Sprinting Through Salzburg

All we knew in advance about Salzburg was that it was Mozart's birthplace. And, in case any visitor was unaware of the specific location, the building is well labelled. We're not talking about a mere bronze plaque on the wall:

On that point, Terry Pratchett in his book Equal Rites characterises plaques placed half way up a wall claiming someone famous was 'born here' as 'gynaecologically improbable'. 

But I digress... 

We were having to dash back to the UK unexpectedly so didn't have a lot of time in Salzburg, in fact really only half a day. We therefore asked the Reception staff at our hotel for their suggested itinerary for a spot of Speed Tourism. A map was promptly produced, route marked out, and in less than a few minutes our Navigator had figured out which way was up, and we were off... 

First stop was the Mirabell Palace, which thankfully seemed to be a scaled down version of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. That is not meant to diminish Mirabell's charms, which are undeniable and numerous, it's just that we didn't have time to explore Palaces as big as your average small town.

Crossing over to Old Town we noted a small beach on the Salzach. Most people were content just to sunbathe. However, the river being dangerously fast flowing and not much above freezing did not deter everyone from going for a paddle. We just assumed it was Darwin's natural selection at work... 

Mozart is clearly a Must See in Salzburg. His birthplace is a museum, where to be honest I had had enough after 5 minutes. By contrast, the more musically minded amongst us were enthralled, especially by the original music manuscript samples on display. 

To be fair, the museum has a lot of excellent and informative displays and I confess to some items catching my attention. 

OK, enough culture, time for some history - the Hohensalzburg Fortress. 

You might wonder what royalty or nobility needed the protection of such a formidable fortress. A King? Archduke? 

No. It was for the Church, specifically the Prince-Archbishops. In medieval times they ruled. And not everyone was happy about it. Peasants in particular were being bled dry by outrageously high taxes, from which the Church and nobility were ecempt. Sound familiar?... 

At one point the peasants revolted and staged what looked like being a successful siege on the fortress. The Prince-Archbishop therefore had no choice but to propose a peace deal which met key demands, to which the peasants agreed. Hooray, etc. 

After a while, the taxes were raised even higher than they had been before... 

The Fortress today is a museum, and a concert venue, and many other things as well. Which is not surprising given its size. Basically, it's an entire medieval walled town by itself. Very impressive, which makes it even more impressive that the poor and ill-equipped peasants successfully laid siege ... 

We only had minimal time to wander through the other Old Town sights, in particular the cathedral and surrounding areas, which was a shame as they looked worthy of a visit. 

So, how to summarise Salzburg In An Afternoon? 

Simple: We need to go back...