BRIGHT LIGHTS & SILENT NIGHTS
Medieval Steingasse is one of the oldest streets in Salzburg, and although it was once the main route out of the city, along which horse-drawn wagons laden with salt would clatter all day, today it feels like one of its quietest. I share the stillness of this narrow alley with only a few other pedestrians and a cyclist. I’m tempted by the warm glow of a cosy wine bar and a tiny arthouse cinema.
It’s early December in the Austrian city just over the border from Germany – mountains forming its limits – and I’m stealing a moment of calm while excitement ensues in the Altstadt across the Salzach river. Christmas is one of Salzburg’s two peak seasons for good reason. Not only does its skyline, defined by Baroque towers and domes and topped by a medieval castle, sparkle under a dusting of icing-sugar snow to create the consummate fairy-tale image, but its streets come to life with Advent festivities steeped in traditions that are equal parts
