Jacob and Ashley

Our first big trip since arriving here in Germany was to Salzburg, Austria (well known for music, most notably Mozart and "The Sound of Music).  We had only been in our house for a few days, but decided to leave all the unpacking behind and take advantage of Jacob's time off of work to explore a new city, and I'm so glad we did! 

Be ready for a l.o.t. of pictures to hopefully give you a sense of how beautiful this city really is as we take you along on our trip...

{Avery wanted so badly to ride the horse drawn carriages that were everywhere}

On our first full day in Salzburg we started off with a self-walking tour of the old city.  Salzburg is the perfect walking city.  It is made up of a lot of connected squares, all surrounded by beautiful architecture. 

{Residenzplatz - the tower is part of the church}

 {This is the New Residenz with a Glockenspiel (all the bells) on top}

Next we walked into the Salzburg Dom Cathedral.  I couldn't get a picture of the front since there was some type of concert set up in front of it.  The church was beautiful!  Most cathedrals have stained glass windows, so it's dark and hard to see all the detail, but this one was all clear windows.  The cathedral was built in 1628 and only took 14 years.

 {love the detail}

 {Avery really wanted to sit in the pews}

 {the main dome}

Towering above the city is the Hohensalzburg Fortress.  Remarkably it was never really used, but stood as such a foreboding presence that Salzburg was a blto to say independent until the 1800's when Napolian took over.  

 {It was quiet the walk up to the fortress, but gave us great views of the city!}

 {this hill was much steeper than in looks!}

{Avery and Jake in front of one of the walls leading up the the fortress}

{The view on the other side of the fortress}

{The inside of the fortress was more like a little town than what I would have thought a castle would be like}

{view of Salzburg}

 About half way down the mountain is the Nonnberg Abby where the original Maria VonTrapp from "The Sound of Music" was and where she got married (although the church that they show in the movie is a more grand one in a different town}

{Gorgeous grave plots within the walls of the abbey}

{interior of the Abbey}

After touring around Salzburg, we headed a little farther from old town to Hellbrunn Castle.  The highlight of Hellbrunn is the trick fountains that the prince built.  There are hidden water fountains everywhere that get you wet as you're walking through the gardens.

{this is the table where the prince would have this guests for dinner and when they stayed too long or got unruly, he would switch on the fountains that would shoot up water at all the guests' seats to get them to leave.}

On our bus ride back to town, we missed our stop and ended up having to walk a distance back to our hotel, but decided to stop at the Mirabell gardens.  

{looking to the castle and old town--these are the "do re mi" steps}

{they look like they have the same smile}

{It's rare that I get pictures of me and the kids, and even more rare that they are in focus}

{I just love the flower designs against the grass}

{Avery reenacting a scene from "The Sound of Music"}

{with our move, Gray became much too attached to his binki.  This is his stink face when I was trying to take it away to get a picture.  Luckily we've been able to limit it a little more since}

{Avery posing like the statue}

{Goodbye Salzburg}

Up Next: the next few days we traveled outside of Salzburg to the surrounding mountain towns

Our detailed Salzburg Itinerary