Day 10, Part 2: Hohensalzburg Fortress, Etc.

Tuesday

That afternoon, we decided to tour the Festung Hohensalzburg (Salzburg Fortress), one of the largest medieval castles in Europe. There was a funicular (a type of cog railway) to the top of the hill, but we decided to walk it, since our feet had been given a nice 15 minute break a few minutes prior. There were nice views along the way. We reached the top of the hill and walked upward toward the fortress. From one of the parapets, we had nice views of the distant mountains and the outlying city. We basically spent our time meandering through the archways, rooms, courtyards, and cobblestone roads that wended through the ramparts. We visited a war museum (completely in german with no english translations), and a rather creepy marionette exhibit, in which I almost had to drag Jared away from the plexiglass-covered holes in the floor where hundreds of tourists had thrown their own local currency onto the floor below. We were on our way to see the high towers when security came and shooed us all out. Apparently the castle closed at 4 (or maybe 5; my memory is blurry) for private chamber concerts.

We hiked back down the hill with nice views of the old town to accompany the walk. We then got ourselves over to Mirabel Gardens and walked the grounds. We saw statues featured in the Sound of Music, including the dwarves and the Pegasus Statue. (I know you all are now going to break out your copy and fast-forward to the part where Maria and the children are gallavanting around Salzburg singing the solfege in perfectly spliced segments. Go ahead. I can wait.)

From here, we rode the bus back to Old Town and dined at Saran. From there, all I remember is falling into bed, exhausted. I can't remember if we saw anything else, to be honest. My feet probably wouldn't have allowed it.







The entrance to the fortress. They were doing construction. This came as a total surprise to us, as you can image. (Not.)






A view of the mountains and outlying Salzburg from the fortress. (Ooh, ooh, click on this one! I hope you have a nice wide monitor. Look at the pretty snow-covered mountains!)






One of the towers we climbed. (I need to learn to dial back the old polarizing filter.)






A view of Old Town from the parapet.






The Gatehouse.






Jared is standing on the parapet; I am standing at the top of the tower.






An interesting, ornate door in the fortress interior.






The Salzburg Cathedral on our way back down the path from the fortress. You can see some people playing chess (by the gold ball) in the Somethingorotherplatz.






The Pegasus statue at Mirabel gardens. "Do, a deer, a female deer; Re, a drop of golden sun..." At this point, I hope you can picture Julie Andrews holding the top of her head and hitting a gloriously high "Do". If not, forget I even said it, or, let alone, know about it.