After arriving and checking into the hotel, I was given a few brochures by the receptionist that held several different tours. I had already booked a couple of tours of the city before I left, but a couple took my interest. The first was a Mozart dinner concert. A live concert featuring songs and performances of Mozart's work with a 3 course dinner served between each performance. The second was a tour of the Bavarian mountains, crossing the border into Germany and visiting a lake and a couple of villages.
After making arrangements, I went up to my room and was delighted to find the hotel event places a little chocolate on my pillow. After a small issue with the TV in my room not working, they moved and upgraded my room, score! Also, 2 more chocolates on the pillows! After getting ready, I left a little early so I could stroll through the old town before heading off to dinner. I'm glad I did because there was so much to look at.
Where that last photo was taken was in the middle of a courtyard, I was standing there just after I had taken the photo and the bells of the 4 churches around the place started ringing. What was amazing, apart from the fact that it scared the crap out of my because it was so loud, was that after the bells had stopped, you could still hear the reverberations in the air for a while afterwards. A short distance from here was the monastery where the concert was being held. Up a short flight of stairs and I entered this great ball room that had been decked out with tables and chairs all in white.
After taking my seat, a waitress came around and offered an aperitif, a pre-dinner drink meant to stimulate the appetite. With our drinks brought out to us, the lights dimmed and in strolled the performers. The music started up and in walked the singers.
After a couple of songs, the first course was served and so on through to the end of the show. It was a really great time. Here is a recording of the first song that was performed. The picture isn't very clear as the lights were dimmed.
The next day started with a quick breakfast and then a tour of the city. We were taken through the town and shown sights including Mozart's birthplace, his home, the Salzburg zoo, the old town, etc. As the weather turned a bit rainy, our tour guide took us to a couple of extra places that aren't normally included on this tour.
One of the interesting sites shown were these houses:
Interesting because the houses themselves are cut directly into the rock of the mountain. When they were build, they only built the front facade, the rest goes back into the mountain. She explained that the town got it's name, Salzburg, because of the salt mining that gave the town it's wealth and because of that they call salt white gold.
As you leave the town, no matter which direction you look there are breathtaking mountain views. Several of them still had snow. As we drove towards the outskirts of the town, this one was directly ahead of us.
After the tour ended, I had a couple of hours before my trip out to the Bavarian mountains, so I wandered through the shopping district, had some lunch and a coffee. After being picked up for the next tour, I discovered we had the same tour guide as the earlier city tour, which turned out to be really good because she knew what she talking about plus we got to see some extra sights. Because of the bad weather, she again took us on an extra visit to a mountain called the Obersalzberg. The views from it were stunning.
Shortly after, it started snowing. Once we got down from the mountain, we headed into Germany to go to a lake and a couple of small villages in Bavaria which were incredible. The weather had turned so cold that I even had to buy a scarf to keep it from my neck, but a little bit of cold is worth if when you walk out of the shop and see a view like this:
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