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Tues 13th Jan - Salzburg is only 1.5 hours by train from Munich, so it was perferct for another day trip.
Salzburg means "salt castle" which came from the barges that carried salt along the Salzach river having to pay a toll to pass through. As far back as the 14th century the city has had many times of change going from being ruled by Bavaria to Austria-Hungarian. After WWI it became part of the new German Austria in 1918, then in 1919 after the treaty of Versailles it became the first republic of Austria. During WWII 46% of the city was destroyed however much of the baroque architecture remained resulting in one of the few cities of its style to survive destruction by war. After WWII Salzburg was also a major place for "displaced persons" camps (now called refugee camps), many of them Jews and Polish from the German camps.
The better known history of this town is of course being the birthplace of the composer Mozart, and the setting for some scenes to the movie "Sound of Music".
Once in the old part of town it's a quaint historical and pretty city to walk around, with some pieces of modern art. There were quite a few beggars which surprised me, you see some in Munich but not as many as in Italy, one man was sound asleep kneeling up as we walked past and Liam said "maybe he's dreaming of being really rich!" it was a funny comment at the time. Liam is still giving all his coins he finds and change he gets to the beggars.
We took the cable car up to the castle on the hill rather than the steps, of course Liam was keen but even Rob opted out this time....thankfully. Hohensalzburg Castle is one of the largest in Europe with building commencing in 1077 and having various expansions over the next 5 centuries. In 1515 a primitive funicular (cable) car provided freight to the upper courtyard, being updated and modern today it carries tourists up to the castle. It is the oldest operational railway in the world. In WWI the castle was a prison for Italian POW's, and Nazi activists in the 1930's. Walking around the castle it's hard to imagine how old it is, walking through the huge state room visualizing the grand performances that would have been held. The museum rooms are very interesting with items dating back to 16th century, with a lot of war memorabilia and some torture gear that looked horrific (I guess it's meant to be), and some of the old musical instruments that were more pleasant to see.
On our way back to the train station we had a look at the house were Mozart was born (not were he lived) not sure if you could go inside unfortunately we were running short of time, to complete the setting there was a musical instrument shop next door.
So glad we had the opportunity to see this lovely city....oh but we didn't hear any singing in the hills.
Salzburg means "salt castle" which came from the barges that carried salt along the Salzach river having to pay a toll to pass through. As far back as the 14th century the city has had many times of change going from being ruled by Bavaria to Austria-Hungarian. After WWI it became part of the new German Austria in 1918, then in 1919 after the treaty of Versailles it became the first republic of Austria. During WWII 46% of the city was destroyed however much of the baroque architecture remained resulting in one of the few cities of its style to survive destruction by war. After WWII Salzburg was also a major place for "displaced persons" camps (now called refugee camps), many of them Jews and Polish from the German camps.
The better known history of this town is of course being the birthplace of the composer Mozart, and the setting for some scenes to the movie "Sound of Music".
Once in the old part of town it's a quaint historical and pretty city to walk around, with some pieces of modern art. There were quite a few beggars which surprised me, you see some in Munich but not as many as in Italy, one man was sound asleep kneeling up as we walked past and Liam said "maybe he's dreaming of being really rich!" it was a funny comment at the time. Liam is still giving all his coins he finds and change he gets to the beggars.
We took the cable car up to the castle on the hill rather than the steps, of course Liam was keen but even Rob opted out this time....thankfully. Hohensalzburg Castle is one of the largest in Europe with building commencing in 1077 and having various expansions over the next 5 centuries. In 1515 a primitive funicular (cable) car provided freight to the upper courtyard, being updated and modern today it carries tourists up to the castle. It is the oldest operational railway in the world. In WWI the castle was a prison for Italian POW's, and Nazi activists in the 1930's. Walking around the castle it's hard to imagine how old it is, walking through the huge state room visualizing the grand performances that would have been held. The museum rooms are very interesting with items dating back to 16th century, with a lot of war memorabilia and some torture gear that looked horrific (I guess it's meant to be), and some of the old musical instruments that were more pleasant to see.
On our way back to the train station we had a look at the house were Mozart was born (not were he lived) not sure if you could go inside unfortunately we were running short of time, to complete the setting there was a musical instrument shop next door.
So glad we had the opportunity to see this lovely city....oh but we didn't hear any singing in the hills.
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