Tracing Mozart’s Footsteps

Good day people!

The city of Salzburg from Hohensalzburg Fortress ,easily accessible by the Festungsbahn Cable Railway

Hope everyone is ready to welcome the weekend! I am really excited for the weekend because it’s spring and the weather is perfect for picnic under the cherry blossoms and perhaps sipping on some plum wine! Having lived in Asia for most of my life, I recently had the opportunity to revisit Europe, reminiscing the memories that I made when I lived in the UK for a year during my college days.

An old cafe Mozart used to frequent back in the days!

Making full use of my vacations and the cheap LCC airfares,
I visited a couple European countries when I lived in the UK . One year was not enough to see everything Europe had to offer,so a month ago I made a trip to explore Austria and to revisit the UK with my family.

Downtown Salzburg

The trip to Salzburg and Vienna was such a sweet and relaxing trip. Besides feeding my belly with Schnitzels that were larger than my face ,refreshing Austrian beer in mid winter and endless apfelstrudel with warm vanilla sauce, it was such a treat to the heart, soul and mind to trace the steps and life of Mozart.

Schnitzel

Top: Käsespätzle (Viennese pancake that is the Viennese King’s favorite), Bottom: Apfelstrudel in warm vanilla sauce and Black Forest cake at the side

Starting from Mozart’s birth place in Salzburg, a small town on the west side of Austria; close to the border with Germany, I visited the house that he was born in and from there learned how his career in music began.

Mozart’s birth house
Cafe Tomaselli , where Mozart probably enjoyed a cuppa coffee
Illuminated shops in the old town
cute buildings in the old town

Mozart’s presence could be felt all over Austria; from the Mozart statues in some prominent areas to restaurants named after him that serves delicious cakes and chocolate to the countless Mozart balls (a type of chocolate with marzipan filling) with Mozart’s face printed on the wrapping. You will never ever say ‘Sorry, who is Mozart?‘ , if you ever step foot in Austria. In fact, you may find yourself more in tune with Mozart once leaving Austria.

Cafe Konditorei; the original creator of the Mozart Ball.

Moving on to Vienna from Salzburg by high speed trains, Vienna was much more happening and filled with excitement! I could almost imagine how Mozart would have felt when he first set foot in the city.

The Austrian National Library
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

Coming from Tokyo, a city where neon lights and brightly lit signboards rule almost every available space, Europe has always came across to me as somewhat a little dull, yet classy in its own way. Perhaps it is the culture and heritage still preserved in it’s buildings or just the lack of digital screens and neon lights flashing off walls and its city landscape, Europe’s scenery today is preserved just as how it was hundreds of years ago. Therefore, if you are looking for a large digital screen in Europe, you would probably never find it or recognize one immediately because it would be very eye catching.

H&M in downtown Stephenplatz, Vienna

Realizing these differences, there are definitely more street furniture medias such as network boards throughout the city or even transportation medias such as train platform digital or tram wraps which can be seen running its courses on the road or airport medias.

Salzburg Airport
Salzburg Airport

Vienna International Airport

Vienna International Airport

Vienna International Airport
Vienna International Airport

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I am going to steer away from our tour of Austria now and bring you to London, where I made a stopover for a couple days before making my way back to Tokyo.

The Tower Bridge on a rainy day!

London is such a fantastic place to just walk your heart out. Instead of taking the tube, many places are accessible by walking and that way you get to see what’s going on above ground. I can definitely understand why brands advertise with bus wrappings in London. This time I was hanging out mostly in the Covent Garden area, with boutique stores and amazing restaurants in the neighborhood, there was so much to see, shop and eat.

Peeking into some restaurants in Covent Garden.
Coffee places that look inviting on a cold winter evening
The original Neal’s Yard was super cute!

Speaking of transportation medias, I was simply delighted to see almost every other London taxi or London double-Decker buses wrapped and running in town. These were really eye catching as London is such a great city to walk, pedestrians could easily identify the ads. Kesion runs the classic London Bus and taxi as a vehicle media in Tokyo and it is really popular with our clients as many people stop to take pictures of it, with it.

Large ad space near Borough Market!

Just something that may tickle your fancy, these London buses are open for use as a party bus! You may book out the entire bus and it could bring you and your friends on a tour around Tokyo for a couple hours and guess what ? Free flow of drinks available!! Leave us a comment and let us know should you be interested.

http://www.upstar.co.jp/en/cruisingparty/

http://www.upstar.co.jp/en/

The below media is something new in some tube stations. If you have ever been to London, you would notice that the side of the escalators are usually lined with poster spaces that is usually occupied by musical promotions. But recently this new media which attracts a different kind of attention by allowing clients to put on video contents, keeping audience entertained throughout their ride on the escalator.

Digital Ribbon @ Tottenham Court Road Tube Station

This trip to Europe has been such an interesting journey. Should you have any questions or needs regarding European market, please reach out to us! We would love to speak to you.

Have a great weekend and till the next time!

Chloe

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