Resembling nothing so much as a jewel
twinkling in the Austrian Alps, Salzburg is a quaint, if sterile,
little city. Classy, cultured, charming, tourist ridden in the
extreme– it was everything one would expect. I initially
considered the university for my Masters because the thought of spending
two years in the Alps was pretty appealing, at least until I
looked at its world ranking and realized I needed to aim higher.
However, I will say that the faculties, spread throughout the city,
benefit from their amazing location and there are certainly worse
places in the world to study.
Best known as the birthplace of Mozart
almost 300 years ago, Salzburg's prodigal son continues to
dominate the city's culturescape. Not that this is a bad thing –
living in one of the European capitals for classical music, I am very
much learning to appreciate it, and would actually take it over
Beyoncé any day. In fact, he is difficult to avoid, with
life sized cutouts hawking the eponymous Mozart Kugeln in every
second store. Mozart Kugeln, for the uninitiated, are ultra high
calorie marzipan balls coated in chocolate – and yes, they taste
awfully good. You can also visit his birth house and other
locations where he lived and carried on in his daily life.
Salzburg is divided by a river; on one
side lies the old town, topped by a fortress that sits high above
the city, on the other, the newer district which is still old by most
any standards. The old town is a maze of narrow cobble stone streets
lined with boutiques and fast food outlets. It's actually kind of
funny – there must be a legal requirement for signage to resemble
the remaining historic signs, because I would find myself admiring a
cute sign and then realize it read 'McDonalds' or 'Zara'. There is,
as is always the case in Europe, cute fountains, a market square,
beautiful churches, and some interesting modern street art. Climbing
a steep staircase cut from the mountainside takes you to the fortress
level, where you get a birds eye view of the Alps and the city below.
For the lazy there is also a cable car that delivers you right to the
top. Some people are lucky enough to live up top in little Bavarian
style houses surrounding the fortress, and there's also a small
forest with walking trails.
On the newer side is the Mirabell Palace
and gardens and the old cemetery – where you will find a number of
Mozart's relatives, including his father and widow Konstanze. While
cemeteries aren't usually my interest, this one has some really
elaborate and actually fascinating tombs and gravestones. In all, it
is a great little city to wander on foot, getting lost in the hidden
passage ways. If you are in the mood to acquire overpriced
Tirolean togs or large chunks of pink salt- or Mozart Kugeln, all the better as these
are widely available and you will be even happier.
The air here feels so alpine fresh,
which definitely helped my severely hangover
(travel tip: Absynthe shots at 4 am are never a good idea...come to think of it, neither
were the 2 bottles of red wine before hand) and in fact Salzburg is
clean to the point of sterility. This disappointed me as it
felt more like being in a historic theme park than a living,
breathing city. I found it quaint of course -you would have to be
blind not to. But the sheer number of tourists was overwhelming (was
anyone actually local – I mean, besides Mozart??). I lie, actually
the few locals I encountered were really warm and lovely, which is a
relief since I'm moving to Austria in August. But I guess I have been
spoiled traveling in less 'popular' areas of the world and had
forgotten how totally crazy the tourist situation is in Europe. For
this reason alone I am in no hurry to return to this agreeable little
place, although I had better get used to the hordes before I move to
Vienna because something tells me there it will much, much worse.
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