BEAUTY AROUND US

If you look closely, you will see the Alte Stadt or Old City of Salzburg.  Hohensalzburg fortress sits atop a mountain and overlooks the city of Salzburg.  Normally, you would take a suspended cable car to the top but this weekend it was closed because it is not yet the tourist season.  So, being the curious tourists that we are, we climbed it.  The fortress sits up 800 feet above the city and let me tell you, my legs are still like jelly from the climb.  Was it worth it?  Yes!

After our climb, we found a relaxing spot to sit and catch our breath in front of this lovely sculpture.  It was 80 degrees and we were happy to sit in the sun and admire the beautiful gardens.

I wish I had found the name of this city park, but I was just too exhausted to go searching.  It was lovely.  Notice the fantastic arbor on the right.

I was fortunate to get a shot of this great looking couple in their traditional trocken.

This photo was by chance and I love that the couple on the bench is reflected by the pair of flowers in front of them.  Total coincidence.

We were not the only ones whiling away the afternoon in the outdoors.  Bench seats were difficult to find that afternoon.  Fortunately, we were able to clinch one.

One of the city's many fountains was this modest one of a young girl squatting in the fountain with birds in her hand, her shoulder, and on her head.  So simple and so innocent.

Here is another view of her from the front.

This garden was chock full of flowers so i did my best to capture  a few of the more spectacular blooms.

As beautiful as the flowers were, I was also charmed so much by this little guy, that I had to take his photo too.

It was wonderful to sit and examine the beauty that surrounded us.

SCHLOSS HELLBRUNN, AUSTRIA

The weather was glorious this past weekend so we decided to get away to Salzburg, Austria for the weekend.  Our journey began at this wonderful castle that is a great example of Italian Baroque architecture. Built by garden lover, Markus Sittikus, Salzburg's Archbishop, it is the only example left of the wonderful water gardens that were famous in Florence at that time (1613-1629).

The schloss is famous for it's "Water Games."  Markus Sittikus had a great sense of humor and designed these games to perform practical jokes on his guests.  

He designed this stone table and stools so that his guests could eat dinner and drink wine there.  When they were a little too inebriated to  continue to eat, he would push a lever and "Voila!" Water would shoot up from the middle of the stool and around the table to awaken the guest.

He also created mechanical, water-operated and music-playing theatre showing differed workers, a grotto and a crown being pushed up and down with the jet of water.  The games were designed so that the only dry spot would be where Markus Sittikus stood or sat.

These figures would move across the stages which would have thrilled those viewing it in 1723 when it was built.  Below are some close ups of the vignettes and some of the other features in the garden.

The scenes are quaint, humorous, and detailed giving viewers today good insight into what life would have been like back in the 17th century in Austria. 

The beauty of the grounds is indisputable.  From water fountains to beautifully landscaped gardens, it would have been quite elegant during the 1600's.   Unfortunately, it was only used during the day with the Archbishop going back to Salzburg in the evenings, so there are no bedrooms at the schloss.

It is early spring so a lot of the plantings have not yet blossomed, but the gardens are ambitious.

With the Alps in the background, you can see that the scope of the gardens are enormous.  

These two seem to have made their home here, along with various ducks and fish.

It was a spectacular day to stroll the gardens and take in the grandeur of the schloss.

I would love to return later in the summer and see all of the plantings in their full glory.  It was a lovely morning at Hellbrunn and it hardly takes any imagination at all to understand how amazing the grounds and buildings would have been during Markus Sittikus' day.  Hard to imagine that Archbishops had these spectacular summer castles to use at their leisure.  Even harder to imagine that it was considered their right!

BURGHAUSEN, GERMANY

View of the Main Castle at Burghausen from Outside the Castle Walls.

    I often wonder what it would be like to go back in time and live in a different century;

the 7th or 8th century in Europe, for example. I ponder what life was really like on a day to day basis. Fortunately, much of Europe has preserved the ancient buildings of this time period and today you can discover whole towns that still exist from the Middle Ages so that we might have a glimpse into life as it once was. Many castles in Germany still exist from that stormy period of time that began after the disintegration of the great Roman Empire.

     One such ancient city is Burghausen near the Austrian border. At over 1 kilometer in length, Burghausen Castle is the longest castle in Europe. The oldest documented mention of Burghausen is in the year 1025. However, archaeologists have found remnants of the Bronze, Iron, and Celtic ages as well as the Roman times making it difficult to pinpoint an actual founding date.

                                                           Small Chapel in Ancient City

     Chivalrous knights, huge fortified castles, medieval swords, and damsels in distress are what most of us associate with the Middle Ages.  The castles were initially designed to keep any attacking force out of the city. The fortified home of a powerful warlord, it provided sanctuary during times of strife. 

Inside the Ancient City of Burghausen

     People lived a hard and dangerous life within the fortress walls.  People were born into a social position with specific duties and had little chance of changing their lot in life.  The comfort and safety depended on the work of all of the others. Inside the walls of Burghausen, you can see that it is well maintained and actually has converted all of the buildings into flats where people actually reside today.

 Another view of the Castle Walls from Outside

     Today, Burghausen has grown to incorporate a new and modern city around the original castle walls.  After a legacy of Duke Henry the Lion in 1164, and the subsequent Wittelsbachs, it finally became the second residence of the Lower Bavarian dukes.  The main source of income at that time was from the trade of salt from Hallein (modern-day Austria). 

     In the 14th century, Emperor Louis IV granted it the privilege of becoming the area's administrative and revenue office.   Burghausen experienced an expansion during that time, the golden age,  and then in 1594 lost most of its' income from the salt trade during the establishment of the ducal salt monopoly.

     For 300 years it experienced more administrative and commercial decline.  By the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century the city lay in disrepair and the population dwindled to 2,500 inhabitants.  Today, it still would be in shambles if it were not for the Wacker family.

     In 1903 the Wacker-Chemie GmbH was founded.  It was the first ever large-scale producer of acetaldehyde, acetic acid and acetone.  One could safely say that this industrial plant, that now covers over 2 square kilometers and has over 10,000 employees that manufacture thousands of different products in some 150 facilities is responsible for the preservation of the town.  Today, many people reside in the ancient city and the castle and other buildings have been converted into flats.

View from inside castle walls to St. Jakob's Kirche in modern Burghausen

     It's tower is 78 meters high.

Cannonballs

Drawbridge where Napoleon Once Stood

     This bridge spanning what was once a moat that had to be crossed to gain entry into the innermost palace of Burghausen Castle.

Beautiful Wooden Carvings on Pillars and a Painted Sign Above the Arch that Reads "1523."

Bavarian Coat of Arms

     Back in medieval times, colorful flags and coat of arms would have decorated the walls of the castle honoring the escapades of the royal knights.

     An Interior View of the Ribbed Vaults Inside the Parish Church

Arched Doorway to Cellar of Castle

     I did not want to contemplate where this doorway led.  Having watched far too many Hollywood versions of dungeons, my imagination was already in overdrive.

                                          Star of David on Door Window

     I have read that there was a Jewish population in Burghausen during WWII.  This Star of David ornament on a door within the castle is further proof.

A View of the Modern City of Burghausen from Atop the Castle Walls.

   The Salzach River surrounds the castle on one side and the Woehrsee, a lake cut from the riverbed of the Salzach River, at the end of the last Ice Age, when the river changed its course. 

The Dual Coats of Arms at the Entrance of the 2nd of 4 Courtyards of Burghausen Castle.

     This represents the alliance between George of Bavaria & Hedwig of Poland.  The left panel features the Bavarian Coat of Arms with lions, while the right panel features the Polish Coat of Arms with a white eagle.

     Burghausen is only an hours drive from Munich and is situated right next to the Austrian border.  It is a lovely drive where you have beautiful views of vistas such as this one of the Austrian Alps or the one below:

     

     It is a lovely way to spend a day, going back in time to a place of fantasy with jousting, squires, heraldry, Ales, peasant bread, and pottage.  It is easy to let your mind wander to more romantic times, but it is also a reminder of plagues like the Black Death  and famine.  One only has to remember medieval stories like Hansel and Gretel, like most of Grimm's Fairy Tales, to know that they had a basis in reality and illustrated the harsh possibilities of natures whims.  (A sad note is that during the Black Death, oddly enough, concerns over famine were alleviated as the survivors found they had more food available.)

    It is  a fanciful history, but women then were treated as property.  After the crusades, knights returned having learned of adversaries who actually revered their women.  Passion was no longer considered sinful to 11th and 12th century moralists and courtly love became the subject of some of the most famous medieval poems.  Hence, the word "courtesy" in our language today.

"WALTZING MATILDA"

Ever have one of those moments when reality is, well, just plain surreal?

I mean, like when you are just going about your everyday business and then, WHAM! What you thought was happening, isn't really happening anymore? You know, it becomes a blip in the program-- a quark in the universe--a WOOOOW moment that steals your breath away and you are, in an instant, transported into some kind of a parallel universe?

It happened to me just this week while acting as an unofficial tour guide through Germany into Austria with my Austrailian mother-in-law. Truly, it was an experience I will never forget for as long as I live and one that will surely linger in my memory forever.

It all began after a whirlwind tour of Vienna, Austria. We had spent two amazing evenings enjoying dinner out and a Mozart concert one evening, and a Beethoven concert the next. Another day was spent at the Albertina studying the brushstrokes of the Masters. Rembrandt, Matisse, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Klimt, Munch, Picasso, and on and on, ad infinitum. One could have spent weeks exploring this mammoth museum, we spent one day packing it ALL in.

However, I found that not one of these, "once in a lifetime, " experiences could match what was about to come.

Remember when I said that, "I was stolen away to another dimension," or something like that? Surely enough, it began as Jaci (my mother-in-law) and I were descending the down escalator to the U-2 (subway) in central Vienna after nine hours of sight-seeing (on foot, mind you).

Jaci entered the escalator first, and I followed a few stairs behind her. About three-quarters of the way down the escalator, we began to hear the faint sounds of the "Weiner Walzer," or better known in English as the Viennese Waltz. The music was being piped in to the underground subway from speakers overhead.

Once off the escalator and back on terra firma, my 78 year old mother-in-law starts to regress into a child-like waif and the next thing I know she is flitting from side to side with an imaginary partner waltzing her way through the hustle and bustle of people that make up the underground in a large city like Vienna.

I am just a few steps behind her, still waiting for MY descent from the escalator when a man rushes hurriedly along beside me and jumps off the escalator only a step or two in front of me. I blinked my eyes to discover that his reason for rushing past me was to mimic my (did I say 78 years old? Strike that, young) mother-in-law.

Now, he is precisely behind her and at this very moment she is unaware that he is shadowing her every dance move. Now, I wish you were with me at the moment she turned around. You would have loved to have seen the look on her face when she twirled about, while still gliding to and fro to the music in time to discover a dashing (handsome?) man imitating her dance steps!

I can tell you, it was priceless--that look, it was. But that wasn't what transported me--not yet, anyways.

In one fell swoop, he took her in his arms and swept her off her feet (literally) to the strains of Johann Strauss. Reminiscent of an episode of "Dancing With the Stars," I envisioned Bruno Tonioli's face in distinct shock as I witnessed the couple rotating first clockwise, and then counter-clockwise, to the tempo of the great Viennese Waltz.

Glimpsing out of the corner of my eye, around the underground, I saw a crowd swiftly gathering in a large circle. Every face was now grinning from ear to ear. It was all I could do to grab my camera and click away before the moment was gone.

I tell you, it was so surreal, so impromptu, so passionate, these two star-crossed dancers, that you just had to see it to believe it!

And now, you can....

The "Waltzing" stranger in the middle of Vienna's underground swooping my mother-in-law off her feet!

Another shot of the dashing fellow, smiling for the camera, as he whisks her away.

I tell you, she could of laid that old white hat on the floor and she and I could have spent another whole week in Vienna with the crowd that gathered as they danced blissfully unaware of everyones' amazement and delight.

And then, like Antonio Banderas in "Zorro," he bowed at the waist and dissapeared.....