Traunstein and Herr Scheissschopper

Our next few days, after a fruitful visit to the huge Salzburg Mercedes dealership (advice about tires, oil, other matters), were spent near Traunstein, in Germany, where we had finally, at great length, and trouble, located an RV dealer (Grunaugl, mit two umlauts) and repair shop that would obtain for us and install a new macerator. Our previous macerator had expired; and, let me tell you that, in a rig like ours, and in a place like Europe, life without Mssr. Macerateur is very unpleasant. (The Germans were translating macerator as "toilet chopper"). Traunstein is perhaps half an hour from Salzburg. Fortunately, we were able to park free at the dealership, which has its own stellplatz.

The failed Scheissschopper

In Traunstein, we ran into a large monthly flea market...

ein floh markt

It was fun looking around at what ordinary people buy and

sell at such events; out of the ordinary, perhaps, I found an

original 1895 leather-bound, fully-intact illustrated edition

of Houston Stewart Chamberlain's Wagner book, for 25

euros; he was one of the earliest British Wagner idolizers;

also some traditional clothing, but the market closed before

we could collect more geld from the wall

We made our way next back into Salzburg, en route to

Berchtesgaden, and encountered a wedding procession

Austrian wedding security; note the earphones

We drove on through Berchtesgaden and

spent an afternoon nosing around cheesy

Koenigsee; marmot oil is a popular home

remedy (for what I don't want to think

about); Europeans everywhere seem

fascinated by marmots

And then found a lay-by, on a beautiful creek, between

The ancient toll-house on the German-

Austrian border

And the Untersberg

Vicki, who had by now had quite enough of Salzburg, felt she was being sucked back into it...this, the Obersalzburg, was our base of operations for a couple more days...and it was not our last return to Salzburg.  For possibly obscure reasons, we spent the evening watching The Producers, a film we love and live by. Possibly our only meaningful connection with Berchtesgaden.

Ascent of the Untersberg

The final trip on our Salzburger Cards, as the last seconds of our 72 hour limit expired, was the cable-car ride up the Untersberg, the bigger mountain that overlooks the valley and city

The Untersberg, from Hellbrunn gardens,

the day before

Cable-car up to nearly the top

View at the top: total white-out, cold, raining, windy; I was

going to walk to the summit for a day-hike, but quickly

came to my senses

From the station at the top: cables descending into the void

The Untersberg, from Salzburg outskirts, a few days later

Hellbrunn

And one day we took the bus out to Hellbrunn, the Prince/Archbishops' summer palace a few miles from Salzburg. It is notable for its "trick fountains"--sort of a 17th century water park--everyone gets a splash. At least one of the Prince/Archbishops had a sense of humor.

The main hall of the Hellbrunn Palace

Beginning of the trick fountains: the Archbishop's dinner

table

To some it's actually a surprise

Grotto--lots of them--of St. George killing

the dragon

Water-powered miniature city with 160 moving figures

17th-century trick fountain control-panel;

"pay no attention to that man at the control 
panel"

Another scene from Sound of Music, the "conservatory"

scene, was filmed at Hellbrunn; Vicki is singing "I am 62,

going on 63..."

We next visited the folk museum, up the hill on the

Hellbrunn estate

Looking back to Salzburg and the fortress

And the Hellbrunn palace

Silly folk hats in the museum; did my

forebears wear one of these?!

And a bit of theology

Es muss ein Stiegl sein!

It must be a Steigl! We spent a few pleasant hours touring the Stiegl brewery. Salzburg's beer. Also said to be the largest brewery exhibition in Europe. The ticket included 3 biers each; I had to go back the next day to finish them off.

The Stiegl brewery

Brew World

Exhibits ranged over 4 floors or so; what they did was

convert the old 19th-20th century brewery into a huge

museum; all the old machinery; art; much more

But the main thing you need to know, in Salzburg, is that

Mozart drank Stiegl

A fascinating exhibit on alternative ways to open a beer

bottle

Art

In one of the tasting rooms/restaurants

Music City

Mozart statue in the city square; never has

one city made more of/off one person...who

died in abject poverty

The Birth House

Clandestine shot in the Geburthaus

The Wohnhaus

The Haus fur Mozart; the Festspielhaus, home of the

Salzburg Easter Festival, most prestigious of all musical

events (so I have read)

Festspielhaus, dome, and

fortress

To be a street musician in this town, you'd better be good;

these guys were good, performing from The Marriage of

Figaro

Expulsion!

Prince/Archbishop Leopold Firmian, 
the bad guy who expelled the 
Protestants, including the Scheraus's

Some of the Salzburger Museum 
coverage of the matter

Ditto

Ditto again

Me expressing my sentiments to Prince/
Archbishop Firmian (characteristically, perhaps,
standing under the wrong portrait; nobody's perfect)

The Salzburger Museum, which also had a
very good exhibit on the Salzburg Mystique;
very interesting

Under the Cathedral, Roman ruins, including
two layers of mosaic (fashions change...)

The cathedral is old

But unremarkably Baroque

The Prince/Archbishop's Residence is a grim
reminder that almost nothing of larger historical
significance ever happened in Salzburg