Alpine Adventure- part VI

Part VI

Wed. July 20,2016- Salzburg, Austria

         We were up and rolling by 7:30 A.M. It was to be a long day, headed south and east into Osterreich (Austria). We would first stop at the city of Salzburg on the Salz River. Salz is "salt" in German. It is the home of Mozart. His music is a source of great local pride. Some 500,00 souls call the city home. The area had been a source of the “white gold” (salt) since the Roman times. A huge fortress, with crenellated battlements, towered above the city. You can now reach the castle by a steep funicular. It dominates the landscape.

         A local guide, by the name of Barbara, joined us for a brief walking tour of Salzburg. We walked through and admired the formal French Gardens at Mirabelle. It is surrounded by Greek statuary and buildings of the Vienna School of Music. University education in Austria is free to all of its citizens.

          As we walked, Barbara pointed out several “stumbledy blocks.” These are copper plates imbedded in the cobblestones, each commemorating one of the 450 souls that Salzburg had been  sent off to their demise in the Nazi concentration camp of Malthieseun. The large Cathedral here had suffered significant bomb damage during W.W.II

         Our guide politely debunked the whole “Sound of Music” legend. The Von Trapp family had indeed left Austria for America, but they left by train to Genoa and then by boat to NYC to perform there. A lot of the other scenes had been dreamed up by imaginative screenwriters. Austria does not even border Switzerland and a hike over these Alps would have brought you into Germany.

         We crossed over the scenic “love-lock” bridge, spanning the canal, a branch of the Salz River.. Like Frankfurt and Paris, the custom had arisen for lovers to put their initials on a lock, bind it to the bridge and throw the keys into the river. From the bridge, we wandered into the large pedestrian mall of the central city. The shops were expensive and held good quality merchandize. Some had been operated by the same families for 300 years. One shop listed 1368 on its corner stone. Coffee houses abounded here. The local custom is to dawdle over one cup of coffee while reading the paper and chatting with friends. The café Tomaselli had been open for business since 1753.We window-shopped, stopped at Mozart’s birthplace and then wandered over to the canal. On the third floor of the “Werfelluncheon,” over looking the canal, we enjoyed some apfel and plum strudel with cappuccino. It was wonderful.

         After lunch, we rejoined our land cruiser, which ran a tape of The Sounds of Music” as we headed est to Wien (Vienna). There are nine federal states in Austria. The river Ein separates upper and lower Austria. Copper, Iron, salt, silver and magnerite had all been mined in this area. Austria’s eight million citizens live in an area about one fifth the size of California. We passed by the scenic Mondsee lake and village, The nearby village of Hallstadt dates to 1,500 B.C.  We drove through the Stryia region. It is here, in the town of Graz, that Arnold Swarzenegger had emigrated from. Tennis player Steffi Graf had also called the area home.

        As we approached Wien, sitting on the Wien River in the Wacau region of Austria, Lucy explained the area’s prominence. Once, Vienna had been the capital of the Austro- Hungarian Empire, an expanse of eighteen current countries. This city of 1.8 million souls had been the seat of the Hapsburg Royal family. They had ruled here until after the end of W.W.I when the empire had been broken up. Its buildings and layout reflected its imperial heritage. Built in concentric circles, the city had 23 separate zones. Every building seemed larger than life. The Turks had besieged the Capital twice in 1529 and 1683. The architecture represented a variety of differing styles, ranging from Gothic, to Romanesque to Beau Arts, depending on what era the buildings had originated in. In great old cities like Wien, you got a sample of just about everything. I had the same impression of Wien, that I did on entering Washington D.C or any of several other Federal capitols. The place had been built to impress visitors.

        We drove by the massive Schumbrun Palace, which we would visit tomorrow. And then found our way through the crowded avenues to our Hotel, the Savoyen at 12 Schunbrunner Strasser. It was late at 6:45 P.M. We didn’t have time to wait for our luggage or a change of clothes. We had a 7:30 dinner date, at the "Schrieber Haus” in The Vienna Woods, North of the City. The experience(picnic dining in the woods)is what locals call a “Heurigen.”

        Vienna is a large city in area. Its north side encompasses grape arbors and a large wooded section called appropriately The Vienna Woods. Tibor piloted the huge land cruiser through the residential streets until we came upon a small restaurant  with the name “Schrieberhaus” on its front. We filed into the very German looking restaurant.. It opened up onto a large outdoor patio that sits on three levels of terraces, connected by stone-flagged steps and shaded by large Linden Trees. We sat at open picnic tables, on the upper tier, about ten feet from rows of grape vines. The waitresses brought pitchers of red and white wine, which we imbibed liberally.  They brought out platters on appetizers and then entrees family style and in good quantity. An accordion player sang for his supper, with many Austrian melodies, while we enjoyed dinner al fresco. The wine flowed freely and so did our moods. We sang, laughed and enjoyed the customs of “Hurtigen” about as much as anyone could. We all tipped the accordion player as we left. It had been a fun night in the Vienna Woods. The ride back to the hotel was raucous. “In vino veritas” had opened up the aging cargo of the bus to all manner of humorous comments. Tibor got us back to the Savoyen, where we unpacked our gear, washed out some clothes, wrote up our notes and drifted off into the arms of Morpheus, tired with the long day.

                                         -30-

                                    (1,050 words)

                           Joseph Xavier Martin