A wandering Canadian: The sounds of Salzburg

Sunday, May 27, 2012

For those not aware, I am currently in Austria, on a tour with my choir. We are performing nine concerts in Salburg, Linz, Vienna, and Paris.

(I´m writing on paper and posting when I get a chance, but original dates are always included.)

My first two days in Salzburg I was recovering from an apparent food poisoning (likely from airplane food), so I didn´t really get to explore very much. Today, however, I felt much better, and decided to take advantage of our last morning here by going on an early morning walk.

Last night we had dinner at a "Sounds of Salzburg" show, which included live singing and dancing from the Sound of Music, as well as some Mozart, and Austrian folk music. It was entertaining, but very touristy and not something I would have gone to on my own.

I wanted the real Salzburg. I woke up around 7:30 in the morning, had a quick breakfast in the hotel, and made my way down to the river. I found a park with a playground, where a few people were taking a quiet Sunday morning walk. Birds sang in the trees, and I tried to take their picture. As I continued walking along the river, all I heard was birds, a few locals riding their bicybles, the river lapping the shore, and church bells, loud and deep, echoing in the hills. I breathed in deeply and walked slower. Here were the true sounds of Salzburg.

As I made my way down the riverside, I went past the turn offs for the town centre and continued walking along some sort of riverside trail. I kept seeing birds that looked (somewhat) like black-capped chickadees and that sounded (somewhat) like chickadees as well, so I dubbed them "European chickadees" and entertained myself for a while by trying to take their picture as they flitted about.

Even though the trail beckoned me further, I reluctantly turned back, wanting to find the famous Fürst chocolate shop and get original Mozart Kügeln. After asking for directions about seven times, I finally found it and got said chocolates. All the while, the bells donged loudly through the square.

When I realized I had more time left than I thought, I decided to go exploring around some smaller, out of the way streets. I soon found myself next to an inviting staircase, and how could I resist? Up I climbed, higher and higher into the mountains. There was an extensive trail system through the woods up there, so I went for a hike, with the woods on one side of me and a stunning view of Salzburg on the other. I was deeply happy up there. And of course, just as I was musing to myself about the lack of mammals in this country, a small brown "European squirrel" appeared from behind a tree and chirped impatiently at me.