Day 26 - Salzburg

We woke to more rain and cold this morning. But we put on our best spirits and caught the first elevator up to the Monchsburg at 9:00am. We really enjoyed the hike along the quiet paths through the forest to the Festung Hohensalzburg castle. The fog, rain and lack of people really gave us the feeling of being in medieval Europe. And although the tour of Festung Hohensalzburg was OK, the actual location of the castle is even more impressive. It is situated atop a steep hill over-looking the Salzach River and the city of Salzburg and is surrounded by tall battlements - quite secure. The tour took us to one of the tallest towers where we emerged through a trap door into a virtual gale of blowing wind and rain. Not many even ventured outside, but we spent a few minutes braving the elements and attempting to take photographs while keeping the equipment half-way dry... After the official tour you can wander at your leisure around several interesting, if small, museum rooms inside the castle. These are worth the price of the tour ticket.

We hiked downhill back into town and passed through the famous cemetery from the Sound of Music movie. Then we headed to the vendors at the St. Rupert's Fair to purchase a giant warm pretzel and a delectable schaumroll treat. After a bit, we picked up some sandwiches and headed back to the hotel for a warm, dry place to eat a simple lunch.

We found that the weather is really starting to drag on our mood. We're used to fowl weather, being from Colorado. But the weather pattern in our home state is usually a day or two of bad weather followed by bright sunshine and blues skies. The constant rain and cold had us running for the cover of a quaint cafes with something warm to drink! But we knew that our time here was short so we pressed on to visit the museum containing the birth place of Mozart. And then took a wet stroll through the Mirabelle Gardens. We can only imagine how beautiful this city is during fair weather. We certainly plan to return someday to try our luck again with mother nature.

Later that evening we found the Grauhaus for a wonderful dinner and conversation with another traveling couple, who were from Austrailia.