Back to that Family Vacation: Salzburg

After Strasbourg, we drove 'the scenic route' to Salzburg, Austria. It took longer, but it was so beautiful.

We walked around Salzburg for an hour or so after arriving in the evening (just to get our bearings), and then after enjoying a wonderful breakfast (I'm convinced Austria and Germany do breakfast the best. It will take some serious convincing to change my mind.) we went back into town for the day.

Here are some of the highlights:


The gardens (and fountain) featured in The Sound of Music where the Von Trapp children learn to sing. (And we absolutely did have our picture taken drinking 'tea with jam, jam and bread' while standing on the outer rim of the fountain. But I don't have that picture.)

In the background of this picture, you can also see the castle/fortress that is one of the main touristy sites.

Some street. Don't remember the name. The only thing I remember is that each store had to have a stylized sign hanging out perpendicular to the storefront.

When we went to the castle/fortress, there were some different implements of torture. Most made me squirm, but though I still found it inappropriate, I thought this "Mask of Shame" was kind of interesting. I wonder how effective it was as a punishment...

There was also a museum of marionettes.

Some of the marionettes were creepy...

The fam in the castle complex.

Down in the city, there's a cemetery that you might recognize...

If you thought to yourself just now, "I know! It's from the Sound of Music--this is the part of the convent where the nuns helped the family hide!" then you'd be partly right. That part of the movie was based on this cemetery, but it was filmed on a set, not on location.

The oldest street in the city. Part of its medieval charm is how narrow the street is.

On the same medieval street. I could live here, couldn't you? (If you spoke German?)

Salzburg is a really beautiful city--very charming, and very pedestrian-friendly. It is also surrounded by gorgeous countryside and very close to... mountains!! Oh, mountains, how I love you.

So, that's a wrap for Salzburg. I'll just leave you with a sunset view over the river.

Up next: the lovely, accessible-only-by-a-tunnel-or-ferries Alpine town of Hallstaat.