Guten Tag!

We woke up this morning in Salzburg, Austria, birthplace and home of Amadeus Mozart.  We embarked on a self-guided audio tour that was supposed to be 1 1/2 hours long.  But of course, since it was self-guided, we could take our time and enjoy the day on this tour and that is just what we did.  Six hours later we were about 3/4 through our tour and no power left on our phones to complete it.  

But we had a pretty fun day!  And the theme of our day turned out to be “Love”.  Awww!

Austria has to be the most beautiful country ever!  Along with the Alps, everything is so clean and well maintained.  And of course the buildings are all large and old and gorgeous!  I’ve always known Austria was beautiful but usually when a country or city is beautiful, it is a part of the country or city that is beautiful, not everything!  But Austria is beautiful everywhere!  There is no bad part of town or wrong side of the tracks, it is all beautiful even the smaller towns.  Now there are some cities that are more beautiful than others, so they say.  Supposedly, Salzburg is more beautiful than Vienna but I’m not sure I agree.  I guess it all depends on your taste or style.  Here’s some of what we saw during our walk today.

Austria’s food is kind of along the German style.  A lot of bratwurst and heavy breads.  And sandwiches everywhere.  They seem to like everything to have robust flavor.  Even the drinks are extra strong.  And they serve cold cuts with breakfast.  I did get some scrambled eggs this morning and a good cup of hot cocoa.  Finally!!

So enough of that, on with the love stories …… 

Dietrich and Salome

So, it starts in the 1600’s with the story of Arch Bishop Wolf Dietrich Von Raitenau and Salome Alt.  That was a mouthful!  Dietrich first saw Salome (pronounced like Sally May) during a church service.  When the service was over, he asked to have her brought to his residence.  Since her father knew she could not marry an Arch Bishop, he forbade her from ever returning home.

She stayed with Dietrich and since they could not get permission from the Catholic Church to marry, he “appointed” her his wife.  They lived together and had 15 children.

I’m glad those days of being able to “appoint wives” is over.

With so many children, he had a palace built for them and had it named after her. It was a very ornate palace in Baroque style. Lots of gold and statues.

Dietrich wasn’t very popular with the Catholic Church or with his family because of his unorthodoxed will to be with Salome.  Most of his relatives were more than willing to overthrow him from his position.

in 1612, his nephew took advantage of a military conflict and seized Dietrich and had him imprisoned.  The nephew was kind of cruel so he had Dietrich transferred to the dungeon where he could see the palace from his dungeon window.  He then organized festive and immoral celebrations for Dietrich’s viewing pleasure from his dungeon window as a form of punishment.  He also changed the palace name to Mirabell Palace, as it is today.

Salome and her children had to flee Salzburg, never to return.  She only got to see Dietrich one more time, as he died in prison from a stroke.  After his death, Salome dressed in mourning for the rest of her life.

Kind of sad, I know 🙁

Makartsteg Bridge

Also known as Love Lock Bridge.  This bridge crosses over the Salzach River, walking traffic only.  We crossed it today and noticed the side walls are covered with locks engraved with peoples names or initials.

The century-old tradition is for lovers to buy a lock and either paint your names or have someone engrave them, lock them on the bridge wall and throw the key in the river.  This symbolizes their unbreakable and eternal love.

Of course, we had to partake.  It is such a tourist trap, but too cute to pass up!

And I did one for my mom and dad also.  They were married 70 years!

In keeping with the theme of love, we want to include a special remembrance for Otto and Mary (Kev’s parents) who were very much in love! Here’s a picture of Mary’s favorite flower we came upon here in Salzburg, Forget Me Not’s …..

We had a great time here in Salzburg! And we love Austria! An absolutely beautiful country!

Liebe ist in der Luft! And everywhere!