Emma- Salzburg

     The final city of our cross country tour, Salzburg. Honestly the perfect place to end the trip cause I think it may have ended up being my favorite out of all the places we visited. We had lots of time here, which was honestly really nice because it gave me the chance to take things slow and not rush to see everything all in one day. The first day, we had the Mozart Aria dinner which was very new to me because it was in such a formal setting and it was a very proper dinner and a show. 

    

On Saturday, we had a walking tour of the city and then afterwards, a tour of the Hohensalzburg Fortress. That night we saw the Vienna Philharmonic, which was certainly in the most modern concert hall so far! This venue had a completely different feel than all the others so far. 

    

On Sunday we did my absolute favorite thing on the whole trip which was the Untersbergbahn. This was a cable car that went up above the clouds up to the top of the Geiereck Mountain. From here, we took a hike through the snow up to the peak to see one of the most incredible views I have ever seen! 

    The next few days, I was surrounded with more Mozart than I was ready for. I knew it was Mozart's birth week, but we really got the constant Mozart experience with Mozart pieces being played every day for 5 days, as well as a look at his birth house. Funnily enough, I think my favorite performance of the ones we saw in Salzburg was the Hagen Quartet. I really enjoyed how since it was only four people, each performer played like a soloist with lots of expression but also super connected with the other musicians. 

    Salzburg was an absolutely adorable city that was the epitome of what I pictured when I thought of Austria or Germany. All the Christmas stores, all the references to the Sound of Music, and of course all the Mozart added to cute and homey feel of this city.