We continued to get some gray weather but only experienced about 30 minutes of rain. Pretty good, huh? Especially because we did spend pretty much the whole day there. We arrived at around 9:30am, just before the tour buses came in force. We parked in the Old City parking area... which just happens to be in the middle of a mountain. They just chiseled the rock away and turned it into a 1,000 stall parking garage. Pretty convenient!
We decided to fore-go a formal tour and just do our own walking tour throughout the city (our guidebook had lots of great info in it). This means that we also, sadly, did not go on the Sound of Music tour. We heard from the couple from Minnesota that it was a very good tour but just couldn't justify spending 40 euro apiece on it. I know Brenda will be very disappointed that we didn't do more Sound of Music stuff while we were there.
I have just included a few pictures... there are many more of buildings, food and us taking self portraits. Here are some that give a sense of the city (and our day).
This is in the middle of Saint Peter's cemetery, a beautiful place right next to the mountain with a view of the fortress up on the mountain. The cemetery is surrounded by 3 churches, some of which date back to 1100. One chapel is actually built into the side of the mountain, which you can see here. The cemetery is interesting because it rents, rather than sells its plots. Every 10 years it sends out a rent notice and if the descendants fail to pay the rent, they dump the remains and put someone new there. We did see a few more recent graves so it appears that really does happen!
This is the inside of the big cathedral in Salzburg. It replaced the original one on this site back in the 1600s. It was quite large and beautiful inside. The stations of the cross were on arches around the wings with detailed paintings. There are also 5 organs in the church... 4 surrounding the dome and 1 very large one in the back. Imagine the music at mass with all of those going!
Then we went down into the crypts below the church. That was even more interesting than the church because there were far fewer tour groups and a much more quiet, reflective atmosphere. Oh, an the rocks Chet is looking at in the above picture were actually from the original cathedral built in 700. Talk about old stones!
After the cathedral, it was snack time. So, one of our favorite foods (that we have actually eaten as a snack daily thus far on the trip) are pretzels! Today, we got special ones... cheese and bacon on the right; and cranberries, chocolate and cream cheese on the left. Oh, such a marvelous treat! I wish we could bring some home with us (without them getting stale and gross).
We saw the Mirabell gardens... such beautiful designs of flowers throughout each section. 
The arched walkway which was actually used in the Sound of Music... and is just such a pretty area that we had to take a picture.In the gardens, it started to rain so we escaped to Mozart's Residence. Salzburg is also the city of Mozart and he is found everywhere... street names, candies, statues and more. We decided to spend a little time learning more about him and his years growing up. I am even more impressed by his music after learning at the young age which he composed it. He composed his first organ piece at age 8... I think I was just learning to play soccer and maybe write cursive at age 8.
View from above the city. Salzburg is certainly a city with a lot of history. We enjoyed our visit and are glad we went. We plan to, later in the week, return to the area to visit the lake region near Salzburg as well as the mountains just to the west. There is so much to see and so little time!
This was just a picture from on our way home... just about back to Innsbruck where we are staying. The sun was coming through as it was setting over the mountains. What a beautiful place to be visiting!Much love, Brianne
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