Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Vienna - Day 15 - History, Scary Bits & Nightlife V - Style

30 Day Blogging Challenge

August 15th - Vienna, Austria, Day 2
Today was a very unusual day....
We started out on a Historical Costume Walking Tour of Vienna....
"Salzburg in the year 1765: The historical costume walking tour leads you through the Salzburg of Mozart with its varied aspects of music, dance, culinary art and entertainment at the Archbishop's court."
We met at the entrance to the Mirabell Gardens and with our costumed guides, Tresel (the servant of the Mozart family) and the dancing master Spöckner. We learn firsthand where Mozart preferred dancing which food Wolfdietrich preferred where there was the best almond milk in Salzburg, which pleasures pursued the archbishops and so much more. It was really very interesting and the walk was blissful. After last night's wonderful concert and experience, I was only too happy to get to know this great composer just a little more intimately. I have to admit I am a fan. His music is very uplifting and I can't help smiling.
www.saltomusicale.at
A taste of Mozart's music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb0UmrCXxVA

Wikipedia says:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - German: 27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791, baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty.
At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death. The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons.
He composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence is profound on subsequent Western art music. Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote that "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years".


Eisenstadt Woman-Power in Eisenstadt
Pursue the paths of the well-known women of Eisenstadt. In the Jewish district, you’ll hear the exciting story of Franziska Wolf and Ottilie Laschober. In the Haydn house, you’ll enjoy listening to anecdotes about Mrs. Haydn and her social circle. You'll also get an insight into the power of the noble ladies at Esterházy Palace. This was also intriguing... I am all in support of strong women... fiesty jewels of our past.
www.eisenstadt-tourismus.at
A taste of Haydn's music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmZF3kBZQ6E

Wikipedia says:
(Franz) Joseph Haydn - 31 March, 1732 – 31 May 1809 was a prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".
Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family at their remote estate. Until the later part of his life, this isolated him from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, "forced to become original". Yet his music circulated widely and for much of his career he was the most celebrated composer in Europe.
Joseph Haydn, a friend and mentor of Mozart, and teacher of Beethoven, was the older brother of composer Michael Haydn.



Dinner was at 6pm at Mini. I had some seriously good meat and potatoes. After trying a lot of new things this was nice to have a more comfort level food... although it was done to perfection. It was nice to relax with my group. I did miss them yesterday when I went out on my own and it was great to hear their stories of what they experienced... I almost wished I had gone, but then they seemed intrigued with my adventures as well.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g190454-d3485308-Reviews-Mini-Vien...

Salzburg after Dark
Get to know the secrets of Salzburg after Dark. On this guided walk you will hear chilling stories that took place hundreds of years ago and find out why we only get scared in the dark. I am so glad we did this as a group. I am not a huge fan of the scary, but in a good crowd like ours, I can step up and be part of it all.
The focus was on the witch trials of the 17th century. We learned about the sorcerer “Jakl,” who was up to no good in the town of Salzburg; and witches’ Sabbaths, where the sorceresses joined up with Satan. These black masses were held for example on the Gaisberg Mountain. There were also blood-curdling stories to be told about St. Peter’s cemetery and, of course, the Hohensalzburg Fortress. The “White Woman” is supposed to have haunted the fortress especially at full moon until finally the whole place was illuminated at night and she disappeared. I have heard of the 'White Woman' before in the Outlander series (by Diana Gabaldon).
The town hall, the Waagplatz, and the New Residence were also further stops on our journey. These places had dark histories as prisons, torture chambers, and places of execution. The stories had me shuddering as I heard about torture practices and why alleged sorcerers and witches had their hair shorn and were washed with holy water.
We gained additional information about the dark Middle Ages from the so-called “Hexenbulle,” a script from 1485 which tells exactly how to protect oneself from witches. Let yourself be bewitched and come along on an eerie walk through Salzburg in the dark…
www.tourguide-salzburg.com
http://www.tourguide-salzburg.com/en/tour-offer/salzburg-after-dark/

After the tour I needed time to decompress... I missed our communal bedrooms and was not looking forward to returning to my room alone. I convinced a few of the others to stay our with me and indulge in a little of Vienna's nightlife. It was time for some dancing and some interesting bar shots.... definitely for the younger crowd, but I loved the music and the dancing. Fivesixer took a few of the shots.... and we all had a roaring good time.... we didn't get back to our hotel until the few, tiny hours of the morning. Remember, what happens at the Travel Shack, says at the Travel Shack. Wink. Wink. Nudge, Nudge.
http://travelshackvienna.com/