Salzburg observations

Salzburg is both an historical monument, a cultural center, and a modern city and it is interesting how they manage to harmonize all those things. They preserve everything they can, from historic buildings (I ate in a restaurant that opened in the 1300s, a bierstubel using the recipe from 1621 and a hotel that opened in 1407), to cultural traditions.

They have a very efficient bus system with many routes, passing by every fifteen minutes for most of the day. You can buy a bus ticket from a machine right at the bus stop. This is a high-trust society: there is no barrier to entry--in other words, you can just get on the bus and most times you will ride for free. BUT, every now and then a "controller" will board the bus and ask to see everyone's ticket. During the festival, if you have a ticket for a concert that day, you can ride for free--I tested it. But if you don't have a valid ticket, there will be consequences! Someone behind me got caught the other day, but I don't know what happened as a result. A fine? The busses are all air-conditioned. As are the concert halls! Also, every concert hall has a buffet area where, before the concert and at intermission you can get little snacks:

Smoked salmon, dried beef and an orange juice

I usually just get an orange juice, but they have champagne, Prosecco, Sekt, and various cocktails--Aperol Spritz is a favorite.

Salzburg is a lovely city. Here is one of the most popular views: the Mirabell Palace (built for a mistress of the Prince Archbishop in 1606), looking over the gardens to the Hohensalzburg fortress:

Mirabell Palace and gardens

Zooming in for a view of the fortress

All of Austria looks like a gigantic park because everything is green--it's like a big lawn. And the reason is, it rains every couple of days. Here is a view of the Hohensalzburg fortress five minutes before a thunderstorm. Looks just like Dracula's castle!