Started the day by visiting the supermarket across the road to try & translate the labels so we can have some breakfast!  Nearly bought something that we still can't believe wasn't butter (but it actually wasn't)!

Over to the Marionette Theatre to buy some tickets for tonight's performance, then off to Mozart's Residence to get some culture into us (in addition to the yogurt at breakfast) .

All very interesting to see how they used to live back then & hear a bit more about his family.  Apparently his mother decided he'd be a good musician when he was 2 years old.  Maybe that's why he was already composing major works & giving recitals by age 6!

He only lived until he was 32 & spent a total of 10 years of his short life travelling!  Now that's impressive!  I know some people think I spend nearly all my time travelling but I don't do nearly as much time on the road as he did!

Then, just because one dose of Mozart culture wasn't enough, we also went over to see his birthplace because, as everyone knows, if you're born on January 27, you must be a genius!  Obviously!

Learned a lot more about his family life and how they lived back then but we weren't allowed to take photos in either of Mozart's houses so had to be satisfied with the outside.  Boooo!

Visited a few more shops along the way. I know it's all for the tourists, but the laneways & shops are all very cute!  They just make you want to buy stuff because they're so cute!  Don't worry ... I can resist because I'm a guy :-)

Found the Salzburg Christmas & egg shop with 70,000 eggs inside!  WOW!  That's nearly as many egg jokes as were posted on my wall following our check-in there!

Wandered up to the cemetery to take a look at the graves there that inspired the scene in Sound of Music where they all hide behind the tombstones that are behind locked gates (scummy Ralph! Why did he have to be such a Nazi about it) .

Then off to see the giant water wheel & have some fun on the Funicular that goes up to the Fortress.  First things first, we stopped for lunch at a cafe up there with a spectacular view over the city across to the mountains.  Little bit hazy but otherwise stunning.

Roamed around the Fortress for a few hours afterwards & dragged Mum up and down nearly every set of stairs in the entire complex ... a fact she strangely wasn't particularly overjoyed about!

By this time, it was getting dark as a thunderstorm was approaching so we went back down the funicular, into town & made our way back to the unit through a bit of rain to rest, drop off our goodies & get ready to go out again.

 Had dinner at a beautiful Italian restaurant, just near our apartment then made it just in time to the Marionette Theatre to watch the puppet show that inspired "High on a hill was a lonely goat herd ...".

We thought it was going to be like we saw in the movie & they said they'd put up subtitles for us to watch so we'd know what was going on ... wrong on both counts!

It was basically a 2-hour opera performance using puppets instead of people, and there were a few subtitles every 5 min or so.  So for most of the performance, we just sat there watching puppets sing opera or talk in German without having a clue about what was going on.

The puppeteers are very clever, the sets & costumes are amazing, they all have great voices & the theatre itself is incredibly beautiful.  But the story sounded like someone was on drugs!  

"The Magic Flute" brought to you by magic mushrooms:
 
- it starts with the Prince being chased by a giant snake
- 3 ladies appear out of nowhere, sing, and kill the snake
- they then tell the Prince that he's wandered into the realm of the Night Queen and show him a picture of her daughter
- he immediately falls in love (from the picture) and the Night Queen tells him that her daughter has been taken captive by an Evil King . But if the Prince rescues her, he can have her hand in marriage
- he agrees but before he goes, a comic sidekick appears who wears feathers, dances around a lot and speaks to birds, although (strangely) can't find a nice girl for himself
- the 3 ladies come back & dish out some things that will help the Prince & his sidekick on their quest: a magic flute & some chimes (yeah - really useful!)
- the Prince plays his flute & it attracts a wide range of wild animals ... who then disappear when he stops, never to be seen again (how does this add to the story??)
- the Prince goes off to find the Princess & the Sidekick immediately finds her & rescues her, only to be caught by the Evil King, who actually isn't evil as he took the Princess away from her mother for her own good because he actually has a massive crush on her
- the Princess however meets the Prince & falls in love within about 10 seconds
- the Evil King who isn't evil then is upset that he can't have the Princess so tells the Prince he can have her if he can pass some tests
- the first test is silence but he and his Sidekick never shutup until the Princess shows up! Then the Prince won't talk to her & so she thinks he doesn't like her & contemplates suicide (hmmm a little extreme? ... maybe just write her a note or something?)
- the second test is fire & water and this is the only time the magic flute is useful as he plays it & somehow walks through both tests (not sure how given he's under water but anyway)
- meanwhile the Sidekick is moaning about not finding a nice girl, then a granny appears & tries to crack onto him. 
- He fends her off but about 5 min later, there's a ball of fire and she turns into a beautiful young girl & now he wants her. The Sidekick disappears for a while to play his magic chimes & talk to the birds & the granny who's now beautiful & young thinks she should kill herself because she can't find him (didn't have a "mum" look though did she). He turns up about 30 seconds later & everything is OK again.

... there was a lot more to it but basically they both live happily ever after (of course) after many other weird & random things happening.

Drugs!  That's all I can say. Lots of drugs!

Finito!