Wednesday, December 7, 2016: Walking Tour Salzburg, "Silent Night" in Arnsdorf & Oberndorf, Salzburg Farm
This morning we are led on a walking field trip through the city center of Salzburg, home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We begin at Schloss Mirabel, a palace once the site of some of the filming of the Sound of Music and now a city administrative center.
This is the center staircase where every new groom passes after being civilly married, a requirement in Austria in addition to any religious marriage ceremony.
The gardens of Schloss Mirabel included in the Sound of Music. The pansies bloom every day, even in winter, although right now they are hibernating due to the overnight frost.
Our tour guide, David, pretending to have angel wings.
The old town, Altstadt, has strict limits on the signage of commercial establishments. Here is the Salzburg version of the ubiquitous McDonalds sign. Notice the small "M" inside the wreath.
After passing through the benedictine monastery
we visit the large St. Peter's cathedral.
After the guided tour, back at the hotel our tour guide gives us a short lecture on the history of Salzburg.
After a great lunch at the hotel
we bus to Arnsdorf, Austria to tour the church and school where Joseph Mohr taught and 100 hundred years ago wrote the poem Silent Night.
The original score for Silent Night.
We next visit the site of the church in the nearby town of Oberndorf where the song, composed by Franz Gruber, was first performed on Christmas Day in 1918 (two years after the score was written). The original church was destroyed in a flood in the late 1800s and this small memorial chapel was built on its site. We all stand inside and sing Silent Night together. Silent Night has been translated into roughly 300 different languages.
We conclude the day at a private farmhouse in the Salzburg countryside with traditional Austrian delicacies and music.
We start with Gluwein, of course.
Music is provided by the farm family.
An open board of meats and cheeses is served with homemade bread.
We also were served an amazing tray of homemade cookies. I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of the cookies. They were too delicious to wait for a picture.
Here is a portion of Road Scholar group
and Bev & I.
Another great Road Scholar day.
This is the center staircase where every new groom passes after being civilly married, a requirement in Austria in addition to any religious marriage ceremony.
The gardens of Schloss Mirabel included in the Sound of Music. The pansies bloom every day, even in winter, although right now they are hibernating due to the overnight frost.
Our tour guide, David, pretending to have angel wings.
The old town, Altstadt, has strict limits on the signage of commercial establishments. Here is the Salzburg version of the ubiquitous McDonalds sign. Notice the small "M" inside the wreath.
After passing through the benedictine monastery
we visit the large St. Peter's cathedral.
After the guided tour, back at the hotel our tour guide gives us a short lecture on the history of Salzburg.
After a great lunch at the hotel
we bus to Arnsdorf, Austria to tour the church and school where Joseph Mohr taught and 100 hundred years ago wrote the poem Silent Night.
The original score for Silent Night.
We next visit the site of the church in the nearby town of Oberndorf where the song, composed by Franz Gruber, was first performed on Christmas Day in 1918 (two years after the score was written). The original church was destroyed in a flood in the late 1800s and this small memorial chapel was built on its site. We all stand inside and sing Silent Night together. Silent Night has been translated into roughly 300 different languages.
We conclude the day at a private farmhouse in the Salzburg countryside with traditional Austrian delicacies and music.
We start with Gluwein, of course.
Music is provided by the farm family.
An open board of meats and cheeses is served with homemade bread.
We also were served an amazing tray of homemade cookies. I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of the cookies. They were too delicious to wait for a picture.
Here is a portion of Road Scholar group
and Bev & I.
Another great Road Scholar day.
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