Day 20 – No Sound of Music

Rest Day

Has anyone ever been to Salzburg more than once? It’s a challenge to know what to do on a repeat visit because you did everything last time. Salzburg is frozen in time like the little village in the snow globe that comes out every Christmas.

We came here when the children were small and did The Sound of Music tour which is excellent and still the No 1 thing to do. We did the spectacular salt mine with its Church in the bottom and we did the Medieval fortress. That only leaves Mozart’s home which is conveniently situated in the centre of town, close to the Cathedral.

I was in two minds about paying the 18 euros admission but the young man said I could enter for just 10 euros if I pretended to be over 60 so that clinched it. It was a worthwhile hour. The place contained a few of his instruments and some fragments of manuscripts etc. and was nicely furnished in the style of the day. Interestingly, there was no sound of music. Mozart lived there until he was 17 but spent a lot of time touring Europe and then he settled in Vienna.

To be honest I’m not a big fan of Mozart but I have a few of his records and I play them when I’m trying to concentrate on something else.

The Cathedral is impressive, particularly when you look up (see main photo). After that I washed my clothes back at the hotel then went out for tea and cake. The local cake place was closed for Whitsun so I went to the Hotel Bristol instead. It’s vital to announce yourself before the end of the two seconds it takes the doorman to decide whether to return you to the pavement. Two seconds might be a touch optimistic considering the way I’m dressed but with a good British accent he mistook me for a Minor Royal or a tech billionaire and showed me into the world of the super rich. A slab of almond cake and a large pot of green tea that would have satisfied HRH The Prince of Wales, total cost 12 euros. I tipped in keeping with my assumed status and they hoped to see me again very soon.

The young lady at my hotel reception told me that university in Austria is free to EU students; the only cost is 20 euros for the student union membership. That’s still poor value for the current generation because Austria had a strict Covid lockdown until this February. In fact it’s been a terrible time for everyone who followed the rules.