On the way to Salzburg

While we prayed for snow later in the week we did our first side trip to Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is the nearest large city to Innsbruck and has a fabulous history as well as some interesting sites. Many people know of Salzburg as the birth place of Amadeus Mozart. It is also the birthplace of Christian Doppler, as in Doppler Effect.

On the way to Salzburg we stopped at a small town called Ratternburg. I'm not exactly sure why we stopped except to get us to spend some money there. We were taken to a small glass trinket factory where we watched people make glass products. That was only moderately interesting. We then walked around the town and found our way up the hill to the ruins of a castle at the top. There we found a fabulous view of the town and surroundings.

Click on thumbnail for a full-size picture

---

Around Salzburg

When we finally go there the bus dropped us off near the old town. The guide took us past a palace built by Prince-Archbishop Wolf-Dietrich who built it for his mistress, Salomé. Nice place for a mistress. Afterwards we took the scenic route over the Salzach River to the old town to Mozart's birthplace. This was the meeting point in the afternoon. We were also taken around a few more spots around the Old Town before being set loose.

Salzburg is also famous for several sites appearing in the movie The Sound of Music. I personally haven't been able to sit through the entire movie but I'm told several scenes were shot in Salzburg and fans of the movie will enjoy seeing them in real life.

Click on thumbnail for a full-size picture

---

Hohensalzburg Fortress

After walking around the city and having a bite to eat we decided to walk up the hill to the fortress at the top. We were lured by reports of displays of torture devices and since the tram was out of order we had to walk. It was quite a workout walking up the steep icy paths the 400' to the top.

It took a while but we made it. We paid our fee and walked around the exterior of the fortress. There were several spots where you could take in breathtaking views of Salzburg. After we checked out the outside we paid our fee for the museum inside. Parts of that were fascinating. We especially liked the display of medieval weapons. There was a display of torture devices but it was only one small room. We also liked the Queen's quarters which included a private "throne".

Click on thumbnail for a full-size picture