So my weekend adventure is in Salzburg, Austria.
The city is most famous for The Sound of Music and all that entails.
Well, not actually, but it is probably the reason that most Americans who visit Salzburg visit Salzburg. The rest of the Americans who visit Salzburg are probably here because of the stunningly beautiful setting—a quaint, walkable, city center along with a fantastic castle upon a hill that affords views of the surroundings.
There is, of course, that distinct minority of people who love chocolate and adore Mozartkugel – Mozart Balls – which are named after an inconsequential composer who, if not for his balls, would largely go unremembered.
His balls are so famous that there was even a movie (or two) made about him.
Maybe I am misstating the history a bit – maybe Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is Salzburg’s most famous son.
However, I am not a classical music geek, so this aspect of history is lost on me.
What I can say is that after lunch, with my Salzburg Card in hand, I went up the funicular to see the Festung Hohensalzburg – a fantastic castle above the city, where you can see how the city’s leaders lived along with stunning views of the surrounding countryside. The city really is in a lovely valley with beautiful surrounds.
After exploring the castle, down the hill I went and off to see the Salzburg Panorama, an amazing painting of Salzburg, done in the round – after climbing the stairs into the middle of the painting, it was as if one was standing in the castle, looking around, but in 1829. The detail of the painting is fantastic: you can see laundry being hung, the church towers appear to pop out of the painting, and you can see forever.
From there the next stop was the Salzburg Museum.
Word of advice: skip the Salzburg Museum. Starting with a very rude man who mocked me because I didn’t want him to put the audio guide around my neck: I am uncomfortable with strangers putting things around my neck – or getting that close to me in general, unless they have good reason. From there the museum went down hill.
The ground floor had a special exhibition of sketches made by a local artist – a typical 5 year old is a better artist. The first floor was filled with religious art – and I really do not care for religious art – if you’ve seen one representation of Jesus, you’ve seen them all. The second floor was a pathetic attempt at covering Salzburg history, which was not well thought out. From there was the basement with recent acquisitions: the collectors are, apparently, not very discriminating in what they accept as gifts or what they buy.
This museum was a dud.
I’m not sure what I’m doing today – this is pretty much a last minute weekend without much preplanning. Salzburg was chosen because it was relatively inexpensive to fly to and not too far away.
So I take it the sex exhibit at one of the museums (can’t remember which) isn’t there anymore? That’s the most interesting thing I’ve seen in Salzburg, aside from those god awful Mozart balls.
I have seen the sex exhibit and I think it was there as well. It pretty much scared me for life as I saw some of the torture devices that they used back in the day. Hauntingly interesting stuff.
Ah wie interessant.
Die wenigsten Deutschen kennen Sound of Music oder haben etwas über die Trapp Familie gehört. Wenn ja, wird der Film über die Trapp Familie als Verkitschung von Österreich kritisiert.
Aber die meisten kennen Mozart. Und Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ist kein unbedeutenden Komponist sondern seine Werke gehören zu den bedeutensten der klassischen Musik.
Und Mozartkugeln? Nun ja, Wer Marzipan liebt, kann sie ja essen.
Aber ich verfolge gerne Deine Geschichten als Amerikaner in Deutschland.
Liebe Grüße
Ich Danke Ihnen, meine beliebte Oma! Ich habe ein neues Wort gelernt. Ich wohne in Bayern, und für mich ist “verkitschen” sehr verwendbar.