A wonderfilled day amongst the past glories of this subtle town ostensibly made of salt and yet softened by the leisure that comes with steady spiritual patronage. Mozart, enormous churches filled with treasure, then an equally enormous castle village accessed up an almost vertical slope. My hosts M and H were generous, knowledgeable and thought provoking. A very enjoyable day which I'll not soon forget.
A tremendous walk to start up a precipitous stairway behind my hotel window. Green dewy and steep enough to get me panting...a Christ diorama at every turn (unlike Alpe D'Huez) and a homeless couple in the aerial grafitti free park near the summit. Completely copper roofs greeted me along with the numerous churches built by the archbishops various who ruled here. Nuns float down with a quiet gruss gott.
Mozart's wife Constanze Weber came to life today and proves to be a real heroine. Six babies to him,only two sons survive and after his premature death she writes his biography and supervises correct score publishing (no easy task according to Hector Berlioz)...marries again and within 18 months is again a widow....extraordinary woman and I enjoyed her portrait. And how incredibly short the keyboard of the Mozart family spinnet. All those perfect melodies pouring forth like an alpine river through the narrow valley of a high pitched and truncated ivory scale set. Genius. Yesterday his ball's, today his fine woman's portrait and her internment literally across the street from my hotel. Histories here are embellished by substance. Wittgenstein would approve.
Then to ramble with my hosts through a cathedral palace. A terrific Breughal, (the fish eats the schooner), shocking amounts of gold leaf, intricate 3d framed wax landscapes, very complicated locks, real and impossibly real faux marble, gold leaf on glass etchings, hidden marble embellished meditation rooms, a portrait of caesar Nero....so many things seen today...a sensitive Cuyp portrait of a weak face with perfect complexion and mouth hung on an impossible to patch concrete panelled wall.
Then after a very big organ with no less than four smaller far off beneath in a gloriously huge baroque Duomo.....lunch kindly provided (amongst now embarrassing protestations on my behalf) in a 1200 year old cliff face hideaway. Traditional Salzburg Knockle (whipped cones of cooked mountain air with a spicy jam) preceded by an excellent mango risotto with a genuine al dente riz. Such a tranquil cavern in which Mozart concerts are sometimes presented complete with 1700's dress, instruments and food. Really old chunky emphatic sculptures of anvil beating smiths decorated the hunting room with its baleful eyed eternally attendant stag trophies.
Then an extremely swift but smooth dual elevator ride up the ancient Castle walls visible from every quarter below and recently restored. A cliff top village complete with an abyss for a well, linden tree (used to sweat the ailing) and the Majolica clay tiled room heater resting on a pride of lions not just paws. An absolutely huge 17 meter roof beam. A whole tree on ornate marble beams. A serious grunt it must have been to get up to the mountain top. Decorated with golden balls and heraldry of quite significant length.
We return down to the old town via hand painted cupboards and my cycle path to share prosecco and beers on a 5 star roof top with lovely evening views over the Salzach.
I wave goodbye to M and H as they board the bus home and earnestly hope to be able to pour them a home brew with their vego wood fired pizza when they return visit Aus.
Now I write this in a smokey bar beneath my hotel watching Belgium vs USA play fussball. The barman has aussie, living there for a few years. Rare in this country so far away from home..
A lovely day. Tomorrow I will begin the trip south to Udine to hopefully top Zoncolan and thence all pistae lead to Roma.
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