Getting To Know Salzburg (Part Two)

And now on to other points of interest . . . or just other points . . .

The Getreidegasse:

The Getreidegasse—it’s the equivalent of Michigan Ave. of Chicago or the Champs-Élysées of Paris, albeit not in its size. Here one might do a bit of shopping in stores ranging from the likes of H&M and Zara to traditional Austrian shops to high-end fashion suppliers from the likes of Gucci and Chanel. The Getreidegasse also offers some fine dining restaurants like Blaue Gans, part of the arthotel, or the Restaurant part of the 4 ½ star hotel: Der Goldener Hirsch. And then, there is McDonalds. No comment. In any case, all the above are only a few examples of what the Getreidegasse has to offer. [Fun fact: The translation of the street name is “Corn Alley”, even though the street never had anything to do with corn. I say it’s interesting nonetheless].

Mozart’s Birth House:

Mozart’s birth house can be found in the Getreidegasse. Here one can make a lovely tour of Mozart’s home at the time of his birth. Some consider the tour to be too pricy at 7 euros for an adult ticket. Some don’t bother to visit the home per se but do decide to take a lot of pictures in front of it— which is understandable for touristy purposes of course, but is considered a nuisance and a disturbance by a lot of the people living in Salzburg, myself included. [However, I do dare say that when given the opportunity to do the same as those annoying people clicking away on their cameras, I would totally do it!]

The Sound of Music Tour:

Yes. There is a Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg. And yes, it does have to do with the 1965 5-time Academy Award winning motion picture directed by Robert Wise. Like many people from Austria, not only Salzburg, I have not been on the tour! To be fair, not many Austrians have even seen the movie and do not have an imaginary love affair with Julie Andrews and/or Christopher Plummer. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t go on the ~ 4-hour tour, because honestly, I would go. Personally, I just haven’t gotten around to it. I could go on it any day really if I set aside the time for it, which a tourist on the other hand could not say.] In all seriousness, I have been told that the tour is a lot of fun.

The Festung:

The Festung—that’s the big fortress overlooking the city of Salzburg. Archbishop Eberhard built the fortress in 1077. It was never successfully captured by any enemies. I think it is very pretty. If you are currently in Salzburg, and it is anywhere between 9:30am-5:00pm finish reading this post and then get over there! Go! Go! Go! Unless of course, you’re afraid of heights, and don’t have 10.50 euros on you for an adult ticket.

The University of Salzburg:

Is cool . . .

[Note: I don’t want to risk saying anything else considering: my professors, family members, and fellow classmates might be reading this. Maybe I’ll be a little more daring in the future.]

Rudolfskai:

The Rudolfskai is a street along the main strip of the river where a big part of the nightlife in Salzburg takes place. Favorites vary depending on who one might ask, but for someone born in America like myself, I would say the top two are definitely O’Malley’s and Shamrock (2 of the 4 Irish pubs that can be found in Salzburg. The other 2 Irish pubs in Salzburg are The Dubliner and Murphy’s Law, which I will mention at a later point in time).

Residenzplatz:

Is where one will find the fountain, I’m sorry, I meant, “THE FOUNTAIN” as in, the fountain in which Julie Andrews sticks her hand in the movie, ‘The Sound of Music”. On a more historical note, the Residenzplatz is considered by many as the very heart of the old town on the left bank of the Salzach River.

Franziskaner Kirche:

It is a lovely church not far away from the Dom Cathedral. Interesting history revolves around this beautiful church as well. I would definitely recommend to go and see it before St. Peter’s, but that is because I am biased for a reason I shall not divulge. Plus, in my opinion it doesn’t get nearly as much publicity as St. Peter’s does. Good enough reason? Ok, moving on! As far as I know, people frequent the church mass regularly. I happen to know a few of them, but have never gone myself. I have heard that the church provides a lovely service. [As a random side note: If I ever get married there are only two places in this world I would consider. One would be the Franziskaner Kirche and the other, well, that one is top secret.]

The Domplatz and The Dom:

The Domplatz is the “Cathedral Square” of the main cathedral in Salzburg: The Dom. [Note: Dom is pronounced like "dome".] There is a lot of interesting history surrounding the two- click here to find out more.