Easter in Salzburg

Today was our first full day in Salzburg. It is a quaint little city not far from the German border. Most people know Salzburg as the home of the Sound of Music. This city is full of character. Since today is Easter I felt I should attend church. I accompanied Rebecca and Hannah to Mass at the Salzburg Cathedral which is the main church for Salzburg dating back to 1628 when this church was completed. This was also the church that Mozart was baptized in. Mass was in German again but that was okay because they played a lot of music including Mozart which was a great, all-around experience.

Salzburg Cathedral

From there, we met back up with the rest of the group and went to Hangar-7 which is a display building owned and operated by Red Bull (whose headquarters are located in a neighboring town). The building consisted of this steel structure that spread out like a spiderweb and was enclosed completely by glass. It was an awesome building and one that asks a lot of architectural questions. We stayed there for a bit after getting a free coffee (which of course made the place that much better) and bused back into the city.

Hangar-7

Hans took us on a walking tour of the city. We started at the Mirabell Palace and Gardens which the Sound of Music filmed at. He explained to us the planning that went into it. It was a warmish Spring day and the flowers were blooming and people were out. This made the gardens more inviting. Next, was the Kollegienkirche (University Church) by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach around 1707. The church was super cold. It had to be at least 10 degrees colder than the outside. And the church was stark white with little ornamentation and the altar was a lot smaller than most of the other churches of the time.

Kollegienkirche

Hans let us go from there. A small group of us took the time to photograph the two other churches we previously attended now that there weren't as many people in them. Once we finished with that we took an elevator up Mönchsberg, which is one of the mountains around Salzburg, to the Museum der Moderne. The views were great and the museum was nice. It was interesting to see how they built a museum on the cliff of a mountain.

View looking down on Salzburg

We walked from the museum up to the Hohensalzburg Castle on a neighboring mountain. This castle overlooks everything for miles in every direction. It provided beautiful views of everything. There wasn't much to see in the castle as it was actually closed so we took the funicular down after we got our fill.

Hohensalzburg Castle at night

We got dinner at an American burger place called Burgerista. It was fantastic. It was like a piece of home. Afterwards we got some Austrian beer at a bierhaus so you can't call us uncultured. It was a relaxing end to a busy 36 hours or so. Tomorrow we make the trip across the country to Vienna.