While in Salzburg, KW and I took the opportunity to indulge in more Mozart and attended a dinner concert at the Stiftskeller St. Peter, the oldest restaurant in Europe. Apparently the restaurant was established in AD 803 and even hosted Charlemagne.  Now, when someone tells you you’re visiting the oldest restaurant in Europe and about to enjoy a traditional historic meal, that experience can go one of two ways: really delicious or really horrible. Luckily, our meal was the former.

Between each course, a group of musicians entertained us with pieces from some of Mozart’s most famous works: Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. The soloists were particularly animated, but it seemed like the whole quintet got into the fun. I’m sure this is a thing they do for the tourists, historic costumes and all. But they genuinely seemed to be having fun, which made it a lot of fun to watch. Or they were all Americans and smile at inappropriate times.

An extra bonus to visiting the Stiftskeller Restaurant was they have decorated for Christmas already. Austria’s (and Germany’s) love of Christmas is extensive enough for several other posts, but we got just a small sample at the restaurant before the concert.

 

 

Title quote: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart