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Sunday, August 29. 2010

Salt and Salzburg

One place we did not get to on our trip was Salzburg. Wish we had had time to visit that medieval city which, as its name implies, got rich selling and transporting salt down the river.


Our guide pointed out to us how important salt was at the time - not as a condiment, but as a food-preservative. "White gold."


I wonder what salt mines were like in 1400.

Posted by Bird Dog in History, Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation, Travelogues and Travel Ideas at 18:21 | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

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There is an excellent book on this subject. I forgot who wrote it, but the title is way easy to remember...."Salt" It gives the world history of this white gold.
#1 Mark on 2010-08-29 21:39 (Reply)
Probably akin to life at Skadden Arps for your average 3d year associate. Except with more benevolent overlords.
#2 Jim on 2010-08-29 22:08 (Reply)
Ah... Jim... Isn't the littering after the inauguration the point?
#2.1 Jim G. on 2010-08-29 23:40 (Reply)
Misposted - yes, that is the point. But it looks a lot worse on the dusty brown winter version of the mall. I'm not denying the litter is much worse, but the overall ambiance distorts the viewer's impression - as if the January crowds tore up the grass. Just sayin'...
#2.1.1 Jim on 2010-08-30 06:30 (Reply)
I toured a salt mine near Berchtesgaden with my family in 1985. It was an abandoned mine turned into a tourist site. They dressed you up in period coveralls and caps and each person was equipped with a leather patch worn on your butt. This was used to slide down these long slides (like very large bannisters) from level to level in the mine. (stairs were available also) It was fun and very informative, although a passing knowledge of German was helpful. The tour guides were older men who had worked in salt mines. At the end you were invited to buy souvenirs from the tour guide, little containers with 3 or 4 cubes of different slats from the mine. I think they were 5 marks. It was fun and my kids remember it to this day.
#3 Steve C. on 2010-08-30 11:10 (Reply)
While lingering resentments generated during the Second World War have kept me from yearning to visit Germany, I always wanted to visit Salzburg for the Mozart festival.

There is a wonderful 'revenge movie', probably one of the best I've seen, called "Hopscotch" starring Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson. If you've never seen it, treat yourself to a viewing. One of the early scenes takes place in a mountain-top cafe in Salzburg, where Glenda lives. She's a former lover of Walter's and they meet in this spectacular scenery and re-unite. Walter is a veteran spy for the good old USA, who has been sentenced by the new head of his agency, Ned somebodyorother, to a desk job. He decides to fight back, and the whole movie is a funny satire on big government, small minds and revenge as a healing medicine for insulted souls. And which one of us doesn't want, or like, revenge as a healer of the soul?

Marianne
#4 Marianne Matthews on 2010-08-30 12:13 (Reply)
On topic with salt mines but in another hemisphere is the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá in Colombia, which can be done in a day trip from Bogotá. The salt deposits in Zipaquirá have been exploited for an estimated 1500 years. In 1801, Alexander Von Humboldt visited the salt mines in Zipaquirá. The Salt Cathedral was constructed in the 1930s. While it is called a cathedral, it has no official status as one. If you find yourself in Colombia, it is well worth the visit. Here are some photos of the Salt Cathedral.

I will look up Marianne's movie recommendation.
#5 Gringo on 2010-08-30 14:31 (Reply)

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