Salzburg, Austria

Longest post ever.

Okay, maybe when I do Paris, I'll have to compare.

Either way, there were obviously a lot of photos because we loved Salzburg. In German, (salz = salt, burg = castle). It makes sense. Salzburg is an Austrian city where the primary language is German, they have a castle, and their history supports the mining of past and present to be salt.

We didn't take a "The Sound of Music" tour as was pasted on every bus we saw in the city, but we did visit the castle and many of the cathedrals in the town. It's a quaint city within a larger body.

Here's the six-er shot from this trip with the Alps in the background:

We love mountains. Maybe you'll figure that out as you check out our photos!

Many shots are out of order... but I did my best with the quantity I had to sort through from 3 cameras! Here's a shot from inside the Salzburg castle walls of the city and the Salzach River that runs through the town. Salt used to be shipped down the river until railroads made that more efficient.

Inside the castle grounds

Many views that we taken on our audio tour where we got the best views of the town below...

Here we are on the ground below the castle

...just walking around Europe. (what a life!!!)

Ray & I LOVE this photo. Click on it. It's really fun. And yes. That's a humongous chocolate Bretzel. No problem for the Wilson's... they keep chocolate in business.

One of many castle photos...

This photo is beautiful! Nice job, Mom!

Inside the castle walls again.

Eggs, eggs, everywhere! This is a shop we walked into. They're all real, hollowed eggs!

A fortress on the hill nearby

The radishes on the wall are seen in many places inside and outside of this castle. There is a story that goes with it-- something about a radish being thrown at someone's head and the legacy living on because of it. We listened to it on the audio guide... but I'll be the first to admit that I was only half paying attention! I'm a multitasker... what can I say! I asked Ray and he also admitted he wasn't paying much attention to that!

Canon

Mom & Kay purchasing some postcards. I'm bummed that my camera setting was on a whitewash mode. There's a really cute building in the background that was lost because of it...

Here we are as marionettes!

...and Kay & Steve as the Trapp Family (think Sound of Music)

A beautiful stove inside the castle (we see these in all the castles!)

Now for the couples photos... we took a bunch because the scenery was just too beautiful not to!

family photo slipped on in there... Ray looks really happy. :)

These two were so good that I couldn't decide which one I liked more!

...in front of the Salzach River

...and the castle...

...and the adorable city of Salzburg...

This was neat. Check out the windows inside the mountain face!

...the newlyweds and our photo shoot with the lovely Alps (we love mountains)...

The Salzach River

...and a few more of Kay & Steve

Some cityscape views...

I think large, yellow cranes just suck the life and beauty out of photos...

fun find: a bakery that is powered by a watermill (not old, 2007 only... aka tourist attraction)

(This explains the mill. click to enlarge)

...and here's the mill

...you had to walk a few steps down to get to the bakery. Here are my parents... and for the record... Steve was missing for a couple minutes and we assumed he may be in the bakery buying some fresh bread. We were correct. We all tasted the water mill bread. It was rye.

The Salzburg Cathedral + other churches. This cathedral was "injured" during the war but repaired by 1959.

...across from the cathedral...

Mozart's birthplace (geburt = birth, haus = house)

This was a highlight: the train we took to get up to the castle. I'm not sure how steep that thing was, but we all really enjoyed it!

We crammed ourselves into the bottom tram car to have this view. We were really smushed, but at least we got the view!

Our conductor. We were just sitting there at this point.

...driving out of Salzburg and back into Germany, we saw this adorable structure.

Goodbye, Salzburg!

Next on our list are Ulm & Rothenberg ob der Tauber!