SALZBURG

Georg & Evelyne Aigner, Apropos vendors

Georg and Evelyne Aigner sell Austrian street paper Apropos. “It has turned my life around,” says Georg. “My wife and I visit schools and universities to talk about the street paper and poverty in Salzburg.” Evelyne adds: “My self-confidence was built up with the help of Apropos, and we are somehow a little famous now in the city.”

Why we like living in Salzburg

Georg: We grew up here and I love every stone of Salzburg. Most of the people here are friendly, peaceful and always ready to help.

Evelyne: It is a beautiful city where living is pretty good, and it is not as big as Vienna. What every visitor must do

Georg: What Salzburg is most famous for is Mozart, Festspiele [a classical music festival] and Mozartkugeln [a chocolate ball]. On one side it is an accurate image of the city, because the portrait of Mozart is omnipresent in the city, but this glamorous image belies that there is poverty in Salzburg as well. Every visitor should go to Mozart’s birthplace [Hagenauer Haus], the Salzburg fortress, and the old town by day and by night. What to do without spending money

Evelyne: Walking along the river Salzach is free and beautiful in every season. From Makartsteg, which is a bridge, you can enjoy the famous view of Salzburg with all the huge baroque buildings and the fortress above them all.

Georg: A very nice thing to do is walking up the beautiful mountains Kapuzinerberg and Mönchsberg. On days with clear weather you can even see far out to the countryside and to the east of Germany. With the mountains we have nature in the midst of our city; from the Apropos office, which is located at the foot of the Kapuzinerberg we sometimes see chamois, squirrels and lots of different birds. Best place to eat

Georg: There is a restaurant called Schmankerl, which means “speciality” in Austrian dialect. You can eat inexpensively ($5.73 USD for a vegetarian or meat dish), which is not common in Salzburg. Our favorite café is the bakery Resch & Frisch.

Evelyne: You can borrow a book in the library next door and then read it while drinking good coffee in a warm atmosphere.

Georg: Salzburg is also known for its culinary delicacies. Some of them are known around the world…

Both: Wiener schnitzel, salzburger nockerl (soufflé), sachertorte (chocolate cake), kasnockn (dumplings), and more!

How to escape city life

Evelyne: We do not have to go far; we walk around Lehener Park. If we want to go a little bit further away from the city we drive to DaxLueg with our moped. It is a restaurant on a hill 6.2 miles away from Salzburg.

Our favorite time of the year

Georg: In spring you can feel how the trees live and the plants start to grow again - I like that very much. And autumn because the fruits on the trees become ripe and the leaves change their colors. Both times are also good to drive with the moped.