Day 22 The Alps and torte

Today we got up very early to catch the 6:44am train to Salzburg! The days are sadly starting to wind down, and our free time is precious. We both wanted to see Salzburg, even if it is for one day.  It is almost a 3 hour ride, so we got there by 10am. The city of Salzburg is relatively small and squished together. We found the tourist center and asked about the bus situation. We ended up buying a "City Pass" for E24, which I highly recommend because that pass is good all day for all buses, and almost all of the museums and the boat! Each museum was between 7 and 10 Euro to get in. We got our money's worth by the third place we went to. Slazburg is an adorable city! It is smaller than Vienna and it has a different feel to it. You can see and feel the German influence here versus more of the Central European influence in Vienna. We took the bus to the Hellbrunn Palace and Gardens first. It was the summer residence of Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus in built in 1615.  The decor of the palace had an Italian and Spanish feel, somewhere between a hunting lodge and romantic getaway. The gardens were immaculate and there was a separate tour to see the "Trick Fountains." This Archbishop had a strange sense of humor. He would invite people over for dinner and have outdoor meals. If the guests got too rowdy, or I think if he just wanted to laugh, he would turn on the hidden water sprays and drench them! There was a rule that no one could get up from their seat before the Archbishop did, so his seat was the only one without a fountain! There were sprayers hidden all over the place and our tour guide would gladly get some of us wet when we least expected it! The Archbishop loved nature and he constructed several buildings with fake birds and little mechanical figurines. All of these were powered by water!

Nice and early on the train!

The palace. Rather small compared to other palaces around!

One of the trick fountains

After the gardens, we toured two of Mozart's residences, one where Wolfgang was born, and the other where the Mozart family lived for several years. It was amazing to be where the Mozarts lived and to walk the halls. However, it was frustrating to me because you couldn't take pictures even though most of the scores and letters on display were facsimiles. I'm pretty sure that it's a money-making thing. You can take pictures in most of the large state museums without a flash. One item that was on display was a couple locks of Wolfgang's hair. The disclaimer on these locks is that they are fairly certain they are of Mozart, but there is no other definite DNA to compare it to. The only certain thing is that the hair is from the same person.

The family home. Part of this building was destroyed in WW II, but rebuilt according to original plans.

The view from Wolfgang's birthplace.

W.A. Mozart's birthplace.

After walking around Salzburg, we took a tram up the side of a tall hill to the top of the Hohensalzburg Fortress. It is a completely preserved fortress from the 11th century! We had dinner at the top overlooking the Alps! Breathtaking to say the least! We each had a torte. Matt had the famous Sacher Torte started by the Sacher Hotel. I had ricotta cheese torte. YUM!

Looking up to the fortress and the tram track

The view from a canon

A beautiful tree in the center of the fortress town

Salzburg!

Amazing.

Is it a painting?? The lighting over the mountains kept changing. A thunderstorm rolled through and you could see lightening bolts hitting the mountain tops!

Our friend and mentor

The Sacher Torte

There were so many things to do. We only scratched the surface of what Salzburg has to offer. There are many, many museums, boat rides, a marionette theatre, and concerts. Too much for one day. We returned back "home" to Vienna at 11pm.