A real vacation update: Salzburg

Leesa and I flew into Vienna on Saturday afternoon of the first weekend of break, took the bus to the Westbanhof train station, and hopped on a train to Salzburg. Salzburg is three hours by train from Vienna, and it's a beautiful drive through the Alps. They had compartments on the train so we took up a whole compartment with us and our luggage and relaxed.

Scenery in the Alps out the window of the train

We were hosted for our first day by Leesa's lovely friend Claudia and her husband and adorable daughter. We were treated to homemade apple strudel (!) and a tour of the city. We saw the beautiful Mirabell Gardens (my favorite part of the city, naturally), walked down the famous Getreidegasse, a large pedestrian shopping and eating street, and saw a lot of churches. Salzburg was at one time ruled by prince archbishops, so church officials who were princes because they ruled the city of Salzburg, so there are 47 churches in this city of 150,000. It is predomoinantly Baroque architecture and very well preserved, stradling the river Salzach and snuggled into the Alps amid snow-topped mountains. Famously the home town of Mozart, they have many different monuments, parks, and plazas deidcated to him, Mozart concerts all the time, and two of his homes have been turned into museums. There is even a Mozart candy!

Claudia's daughter is in one of these photos... can you find her?

Interconnected squares in central Salzburg, looking up to the castle



Getreidegasse


Looking across the bridge from the New Town to the Old Town and Nonnberg Abbey

View from one of the bridges on the Salzach

Medieval street in the "New Town"

Statue of Mozart in Mozartplatz

Reconstruction of The Dancing Master's House, where Mozart and his family lived after he became successful and known across Europe

Mozart Gebursthaus, where he was born, and where they lived in a small apartment before he became successful

Fountain in Mirabell Gardens

Anyone recognize this from a famous musical?

Cherry blossoms in the gardens

Hydrangeas in the orangerie

Mirabell Gardens looking up to the castle on the mountain

And a special treat... guess this is one way to drive the Jews out of town:

(Judengasse means Jew Street)

Last day in Budapest tomorrow!