Mozart in Saltzburg

Today I visited both the Mozart museums - one in the apartment his family lived in when he was born, and the other in the much larger home they moved to on this side of the river when he was a teenager. These museums have a wonderful collection of his and his family's instruments - pianos, violins, harpsichords, organs as well as a lot of family correspondence and artifacts.  It was pretty amazing to be reading letters between Mozart and his parents and sister and wife in his own handwriting.  The letters are very well preserved and are quite readable.  They also have a lot of original musical manuscripts in his own hand, which are also amazing to behold.  One thing that struck me as I learned of his life is the high rate of infant mortality in Europe in the 18th century.  Both his parents and then he and his wife lost 5 children either at birth or before the first birthday, having only 2 of 7 children survive to adulthood.  After I had toured those two museums, I wandered through the Old City where all the shops are and there were still a couple of Christmas markets open.  I had a midday Gluwein, which warmed me up at the point when it was pouring rain and the cold was getting to me because of the wet and damp of the rain. Snow would have been warmer I think!  After my Gluwein fix I went to St. Peter's church, which the guidebook claims is where Christianity began in Europe.  It's a magnificent church with beautiful paintings adorning the walls and ceiling.  The organ case is a sight to behold.  After I left there I went to the Residenz, a huge series of connected buildings that used to house the Archbishop Princes who ruled Salzburg.  They are now museums and I enjoyed a tour through one of the art museums in there.  When I left there the rain had stopped so I walked further out to the edge of the Old CIty beyond the castle.  I had to chuckle when I came upon "The British Shop" with Union Jacks hanging outside and all manner of things British for sale inside, including PG Tips!  After that long walk, it was starting to get dark, so I headed back to my hotel for a rest after 6 hours of walking around. I enjoyed a linzer tart and tea and a rest, and then changed and went back to the Old City to St. Peter's Stitkskeller, which claims to be the oldest restaurant in Europe.  They say Charlemagne ate there!  They do a nightly dinner/concert show where a three course meal is accompanied by the greatest hits of Mozart's operas.  We enjoyed The Marriage of FIgaro and then our soup course, then Don GIovanni and our main course, and then The Magic Flute followed by dessert.  I was seated at a table with a family from Milan, Italy and a single traveler from South Korea.  We all enjoyed talking and exchanging travel stories.  The music was excellent and it was a lot of fun as they were all dressed in period costumes and the setting, in what was once a large ballroom or dining hall, was beautiful and candlelit.  That ended at 10 so it was a full day.  Pics include a sighting of the mountains which appeared this morning out of the haze, shots of St. Peter's church, a shot over the river at dusk and shots from the dinner event this evening.