Dr. Eric Conway writes:
Day 8 - Salzburg Salt mines and Lutheran Church Concert
Today
will be our last full day in Salzburg. We have thoroughly enjoyed our
limited time in Austria. Fortunately, we have spent most of our time on
this tour in Salzburg. Everywhere we look we can see a beautiful view
among the Alps' mountain range. The Baroque architecture looks like
something out of a fairytale. The Austrian people have been very
warm and receptive to us.
Typically, travelers
are admonished not to drink water in foreign countries - for fear of
getting sick due to not knowing what possible microbes might be lurking.
Well in Austria, we had a change our traveling paradigm. The water in
Austria is among the best in the world and very pure and safe to drink.
During the tour, we drank from public fountains, captured water from the
lakes, even took water from the tap of tour hotel bathrooms to drink -
something we would never do at home! No one got sick. We even enjoyed
the taste of the water!
Today, we traveled to a
salt mine about forty-five minutes from the hotel on the Austro-German
border. Again, Salzburg is named after mineral - salt! The city has
enjoyed wealth over the centuries due to their salt production and
trade. A salt mine tour may not sound very appealing or attractive, but
our tour today was one that no one on the tour will ever forget! We
traveled about one-half mile into a mountain to view the mine and to
learn about the history of salt, why there is so much salt in the
mountain, and the process of acquiring salt from the mine. If you
believe in the concept that billions of years ago, when continents were
formed, the water receded and much of the salt from the oceans remained
in certain areas, often under rocks or in other words mountains. When
salt was discovered on the mountain, this meant an evergreen trading
investment for the region.
At the beginning of
the tour, we had to wear protective clothing to avoid getting salt
residue on our clothing. We were told to wear warm clothes since we were
walking through caves in a mountain. You can imagine that it was very
cool - around 45 degrees Fahrenheit. We took a train, reminiscent of an
amusement park ride to the center of the mine before getting off on
foot. Videos were presented in English, telling the history of salt and
the mine. At one point to get to another level in the mine, the group
had to go down a huge slide or walk down many steps - of course the
group chose the former. In the middle to the mine, we were all ushered
onto a ferry to cross a salt lake in the mine. Again, this was like a
Disney park attraction. At a certain point we crossed the border to
Germany and back to Austria. Originally, the mine was totally in
Austrian territory, however, due to changes in political divisions, this
changed over the centuries. At the end of the tour, we returned to
Austria! Again, I believe that no one will ever forget this salt mine
tour. We were so engaged in this salt mine tour, it was like going back
in time. See many links to many videos and photos from the tour below.
After a group lunch minutes from the mine, we drove back to the hotel for a few hours of rest before our evening concert.
Tonight’s
concert was in a Lutheran church, which was a stark contrast to the
cathedral concerts sung earlier in the tour. Prior to the concert we
visited Marable Gardens - the gardens of the Mirabelle Palace. The
gardens are famous because this is where the song Do-Re-Mi was sung in The Sound of Music. The gardens were very picturesque.
The
concert was well attended. This concert was a fundraiser for
organization that I do not believe we have in the states: a non-profit
supporting the children of mentally-ill parents. The church was packed!
Due to the smaller venue size, the sound of this concert was even more
suited for voices. We performed mostly without any micing. I announced
the concert in German. After the concert, the church hosted a
reception for the choir and for the cause. I was told by a language
teacher in the audience that although my German had a heavy American
accent, the audience thoroughly appreciated me making the effort to
communicate in their language. Any slips in pronunciation were all
forgiven.
We also noticed that this audience
seemed to be very high-Austrian society. Many commented that they
certainly knew good music and were aware of related concert-etiquette,
but after hearing our music, they felt relaxed and comfortable accepting
the spirit of the music and began to move their bodies and clap their
hands. Many believed that they heard a high-quality choral group who
communicated their music exceptionally well. Most attendees stayed
behind to talk directly with the choir and give plaudits.
We returned to our hotel to prepare to leave in the morning for transport to Germany!
See many links and photos attached detailing the day!
EC
LINKS TO:
Asians working together to load luggage
Boarding train
Choir members going down slide
Going down slide
On the Lake on the Mine
Departing Mine
Entering Restuarant
Beginning of Lutheran Concert
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle
************************************
Eric Conway, D.M.A.
Fine and Performing Arts Department, Chair
Morgan State University
No comments:
Post a Comment