Exploring Altstadt Salzburg

 Tuesday, November 12, 2024

I was not long wandering the streets of the old part of Salzburg before I knew that this was one city I'd like to return to.  From cathedrals to clock towers, so much about it was enchanting. 

A few old streets make up the pedestrian only area of the city.  Getreidegasse, Goldgasse, Judengasse, and several others.  One intriguing feature are the Through-houses.  That is, houses that have an entrance on each street.  This creates a passageway, full of nooks, crannies and little shops.  Each bearing a house number on both sides.  Since I have a habit of getting lost, I took a photo of the one I went through, so I could remember later how to exit.

Julie, Robin and I spent some time together for a while, heading first to St Peter's Cemetery and the cliffside catacombs, where we hoped to find the ghosts of the Von Trapp family in the shadows of a giant tombstone.  

A bit of information in English encouraged us to explore the peaceful grounds, but we didn't find anything very conclusive.  Later I heard that the graveyard scene where the family hides from the Nazis was actually filmed in Hollywood.  I'm crushed if that's true.

We took this opportunity while we were together, to snap a few pictures of each other.  The Hohensalzburg Fortress dominated the cliffs beyond.

The inscriptions on the stones were all, of course, in German.  Still, they were so elaborate and old that we spend some time studying them.

Here we parted ways.  Julie and Robin to find some lunch, and I to find a "hidden gem" we'd been told about earlier by our city guide.  Said to be the oldest restaurant in Europe, Stiftskulinarium, or Saint Peter's Restaurant, tucked away behind the cemetery. 

From a travel blog I gleaned that the restaurant may have been operating before this date, but in the year 803, which is prominently posted above the arched entranceway, it was written about by Alcuin of York, an attendant of the Emperor of Charlemagne.

A menu was posted outside.  For the amount of time I would be allotting for lunch the prices seemed too dear, so I didn't even inquire if I could get in without a reservation.  

The restaurant has expanded to include multiple rooms, each with their own unique flavor.  Some have been carved out of the cliff.  I peeked through this door, but felt taking a photo was a bit intrusive.  Some day I'll eat here.

It was well past lunch by now, so I made my way back to the market square.  There was the beginnings of a Christmas market being set up, but no food on the offering.  I found a nearby bakery and selected what looked to be a promising pretzel sandwich. The solo worker there plunked it unceremoniously into a small paper sack.  When got out the door, it registered that the sandwich was cold.  I went back in, and using gestures, conveyed that I'd like it heated somehow.  He took it behind the counter and returned with it on a fancy paper plate, slightly warmed.  Once outside I found a cheery spot to enjoy it.

Tummy full and feet rested, I resumed my browsing of this unique old city.  History abounds.  The birthplace of Mozart, now a museum, will wait for another time.  

Some of the narrow pedestrian streets were already decorated for Christmas and the long dark months ahead.  Others were only ornamented with their elaborate metal signs.

Interesting shops filled every available space on the streets and in the alleys created by the "through-houses".  It was in one of these shops that, under the very watchful eye of the proprietor, I found what I think is my most favorite, and most fragile souvenir. A hand painted glass ornament of the Stille Nacht chapel, which is located in the town of Oberndorf, Austria. 

Gingerbread shop

Mozartkugel shop

There is so much of this city left to explore.  It will keep for another day.  If I live long enough, I do hope to return.  If for no other reason than to see the view from the Hohensalzburg Fortress.

Tiny shop, squeezed on either side by two giants

Hohensalzburg Fortress