The home of Mozart
I have 4 favourite cities from our travels, and Salzburg is one of them. It is beautiful. The river, the history, the music and culture everywhere. It is not too big and had a really cool vibe. Our first time experiencing this fantastic city was after church on our first Sunday in Austria. It was a very hot day, so we headed for the beautiful Mirabell Palace and Gardens. In Maria Alm where we were staying, it is quite a bit cooler because it is so high up in the mountains. Down in Salzburg in the heat of summer.....it was HOT!! Our photos around the garden look just sunny and happy, but we were slowly melting from the extreme heat. It was a bit of a nightmare trying to breastfeed in public on that day, but despite the heat, we were able to appreciate visiting such a beautiful place. We had a lot of fun standing on the Sound of Music steps together, and the kids enjoyed running around the garden.
Of course, there was no hiding that we were the loud crazy foreigners, as my kids were straight away 'head down, bum up' in every beautiful fountain we came across. Luckily no one actually ended up all the way in.....but I wasn't too cross, it was very hot. I probably should have joined them!
In the Mirabell Gardens is an adjoining section called 'The Dwarf Garden'. In this garden is a circle of ugly, creepy Dwarf statues in a perfectly landscaped Austrian setting. It was created in 1715 by the Prince Archbishop. Many of the statues are modeled after Dwarves who lived in the court and served as entertainers at the time. Others were inspired by peasants and foreigners. This garden is also featured in 'The Sound of Music' when Maria and the Von Trapp kids run past them while singing Do Re Mi.
Amira, Zahli and Rushton were hilarious and spent time trying to copy the posture and facial expressions of the statues. I'm sure that some of the other people in the garden who were relaxing and reading books were annoyed at the crazy foreigners with the loud kids, but we had a great time making memories together.
On another, less hot day, we set out to explore other parts of the city. Our first stop on our special day out together in Salzburg was to see Residenzplatz and the absolutely beautiful fountain there. This magnificent baroque fountain has four snorting horses that seem to spring forth from the spouting rock. Giants rooted in the rock carry the lower basin, in which three dolphins balance the scalloped upper basin. The upper basin holds a Triton, a jet of water shooting into the air from his conch-shell trumpet. Of course, my kids were too busy trying to dive in to notice the artistry....
Our kids spent time learning all about Mozart in preparation for our outing. We watched a great documentary online and listened to some of his music. Ever since then, Ross has a particular Mozart soundtrack on his phone that Bo listens to when he falls asleep. We have all heard that music so often that it has become the soundtrack to our trip. It is so familiar now...and so annoying...
In Salzburg, Mozart is everywhere! There are special Mozart chocolates ( Mozart Kugels ) sooooo yummy! And his face is on every kind of souvenir imaginable. Even with all the gimmickry, there is also a true love for the great composer here, and his music is celebrated all over the city. There are concerts and performances in churches, cathedrals and music halls every night!
