Carmen at the Salzburg festival

August 15, 2026

There was a ceremony this morning in front of city hall with costumed locals, a band, and what appeared to be a Catholic Cardinal (1). The band played songs, the soldiers fired their muskets and everyone seemed to have a good time. 

To the Nordkette funicular and gondolas for a ride up the steep alps just north of the city (2). There was a good crowd on the Saturday, but it was all well organized. The gates stopped taking tickets when the gondola capacity was reached. The top of the gondola was called (appropriately enough) the Top of Innsbruck. A trail led up to some prominent spots for views to the city below. 

Waiting for an afternoon train to Salzburg, we overhead an American teenage boy say to his parents "All we do is walk and take pictures." The train journey passes through Bavaria, the shorter distance between the two cities. The clerk at the hotel was interested in our itinerary, frequently moving between cities. "It's like you're on a river cruise, except by train. Good choice this year, there is no water for the cruise boats in the Danube."

At the Gtoßspielhaus we had tickets for Carmen at the Salzburg festival. While I had brought a collared shirt, we were underdressed compared to the crowd. A pole blocked my view of the English subtitles (3), but the plot was explained well in the bilingual program, and the music was familiar (4). The conductor barely bothered to keep the beat, but almost danced with joy to the music, and the orchestra responded well. The violins and woodwinds stood ocassionally to sway to the beat. All great fun. 

(1) Judging by the Amaranth color of his hat, although Innsbruck's Bishop is not a Cardinal.

(2) We had asked for a ticket to Sergrube, the middle gondola station. "It's less expensive for a ticket to the top, but you can stop at Seegrube."

(3) Putting in a request before tickets went on sale, I did not get to choose our seats. We had also requested tickets to this morning's Verdi Requiem without success.

(4) Familiar from Bugs Bunny cartoons and the 1976 movie Bad News Bears.

Ceremony at Innsbruck

Up the Nordkette

At the top of Innsbruck 

View to the city, and route to Brenner Pass, beyond

View back

Tourist tram at Hauptbahnhof

The Train to Salzburg

Views of Austria from the train

Church in Bavaria

Bells pealing outside festival hall

Outside the Festspielhaus 

The German subtitles were fully visible, but the column blocked the English.

Final bows from 2 seats over

Walking after Carmen (and a food truck bratwurst).