Salzburg, Austria: Music, Lakes, and Mountains - Rick Steves’ Europe Travel Guide - Travel Bite

today Salzburg's pride in Mozart shows itself best not in museums but in live concerts Salzburg is a world-class destination for live musical performances each summer it hosts its famous Salzburg Festival but Salzburg busy all year long with over 2,000 live performances in churches and palaces like this [Applause] we're heading into the mirabell palace to hear a string quartet play in a splendid baroque hall mozart performed for the prince-archbishop right here in this evening the twins quartet

from Moscow play Mozart's eine kleine Nachtmusik [Music] [Applause] [Applause] the surrounding mirabell gardens laid out in 1730 are a favorite with locals and tourists alike enjoying the garden cathedral castle view it's easy to imagine how the prince-archbishop must have reveled in such a Vista that reminded him of all his secular as well as religious power we're heading two hours southeast of Salzburg to my favorite salts camera GU town on my favourite salts camera dude Lake the tiny train st

ation is across Lake Hallstatt from the postcard pretty town by the same name hallstatt Stephanie a boat meets each arriving train and glides scenically across the lake into town [Music] lovable hallstatt is a tiny town bullied onto a ledge between a mountain and a swan ruled lake [Music] apart from the waterfall which rips through its middle Hallstatt is an oasis of peace with the scarcity of Levelland tall homes had their front door on the street-level top floor and their water entrance severa

l floors below the town which originated as a salt mining Center is one of the Earp's oldest going back centuries before Christ there is a hallstatt before there was a Rome in fact because of the salt mining importance here an entire age the holeshot era from about 800 BC to 400 BC is named for this once important spot if you duck under these buildings you'd find Roman and pre-roman Celtic pavement stones from the ancient and prehistoric salt Depot this cute little village was once the salt mini

ng namesake of a culture that spread from France to the Black Sea back then salt was so precious because it preserved meat and hallstatt was as its name means the place of salt a steep funicular runs up the mountain to hallstatt's salt mine it's one of many throughout the region that offer tours at the mine visitors slip into overalls meet their guide and hike into the mountain while this particular tunnel dates only from 1719 off that's mine claims to be the oldest in the world in the tour you'

ll learn the story of salt archaeologists claim that sent 7,000 BC people have come here to get salt a briny spring sprung here attracting Bronze Age people later miners dug tunnels to extract the salty rock they dissolved it into a brine which flowed through miles of pipes the oldest hewn out of logs to hallstatt and nearby towns where the brine was and still is cooked until only the salt remained a highlight is riding miner style from one floor down to the next praying for no splinters through

the centuries halt Scot was busy with the salt trade since it had no road access people came and went by boat you'll still see the traditional four boats designed to carry heavy loads in shallow water hair alfred lens makes the town's traditional boats from a 200 year old design the oar lock is still made of the gut of a bull alfred claims an hour on the lake is worth a day of vacation