Castles are one of my favorite things. So yeah, this blog post title works.
We arrived in Salzburg just around mid-day on the train. Our train car was mostly empty, so I spread out to a table and blogged whilst watching Austria go by. I'm not on Instagram (Twitter and Facebook are enough, thank you), but there were certainly many Instagrammable views from the train.
I took one picture from the train, of a pretty church in Strasswalchen, but my iPhone refuses to send the email. So, your loss!
We trudged the 1.3 kms from the train station to our apartment on the outskirts of Salzburg. A couple couldn't agree on how best to get to the train station, so seeing our bags, they asked me. They did not get the answer they were looking for, apparently, even thought it was a simple answer, and the shortest route. Oh well, young love!
After getting settled, Torie had the good idea to use Uber to get us downtown (this apartment is not very close to downtown). We had a fine lunch (Austrian food is good, but lacks variety), and then walked over through the beautiful Aldstadt (old city) to the funicular for Hohensalzburg Fortress.
Started in 1077, Hohensalzburg Fortress perches magnificently high (1660 feet) on a bluff, commanding all of Salzburg. It is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe, and has been added onto and modified throughout the centuries.
We were up there as the light was fading. The sun goes down early here this time of year -- earlier than 4:30 pm. We wandered throughout the castle, including taking in the treasury and the staterooms.
The grounds of the fortress were expansive, and there were beautiful clock towers, old keeps, and even a torture tower. The biggest expansion took place in 1462, thirty years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
From the fortress walls, we were afforded views of the snow capped mountains, including the famed Untersberg Mountain, rising a stately 6,473 feet. On the other side, views of the entire city, including a look down into the Christmas market in Cathedral Square.
Arched tunnels are always
a great thing in a city.
View of Salzburg and the Salzach River
The outskirts of Salzburg get real rural, real fast.
Untersberg -- more on that in a later post.
The grandeur that is Untersberg.
Inside the Fortress.
Clock tower on the
chapel of the fortress.
I believe this is a sundial, but I'm not an expert.
Now this is a doorway.
A classic tile stove.
The clock tower to the abbey
featured in the Sound of Music.
The fortress from below.
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