Off to the Salt Mines

Tuesday

On our way to the Salt Mines we passed into the Alps. I think I like the Alps better than the Rockies. Certainly better than the Appalachians, and they beat the Sierra Nevada's too. You will see more pictures of mountains as we go on; are they not beautiful? I think what I like best is that they're not so desert-y. Lots of vegetation.We got to Durnberg where they had us put white clothing over our regular clothing. Don't we look cute?!!
Reela and I were 'partners' in the mine--it helps to have a friend to go down the slides with. She went first on the first slide, but insisted I have a chance to go first on the second slide. Near the bottom I thought I was going to take off flying!

Ah, the salt mines! The source of Salzburg's wealth and prosperity for hundreds of years!
The descent involved two slides--they gave us lots of instructions about not trying to break, keeping your feet up, holding on to the person in front of you... this particular picture is of an old slide that is no longer used (good thing--looks like we might end up with splinters if we used this one!)
We passed from Austria into Germany, where the majority of the mining took place--hence the need for a fort to prtect Salzburg since the Bavarian's weren't too thrilled about them 'stealing' their salt.
They mined using a technique called 'solution mining'. They would carve out huge chambers--one of which we crossed in a boat--and fill them with water. The salt would leach out of the rocks into the water over a period of about 6-8 weeks. They would drain the water to the town at the bottom of the mountain where the water would be boiled off, leaving only the salt behind. Yum! This is inside one of those chambers--you can see the little diorama if you look carefully.
Returning to Austria The Salzburg Citizens were not the first to mine the salt here--about 500 BC the mines were opened by Celtic miners. We know this because the miners in the 1600's found one of the old Celtic miners--perfectly preserved by the salt (until they took him out of the mine and he disintigrated). Here's a mock-up of the mummy. Hmmm, do I sense a "Mummy 4" down the line?
St Rupert, patron Saint of Salzburg, was the one to build the monastary we ate at the night before. He also built the original Dom Cathedral in the 700's, which burned down around 1634 and was rebuilt by Wolf Deitrich.
Here's Wolf Deitrich--the story is that one of his chamberlains knocked over a candle and caused Salzburg to burn down. When he heard Salzburg was burning, he said, "Let it burn." He wanted to rebuild it in the Italian style, with 5 Plaza's or Squares. So he did :)
After the Salt Mines we went into Germany briefly (above ground this time) to Berchtesgaden, a little touristy town in the mountains. We followed this little river. You can see the water is green--that mean's it's being fed by a glacier. Cool, huh? Or maybe 'freezing' would be a better word...
The mountains above Berchtesgaden. Complete with glaciers.
Then a return to Salzburg, where we had about 15 minutes of free time before dinner at the Garten restaurant.
Diane, Rebecca, I forget (sorry!) and Reela, my dinner companions this night.
After dinner it was time for our third concert at our church's building where Salzburg Saints meet. The buildings there have far more character than the buildings here... but they still serve red punch! (that's an LDS joke--you know the church is true because everywhere you go in the world they serve red punch/Kool-Aid with the refreshments)
And the fort in the distance, from the other side.