The City Of Music

Monday morning saw another early start on our journey down the Danube, as today we were off to Salzburg.  We had the choice of visiting Passau, where the ship was moored, or choosing between Salzburg and Cesky Krumlov. We decided on Salzburg so it was  8am prompt when  our guides ushered us on to the coach ready for the journey through the countryside and across the border into Austria.

It was another foggy morning and so the expected mountain views never happened but the journey was still good. Our guides, Anna and Rudi, divided the coach into 2 groups with me and my colleagues being allocated to Rudi – thank goodness! Anna was lovely but very over the top enthusiastic, laughed at her own jokes and literally talked all the 2 hour journey, complete with ” hand-outs” ! We stopped en-route at another local brewery, no beer for breakfast though this time, ( but Anna did go into  great detail about the loos) and then back on our way.

Our first visit of the day was to the  little village of Oberndorf where the Christmas Carol Silent Night was written. Father Joseph Mohr wrote his poem Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! in 1816. When he decided he wanted his poem set to music he asked his friend, Franz Gruber, to create a melody and guitar accompaniment. The two men sang the carol at Christmas Mass in St. Nicholas Church with Father Mohr playing his guitar and the choir repeating the last two lines of each verse.  It is a beautiful little church tucked away in a corner of the village, right on the banks or a river .

Rudi & Anna

Brian Behind A Tree

So onwards to the beautiful city of Salzburg and our ” Sound of Music ” Tour – which is what this became! In the most bizarre thing I`ve ever seen on an excursion, as we got off the coach, Anna handed us songsheets so that we could sing ” Doh Re Mi” outside the pavilion of Schloss Hellbrunn, which was in the film starring Julie Andrews. Rudi looked embarrassed and joined in, while my colleague Brian hid behind a tree!

As we got off the coach in the city itself to start our walking tour Rudi breathed a sigh of relief and lead us off through the town hall to the gardens where much of the film was made. He was really good and full of interesting information, leading us past the hotel where Julie Andrews stayed during filming, the Sacher. which is also famous for the famous chocolate cake Sacher Torte! The recipe for the Original Sacher-Torte is a well-kept secret, known only to confectioners at the hotel.

Of course Salzburg is also the birthplace home of Mozart and he is seen everywhere in the city. The house in which he was born on the January 27, 1756 is now one of the most frequently visited museums in the world. The other thing that is everywhere you look in the city is Mozart Chocolates – delicious, you have to buy some!

Lunch was included with the tour and we walked on to the oldest restaurant in Europe, Stiftskeller St. Peter, located in a monastery. It is a beautiful building and, as we arrived they were just starting to put up the Christmas decorations which made it even nicer.

After lunch some free time to explore further before boarding the coach for our journey back to our ship, now moored in Linz, we were all tired and Anna kept her promise – not to talk on the way home ! A lovely day to be recommended to anyone on a Danube River Cruise.