Today, Salzburg’s pride in Mozart shows itself best not in museums but in live concerts. Salzburg is a world class destination for live musical performances. Each summer it hosts its famous Salzburg Festival.
But Salzburg is busy all year long with over two thousand live performances in churches and palaces.
You need to go into the Mirabell Palace to hear some of the world’s best musicians play in a splendid baroque hall. Mozart performed for the prince in the same hall.
The surrounding Mirabell gardens, laid out in 1731, are a favorite with locals and tourists alike. Enjoying the garden, cathedral and castle view, it is easy to imagine how the prince must have reveled in such a vista that reminded him of all his secular as well as religious power.
Two hours southeast of Salzburg is the Salzkammergut town on the Salzkammergut lake. You can get there by train. The tiny train station is across Lake Hallstatt from the postcard-pretty town by the same name – Hallstatt.
Lovable Hallstatt is a tiny town bullied onto a ledge between a mountain and a swan-ruled lake. Apart from the waterfall which rips through its middle, Hallstatt is an oasis of peace.
With the scarcity of level land, tall homes have their front door on the street-level top floor and their water entrance several floors below.
The town which originated as a salt mining center is one of Europe’s oldest, going back centuries before Christ.
If you dug under the buildings you would find Roman and pre-Roman Celtic pavement stones from the ancient and prehistoric salt depot.
A steep funicular runs up the mountain to Hallstatt’s salt mine. It is one of the many throughout the region that offer tours. After you get there you start to hike the mountain.
Here in Hallstatt you will see the traditional Fuhr boats, designed to carry heavy loads in shallow water.
An amazing place, with an amazing view and a lot of things to experience. From the classics in Salzburg to the nature in Hallstatt. Enjoy.
