A quick trip to Salzburg, Austria....

My train from Firenze arrived into Munich too early to check in at my hotel.  So I put my luggage in a locker and took one of the hourly trains to Salzburg.  These trains run every hour in both directions and it takes a little over 1 and a 1/2 hours.....and the scenery on the way is beautiful....

I should begin by saying the weather has made a dramatic change since I began RTW - Part 2.  Today is cold...misty...and a very heavy frost.  In fact in the afternoon there was light snow.  From the picture above you could almost sing out...." the hills are alive...with the Sound of Music..." Yes, it was filmed here and the Von Trapp family was from Salzburg.  Another famous resident was Mozart....and this time on my visit I did not fall into buying any of the "signature" Mozart chocolates!

The river Salzach separates the city....

The left bank is the "old city" or Altstadt....most of it is a pedestrian zone...where you can just stroll thru an area called Gerridegasse which contains a number of unique shops.  I was in Salzburg several years ago on a Sunday and none of the shops were open...so I wanted to return to see what some of them were like...they are truly awesome and worth coming back to see.

The most prominent attraction in Salzburg is the Hohensalzburg....a fortress built between the 11th and 17th century as a residence for the prince-archbishops who ruled Salzburg for 500 years. A funicular takes you up or you could walk it (yeah...really)!!....

The Dom or Salzburg Cathedral with its statute of the Virgin Mary dominates the scene of the Residenzplatz below the fortress with its 180 rooms...

A number of other unique statutes adorn the area - wait a minute I guess all works of art are unique so that is a little redundant...well anyway take a look at these....an Archbishop....

How about this fountain.....

And this bust....standing so imposing in the glow of the room....

Salzburg also has the outdoor markets that thrive daily for vegetables and flowers....both of which were abundant....

...look what 10 Euro would buy today....lovely wreaths....

..shopping for meats today???

...cheese, bread and pretzels....

...what about a "hot dog" stand...here serving sausages and brats with the hard roll...

A feature some people  visiting Salzburg take advantage of is the horse drawn carriages.....note these are pulled by a pair of horses....

Time to head back to Munich....at the train station a number of tanks seem to be on the move (Austrian Army??)...

...one last look from the train of those hills surrounding Salzburg and a little lite snow now falling....

I need to be calling these my "shot of the day"...but one last photo from today's shoot....

Noooo  that is not a real person standing up there!!!

I head back to Munich only for the evening...then tomorrow will be taking the train to Berlin....and meeting up with my friend Brian.