All you loyal readers of my Liège posts might recall that for over eight centuries, from 980–1795, “a large swath of what is now Belgium was ruled from Liège by a succession of Prince-Bishops, who as the name implies were both the secular and the religious rulers. Separation of church Read More …
The poet Georg Trakl was born in Salzburg in 1887. His birth house, at Waagplatz 1a, is now the site of the Trakl Research and Memorial Center. It can be visited on weekday afternoons at 14:00, on guided tours only. The cost as of 2020 is five Euros. The tours Read More …
Linzer Gasse is a narrow street in Salzburg on the right bank of the Salzach River. The pharmacy at Linzer Gasse 5 is the Engel-Apotheke (Angel Pharmacy), which was founded in 1805. It is best known for the fact that the poet Georg Trakl (1887-1914) did a three-year apprenticeship here Read More …
This impressive Baroque church was extensively re-modeled from 1760 to 1782, but they say the building itself dates from the year 1147. St. Peter’s Abbey is even older, as it has been in continuous operation (they say) since the year 696. Currently the abbey has 24 monks and about 80 Read More …
This Protestant church (Evangelische Christuskirche) on the right bank of the Salzach River is where the future poet Georg Trakl was baptized on February 8, 1887. So even as a baby he was already an outsider, since Protestants were (and still are) a small minority in Salzburg. This church’s website Read More …
The Mirabell Gardens, on the right bank of the Salzach River in Salzburg, are laid out so they point directly towards the fortress. In front of the fortress are the towers of the cathedral. Closer, the white building on the right is the Salzburg State Theatre (Salzburger Landestheater) and the Read More …
Here’s my list of the operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), including a few that were never completed or are sometimes listed as something else. As on my Verdi list, I have listed the opera titles in different colors: Red means I have seen the opera at least once in Read More …
Austrian cafés have a reputation for being calm, sedate, dignified, leisurely, homey, unhurried… Which some of them are, but if you’re an impatient 21st century type of person you might want to try the exact opposite, a huge and truly efficient café that gets masses of coffee and cake served Read More …
Clip clop (or rather klip klop) go the horses’ hooves that echo through the pedestrianized streets around the Cathedral and Saint Peter’s Abbey and the Festival Halls of Salzburg. Tourists who want a small dose of nostalgia can go around to Residenzplatz, on the north side of the Cathedral, and Read More …
Although Salzburg cannot compete with Paris in terms of sheer tonnage of love locks (in 2015 Paris removed 45 tons of locks from the Pont des Arts), Salzburg also has a river and a couple of footbridges with wire mesh fences, which when I was there were slowly but surely Read More …