Salzberg

Thursday, Mar 19 - Randy walked through the city of Salzberg, while Jim and I went on a city tour. We went though a shopping district and found Motzart Square. Austria is very beautiful and the Bavarian Alps are gorgeous, but everything is expensive. 

The Salzburg Cathedral is a white beauty. It's been rebuilt a couple of times, and this version, from the 17th century, is beautiful. It holds, among other things, the baptismal fount which Mozart was baptized in. 

From the river it looks quite different. Her two towers still show up, but so does a large dome, which is not visible from the front. 

Anif Castle, located beside an artificial point, is so perfect looking that it has been used in several movies, including "The Sound of Music".  

I didn't get the name of all the building, but there are some amazing ones here. 

Jim and I skipped lunch and went on a bus tour up the mountains to see, from the road, the Nazi headquarters called Eagles' Nest. 

Then we went on a tour of a salt mine. The tour started with a mini-train ride that went down (a very long way) into the mine. We got off the train and watched a documentary film, and saw examples of the tools used in salt mining. Then we got onto a small slide that went down to an underground lake. That was a bit spooky, but it went just fine. Everyone got on a ferry that drifted slowly across the lake, with the cave roof just a little bit over our heads. I'm surprised I didn't freak out, but it was interesting enough to avoid that! Then we took another train ride back up to the surface. 

Back at the hotel we had clear soup and cheese dumplings for dinner.