Having delighted myself with the colours, scents and flurry of the Grunermarkt, it is now time to move on and search for Getreidegasse (the Grain Lane), the famous shopping lane of Salzburg. I didn’t have a map with me but I knew that it’s not that far away. Since the invention of Google Maps, travel planning hasn’t been so easy. Aren’t we lucky? We can familiarise our travel destination’s street layout even before setting on foot! Spoil me Google, spoil me.
Getreidegasse: The main shopping street
Getreidegasse is where all tourists and visitors meet for their shopping and souvenir needs. It is also the exclusive shopping lane for the moneyed locals. Obviously, it is the busiest lane in Salzburg. It is also one of the prettiest with vaulted passageways linking to courtyards with pergolas and arcades with corniches and lovely reliefs. Salzburg’s most prominent shopping street indeed has some historical and artistic flair in her.
OK, let’s have a look!
On Getreidegasse you can find these vaulted passageways that will bring you to another street, courtyard or a laybrinth of shops and cafes. Pretty awesome.
Wrought-Iron Gilded Shop Signs
A distinct personality trait of Getreidegasse that stands out when you first walk on it are it’s charming wrought-iron medieval gilded shop signs. They make the notorious unhealthy fast food chain McDonalds, really classy.
Wrought-iron guild signs in Baroque and Rococo styles are very typical in Germanic countries. I have seen them a lot in my travels. Erm, excuse me for those highfallutin cultured ancestral terms but I have a degree in Fine Arts (which explains my love for architecture and sometimes, the finer things in life). I’ll let you in a helpful tip though. When you see exaggerated and complicated designs in flowing dramatic patterns and are screaming in gold, then chances are they are either from the Baroque or Rococo Periods.
Ah, my history of art teacher can come out of his grave now and pat me on my shoulders.
Mozart Kugel
Naturally since I am in Salzburg I have to try the chocolate all tourists are trying to get their hands and mouth on. The Mozart Chocolate Balls.
Are they good? I’m not sure, all chocolates are the same to me and I am not very fond of marzipan and nougat.
Some Chocolate History Trivia: Did you know that Paul Fürst created the Mozart Balls in 1890 after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? The Fürst confectionery still produces this chocolate based from its original recipe, but I bought mine from Mirabell confectionery.
If you are a chocolate snob, don’t follow my example, go to Fürst for the real thing.
Mozart’s Birth House
Link: Mozart Museum
Since we are on the subject of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, let’s have a quick visit to his birth home! He was born on 9 Getreidegasse and he lived here until he was 17, after which he transferred across the river and lived on the Makartplatz, and in the later years, in Vienna. No one can miss Mozart’s Birth House on Getreidegasse because there is always a group of tourists milling about with their cameras in front of it.
His full name by the way is—Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. Great way to torture your child at an early age on spelling and memorisation.
I love his Symphony no. 40 in G minor (go check this out in YouTube).
Here’s a little confession. I’m not musically inclined, and I cannot sing. No one in our family can actually sing. We were probably the only family in the Philippines without a karaoke. If we get invited to a party with a karaoke, we were the first ones to hide in the toilet. I however studied piano when I was little, but never really matured into playing adult pieces. Just got stuck to children’s pieces like—Old Macdonald had a farm, ee i ee i o! Haha, no kidding!
A Shrimp Tale
And while wandering on the same street, umm yes we are still on Getreidegasse, I got tempted by this seafood store so I went inside and inquired if I can just have a taste, like buy a piece of shrimp. I know it’s odd and I sound like a pregnant woman with a food craving.
The young sales attendant who is a Filipina gladly told me it’s going to cost me 1 Euro. And so she heated up one piece to satisfy my craving. Vielen dank!
Other seafood items the store was selling:
Now there was another Filipina sales attendant, a much older one, who told her in Deutsch to ask if I was Filipina. The younger Filipina was not comfortable asking me the question. She did not think I was a Filipina as well but the older one was quite convinced. Of course during their discourse in Deutsch, I pretended I was this dumb tourist from Asia or god knows where who knows nothing about Deutsch.
The younger sales attendant was finally able to muster her courage and she asked me—‘Are you a Filipina?’
Her eyes gleamed when I told her YES, while the older one sniggered, nodded her head and felt vindicated. You know, she was right all along =)
I have more Salzburg stories and pictures of course =)
Travel Period: May 2013
Destination: Salzburg (Salzburg), Austria
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)