Salzburg, I will miss you and your beauty

For our last day in Salzburg we had a free day to do more exploring. A few of us started the day by walking (and in some cases running) to the oldest bakery in Salzburg for some of their fresh bread in the morning. The bakery smells AMAZING and has delicious brioche rolls. In addition to this music tour of Europe, I have been on a bakery tour as well. I don't know what I'm going to do without my European bakeries when get back to Washington. I need my morning cappuccinos and baked goods! After our breakfast we walked up to the Nonnberg Abbey where we met up with the rest of the group. The abbey was a sacred space, it had a complete aura of pious holiness. I was very moved in the presence of the peaceful silence. We were getting ready to leave when the sound of bells stopped us. All the sudden, from up above in the back of the church behind the walls came the sound of the nuns singing and chanting. Mesmerized, I sat in a pew and just let the sound wash over me. It was an experience I will never forget. Later Annalise, Alexandra, Caleb and I hiked up to the monastery and went along the wall surrounding it. I just couldn't get enough of the gorgeous views of the city below. We also found a statue of our buddy Mozart, definitely a romanticized version of him! That night we went to another concert at the Mozarteum with the Mozarteum Orchestra. It was a Mozart aria sandwich with Clementi Symphony bread. This orchestra was also fabulous and played with a beautiful brilliant sound. The vocalist was also wonderful and her melismas during the last aria was gorgeous. The conductor on the other hand was a different story...He wasn't necessarily bad per say, just different. He had a giant baton, kinda looked like a large stick, and I personally thought his conducting style and even face reminded me of Mr. Bean. He is a British conductor too!! If this reference is confusing to anyone, Mr. Bean is a hilarious British comedian. If you have never seen him, go look it up, you will laugh. Anyways, this conductor has a very awkward/harsh/ and somewhat confounding way of conducting. For example he would turn to the idea no literally look at the audience with some sort of weird face. It was kinda uncomfortable when he would do that and hilarious at the same time. There was one point when he looked over right at my row of people and I almost burst out laughing. Very strange conducting, but a wonderful performance nevertheless. It was our last night in Salzburg, but quite a memorable one and what a way to spend Mozart's birthday week!  

Nonnberg Abbey

The red dome of the abbey

Beautiful memorials 

View of the city