Driving to Salzburg via lake villages

Driving to Salzburg via the lake villages
Between Hallstatt and Salzburg there are many lakes and historic villages. It has become more common to see building frescoes now that we are in Austria, and they like gnomes on their buildings too (kind of Grimms fairy tale-like). In St. Gilgen (the birthplace of Mozart's mother) we stopped in a small church and heard the organist practicing--a lovely sound and ornate setting to hear such grand music.

It is just a one-hour drive between these mountain lakes villages and Salzburg, so after returning the rental car, we had time to take in some sights after walking to our hotel in old town. The Salzach river runs through Salzburg, with many bridges crossing it, as well as a fortress high on a hill above the town. There are so many church spires here, we can't use them as landmarks. It is really a picturesque city, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We strolled through the Baroque gardens of the Mirabell palace -- impressive as a whole, but the geometric patterns and identical plantings are not that interesting to our contemporary tastes. The fountains and dwarf figures were interesting. The palace and gardens were built in 1606 by prince-archbishop Wolf Dietrich. From the 1300s to 1800, Salzburg was a sovereign state of the Roman Empire--not part of Austria-- and was ruled by a combination secular and Catholic religious leader.

In the evening we enjoyed a concert of Salzburg classical music--Mozart and Hayden, primarily--by a quartet of flute, violin, viola and cello. For the last piece, a guitarist joined for a Boccherini quintet piece. The setting of the concert was in the Baroque Marble Hall of the Mirabell Palace.

There is a big emphasis on music here, from Mozart to The Sound of Music.Read more