Wrapping up our time in Salzburg

 

Rain and cooler temps marked our final 24 hours in Salzburg, but it didn’t dampen our spirits.

We enjoyed a “last supper” with John Bateman, eating Syrian food at Eleven-11 restaurant and drinking beer at an Irish pub in his honor. What a beautiful 30+year friendship between these two guys.

This final weekend, we also enjoyed three “performances” indoors while the weather was inclement. The first was by the famous Salzburg Marionette Theatre, which performed Babar the Elephant, Ferdinand, and a series of stories written to Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals.

Though technically not a “performance,” High Mass on Sunday in the Cathedral featured two of the church organs, musicians and a small choir with angelic voices. Lots of incense and praying in German. We returned to the Dom Sunday night for a special concert featuring a full orchestra, the full cathedral choir and youth choir, as well as several soloists performing Mendelssohn’s Hymn of Praise, which was written in 1840 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Gutenberg printing press — a particularly meaningful event for a writer to celebrate every year!

The night is departing
The night is far gone, 
day is at hand. 
Let us cast off the works of darkness, 
and put on the armor of light.