Christmas in Salzburg - Part 2 of 4

I’m not a fan of museums. Most concerts bore me. Blame it on my short attention span. So the highlighted tourist destinations included in the “wall of pamphlets” at our hotel were unappealing. Which, considering we were in Salzburg specifically for the Christmas markets, didn’t agitate my gay sensibilities to be more culturally diverse. However, there were two attractions that did capture my attention: the Hohensalzburg Fortress and the Salzburger Marionetten Theater.

The Hohensalzburg Fortress is the largest, fully preserved fortress in Central Europe. Built in 1077 and slightly modified with subsequent years, the impressive castle shouldn’t be missed. Though, I was slightly disappointed by our guided tour, which, as described by my partner, “Was the most pathetic tour we’ve ever had.” He was right. Most of thee fortress was closed due to the monsoon like blizzard that was fast approaching. We saw a room where salt was stored, another with torture devices that had never been used and many long white hallways with no significant story to tell. We did, however, have the opportunity to snap a few aerial shots of Salzburg and one too many of Chris and I with the wind catching my hair and preparing me for liftoff.

As the storm intensified we made our way back to town. With snow pellets pounding our face, we weaved through the markets with the understanding the following day would be devoted to exploring them fully. So with little time to spare, we headed directly to the Salzburger Marionetten Theater for a 7:00 showing.

The Salzburger Marionetten Theater, founded in 1913, presents operas from the repertoire of major opera houses performed to famous recordings. But once we found out the show was more than two hours long, I surmised the novelty would quickly fade after 20 minutes and I’d be begging to leave. Besides that, the 7:00 show was cancelled. “What now?” we thought.

With the weather worsening with every step, we decided to see a movie. As we hopped in the cab, we thought the situation was quite humorous. For most, traveling to a foreign country and seeing a movie would be unthinkable. But for us, it was quite the contrary. King Kong had just opened. It was in version original. We had movie candy. What could be better? Three hours and forty minutes later, including a 15-minute intermission where we met a nanny from a small town outside of Salzburg, we made our way back to the hotel through the 3 inches of snow/slush now on the ground. It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas.