Salzburg - Caroline

 

Well, here we are... our last city! Salzburg during Mozart Week!!!

Salzburg. :)

We got into Salzburg on the big guy's birthday (Mozart) and received the biggest disappointment of my life..... they no longer serve a giant birthday cake to the people of Salzburg for Mozart's birthday anymore. It was pretty heartbreaking, quite a blow for the group. Nonetheless, we had a great first day and enjoyed a wonderful aria dinner in celebration of our favorite short composer. Our first full day in Salzburg was jam-packed with fun stuff. We started with our last walking tour of the city and saw all of the famous sites of the city. After our tour, we headed over to the Salzburg Fortress for a tour of the fortress where we got to see private spaces not open to the public. We learned a whole lot about the history of Salzburg and the fortress. I opted to head to the DomQuartier museum afterward and learned about the archbishops of Salzburg and heard a sneak peek of the Mozart mass we saw the next day. We ended our day at the Vienna Philharmonic with a great program.

Salzburg from the Fortress.

Our second full day in Salzburg was probably my favorite day of the entire trip. We started off at the Salzburg Cathedral where we attended a high mass, the music was absolutely beautiful, and it was the best-sacred choir I have ever heard. After mass, we headed to Untersberg Mountain. We took the Untersgerbahn up to the top and had the chance to hike around. It was the most beautiful sight I've ever seen, I felt like I was on top of the world. I feel so lucky and grateful to spend a good hour up on the peak, it's a memory I'll hold dear for the rest of my life. I can't wait to come back and do more hiking in the alps.

The group at the peak.

Me up on Untersberg!

On Monday we all started our day at the Mozart Gebursthaus and learned a bit more about the Mozart family. Afterward, I did some individual exploring and went back to some of the historic sites, like Mirabel Palace (the Sound of Music garden) and St. Peter's Monastery and Catacombs. I really enjoyed the alone time to explore the city further. We ended our day seeing the Camarata Salzburg ensemble, one of the most impressive groups I've seen. Great day!

St. Peter Monastery.

Tuesday ended up being a big rest day for me. Traveling fatigue started catching up to me so I took the day to rest before our 3:00pm concert of the world-renowned Hagen Quartet followed by an easy evening. Today, Wednesday is our last day in Salzburg and our last day abroad. We started at an 11am concert by the Mozarteum Orchestra and walked around the city one last time. We enjoyed a final group dinner and shared laughs and good food with each other. 

Salzburg Cathedral.

I'm pretty sad to be leaving so soon, I've absolutely loved this experience and I can't wait to be back. 

Next stop: Tacoma. :)

The famous statues from The Sound of Music.

The famous gate from The Sound of Music.

A secret garden I found.  :)

A view from Salzburg streets.

Untersberg at a distance.

Another view of the square outside of the Cathedral.

At the peak of Untersberg.

Mozart's hair... because that's definitely not gross.

The concert hall for the last three performances we saw.