salt mines at Hallein and the other to the ice
caves and Hohenwerfen Fortress in Werfen. Detailed information about
each are available at the Tourist Information counter on platform 2a at
the Innsbruck train station. The salt mines were fun and educational. The mandatory guided tour is partly in
English. In addition to salt extraction methods, we learned that the Austrian government
monopolized salt in Austria until a decade ago. The government regulated
high salt price kept the mines extracting salt at a profit until 1989.
When barriers against the import of salt were lifted, the mines ceased
to be profitable and turned to tourism. The mines are a constant
10°C. Warm clothing and comfortable walking shoes are much needed.
Before entry, visitors are given white pants and coat to wear over their
clothing for protection against dirt and abrasion. The tour is great
fun! Don't bother taking your camera - long dark caverns don't
photograph well. The town of Werfen (50
minutes train ride from Innsbruck) has 2 interesting sites: ice caves
and a the Hohenwerfen Fortress. Both can be seen in a single day if
Werfen is reached by 10:00. The ice caves take over an
hour to reach from Werfen. The distance isn't the issue. The leisurely
mini-bus driver, the 15-minute walk from the mini-bus stop to a cable
car, the wait at the cable car stop, and the 15-minute walk from the top
cable car station to the cave are. The mandatory tour through
the caves is in English or German. Ask the guides ahead of time to make
sure you join the proper group. We found out about the English tour too
late - we had already completed the tour in German. Within the cave, the
expanse of ice is amazing. The ice itself wasn't. At the steepest
section the ice flowed down a 45° grade. Those native to Rochester,
New York will be able to relate - it was like Bristol Mountain ski
resort. The caves are cold -
naturally, they're ice caves. Bring a winter jacket, gloves, and
comfortable walking shoes. Hohenwerfen Fortress is
closer to Werfen and can be reached on foot. There's a lot to see and
do. Twice a day there's a "birds of prey" show. As large birds
circled overhead and returned to their trainers, we recalled the
difficulty we had trying to train our dogs. At least dogs are smart and
naturally return home. Imagine trying to train a bird-brain that wants
to fly free!
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Hohenwerfen Fortress sits above the town of Werfen. The walk to the fortress is a good 15-minute work-out. |
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The "birds of prey" show was worth seeing. Why don't these birds fly free? |
Copyright © 2000-2002 Wes and Masami Heiser. All rights reserved.