Ladies in period ostume strollthe gardens later in the afternoon
We are back at the hotel a bit early today as we have walked and walked all day and have our Mozart dinner concert this evening.
Today has mainly been wandering the streets of the old city of Salzburg and browsing the shops as well as visiting the castle.
After breakfast, from our hotel it was a short walk to our starting point in the Mirabell Gardens.
The gardens and castle in the background
The gardens were stunning with tulips of many different colours spread throughout the gardens and the beds planted in ornate patterns.
Adrienne doing her Maria impersonation
at the fountain – minus Von Trapps
It hadn’t taken very long and Adrienne was pointing out the locations of various scenes from the movie “The Sound of Music” and doing her Julie Andrews impressions.
We then headed up to the station where the cable car takes you up to the castle and strolled around the various rooms and courtyards. This is another imposing castle that no one ever bothered to attack as it was too difficult so since it’s commencement in 1077 it has just been added onto at various stages.
Salzburg from the castle
They have recently (1990’s) found traces of a Roman settlement also here – so there aren’t too many places around Europe that those Romans didn’t seem to get to first.
After our tour around (and exiting via the shop as usual) we caught the cable car down again – with a rowdy bunch we later found again in the Mirabell Gardens – playing as an orchestra. Turns out the rowdy bunch, all dressed in black, were on a tour of Europe as an orchestra and were from Linwood College in Chrustchurch NZ. They were having a dress rehearsal in the gardens for a concert tonight. They have already been to Rome and Vienna and are heading to the UK – to play at Westminster Abbey on Anzac Day.
Courtyard in the castle
Anyway, after getting off the cable car we went to St Peters church cemetery – where the families of the deceased need to keep the graves up to scratch or they get evicted and put in the catacombs – it is a very tiny cemetery. (in case you don’t know – the crypts at this cemetery were used as inspiration for the scene where Maria and the Von Trapps hide as they escape Austria – I know you needed to know that !). We continued on through the streets before we found a nice spot in a “Biergarten” hidden away down a lane to have our lunch.
