Today, Sunday, we spent in Salzburg, Austria. We (I) drove Saturday evening from Neu-Ulm to Salzburg in the rain and it rained all night but stopped around 10am. We checked out of the hotel,, loaded the car pretty quickly (despite the numerous bags the four of us have) and took the #3 bus to Mirabel Palace where some of the Sound of Music was filmed. The gardens were very pretty and also very crowded!

We wandered towards the big fort, stopping at a Billa (grocery store) for picnic items and Mozart kueglen (marzipan and hazelnut chocolate ganache enrobed in chocolate…pretty tasty!). We wandered down a shopping street full of quaint signs (even McDonalds) and towards the fort.

We looked at the church which, though plain outside, is ornate and wonderful inside, before taking the funicular up to the top of the fort. I hadn’t done this before, I’d always walked up.

The views from the fort were spectacular, and improved by the minute as clouds gave way to sunshine. After wandering around the fort and going to the museum, we went down, past Mozartplatz and back to the hotel.

Salzburg means “Salt Village” in German.

In the evening we (I) drove to Cesky Krumlov, a world heritage site with a large castle dominating the city. It was dark when we arrived but the city seems to be spectacular. There are lots of old, pedestrian streets which were not a piece of cake to navigate!

Wifi here is too slow for photos…will post some tomorrow night.