Thursday, June 25, 2026 (7 miles)

From Rick Steves, “Salzburgers are forever smiling to the tunes of Mozart and the Sound of Music. It’s a city with class. Vagabonds visiting here wish they had nicer clothes.”

We assembled for our guided walking tour after breakfast and learned that Austria has long had a reputation of wealth given their mining of salt, which in Roman times meant money and power, often referred to as “white gold”.  A crucial road over the Alps thru Salzburg served the Romans and their location provided a waterway to the Orient for salt sales, important for preserving food products. 

Wealth also came in the form of other natural resources, like real gold – and silver.  Additionally they mined marble, conglomerate (second to marble for construction in Salzburg), limestone, and sandstone. 

Also from Rick, “In about AD 700, a Bavarian Duke summoned Bishop Rupert (later Saint Rupert) to help Christianize the area, and it was Rupert who founded Salsburg and its first church/monestary. For centuries, Salzburg remained an independent city-state, ruled by prince–archbishops – a cross between a king and a pope, but less powerful than either one. Salzburg‘s mighty fortress-looming protectively over the city – helped deter invaders.”

“Napoleon finally put an end to Salzburg’s independence in 1803 (they handed him the keys to the fortress without putting up a fight) then, after the fall of Napoleon, Salzburg became part of Austria and was ruled by Vienna. Thanks and in part to it’s formidable fortress, Salzburg managed to avoid the ravages of war for 1200 years… Until World War II. Allied bombing destroyed much of the city (especially around the train station) but the historic old town survived.”

We walked through the Gorgeous Mirabell Gardens, abloom in so many shades of yellow, red, pink, purple, orange and the accompanying greens giving stage to hundreds of flower varietals!  Maribel Platz displayed the principle of the “changing view” which is a classic baroque approach. Four Gigantic statues portrayed a Greek mythological depiction of the Four Elements and the four seasons were represented as well.  

Christian Doppler was born here – the person who gifted us the principle of the Doppler effect.  He gets low bill since Mozart was also born here and lived here for awhile.  The Salzburg music school, Universitãt Mozartium, is  very prestigious for string instrumentalists and conductor wannabe’s.

I barely had time for a quick lunch of squandered breakfast sliced meats, cheese and lovely rye and seed bread (I added mustard) before heading out with eight others from my group to walk to “Bob’s Special Tours” for our “Sound of Music” encounter!  I had been so looking forward to this, and found myself very emotional – every time I considered, and then booked and then set out for this event!! I can’t even put it into words – it’s all wrapped up in nostalgia, appreciation for the years I’ve lived on this planet, family – so much I cannot begin to express!! I don’t even really understand my tears!!  I was the oldest of four in my family, and this was the first movie I ever attended in a theater – and loved to sing along to the all the songs on the album our family cherished afterwards! I think it also represents some of the first real memories that I have of me as a person.  I don’t know…  Yet I do know that my emotions were/are on the surface!  

Well, our tour guide was passionate and knowledgable (although  simultaneously worried about someone coming to pick up a cast off couch from her home later), our driver competent, our ride outfitted with well executed air conditioning (it got to 96°F today!), more astounding  views – as we have become accustomed to in our own “tour group” travels – especially three huge lakes that we drove by!!!  Yet I am So Sorry to say… Meh!!

We drove by the superbly beautiful, large and bustling lakes of Fuschl, Wolfgangsee and Mondsee, the latter where the Church of Saint Michael was the setting of a wedding in the Sound of Music!   We stopped at several sites that were in the movie, but none of us got to twirl around and sing to “the hills are alive” which most of us were hoping we could do!! Expectations – should we have them when we travel?  

And then again, I felt pressed for time to make it to the Marionette show that I last-minute booked this morning. It all worked out, and what an amazing performance!! It was superb, setting unparalleled, and the marionettes were like real people!! What an incredible experience!  Of course we could not take pictures  inside… The first portion of the performance actually allowed us to see the puppeteers operating their marionettes – what a unique opportunity!!

And another long day in the books!