Austria Travels - Mozart Austria
After lunch we found our way into Gertreidegasse, a narrow pedestrian street in the heart of Salzburg's Old Town.
What makes this street special is the modern shops and boutiques such as Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Zara available in a medieval setting with the intricate wrought iron street signs ornamenting the horizon. Even McDonald’s had its own stylish iron street sign with a heraldic lion holding it up.
Mozart was born and lived the first years of his life in this street. His house is today naturally open for visitors so we hurried inside, also wanting to get away from the incessant rain and fierce cold. The museum was ingeniously set up showing Mozart’s memorabilia including strands of hair, buttons from his coats, his first violin as a child, his old clavichord, portraits and letters to his family. The best part was the third floor where models of theatre sets from 18th century to early 29th century show the different designs and approaches that have been used to portray his operas like The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni.
Being a child prodigy in the wealthy and illustrious Holy Roman Empire, Mozart was seen as miracle and paraded around the courts of Munich, Paris, London, The Hague, Zurich, Vienna and Prague. By the time he reached adulthood Mozart had attained incomparable love, adoration, wealth, honor and prestige in his career. Towards the end of his carreer Austria was war ridden and there was no time for the luxury of going to the opera or commissioning more of his music. Although during his last days Mozart was very ill, it was his most productive time including creations such as my personal favourite, the tear-jerking and unfinished Requiem.
Salzburg is proud of their Mozart. You see his face everywhere, including in the famous Mozartkugeln: chocolate balls filled with marzipan in the center and wrapped in thin foil with Mozart’s face on it. The first chocolate was created in 1890 by a Salzburg confectioner and was soon imitated throughout Austria due to its enormous success. Ed and I aren’t shy of chocolate so we headed down to the original Mozartkuglen shop to have a look. Unfortunately the chocolate balls were a bit too pricey for us so we decided to wait it out and see if the Duty Free shop on our way out of Austria was kinder on our pockets.
It was time to head back to the hotel for some relaxation time before dinner because frankly, it was just too cold and windy to be out on the streets. Everywhere Ed and I looked there were broken umbrellas thrown inside garbage cans, on the floor, or stuck on railings. I didn’t want my new umbrella to follow the same fate so I preferred to get a little wet.
There is something beautiful about walking around Salzburg at night this time of year. Probably because of how the shops light up with shiny Christmas decorations and glitter, or how smoke rises from the chimneys while people rush by with thick scarves and red noses. We took shelter in a shop that sold hand painted egg shells as Christmas tree decorations. It reminded me of when I was in first grade and we had to paint our own egg shell decorations but these were absolutely magnificent. Hundreds of them piled up on each window, hanging down from the ceiling in ribbons, or from little tree branches on display. They really do elevate Christmas to an art in this town.
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