Salzburg, Austria: Day 1

Over General Conference weekend, we headed to Salzburg, Austria for a few days. I absolutely fell in love with Salzburg. It was gorgeous there, the people were incredibly friendly, and there was constant music flooding the streets. I loved the feel the city had.

Salzburg is Mozart's hometown and it's also the city famous for 'Sound of Music'. Much of the movie was filmed there. It was pretty neat to see all the places in the movie!

We decided to rent an apartment for our trip (homeaway.com folks, it's awesome!) and this was the view we had from our balcony. I could have just sat there all day!! 

Salzburg literally means, Salt Castle. They have salt mines surrounding the city and this castle looks over the entire city. Amazing. I couldn't get enough of the castle, as I'm sure you'll notice. The views were all so incredible! 

I believe this is the Cathedral, we didn't go in the first day because we thought it was a museum. 

In Salzburg they have what are called 'Mozartkugel'. They were created back in the 1800's in Salzburg and simply named after Mozart. They are just a chocolate ball filled with nougat. I didn't take any pictures of them, though I wish I had. I actually still have a few ... they weren't my favorite candy. Furst was the first confectionery to make the Mozartkugel and they still make the originals. Other companies make "copy-cats" of the candy. Not sure if this was the original store or not but, it was one of the Furst confectionery shops we saw. 

Speaking of Mozart ... this is his birthplace, he lived here until he was 17 years old! 

It is now a museum but, we didn't pay to go inside. His house is located on Getreidegasse, the famous shopping street in Salzburg. All the shop signs are made of wrought-iron. 

That's a pretty fancy McDonald's sign! 

We also found this beauty on Getreidegasse ... we should have bought it. It's pretty becoming on Brad. 

There is a river that runs through Salzburg called the Salzach River. I fell in love with it. It was so gorgeous. I wish the pictures gave justice to the beauty of this city. 

We were standing by this fountain, trying to decide where to go next and I told Kason, "Hey, go run through the fountain, I dare you!" ... next thing I know, he's jumping through the fountain! I didn't get a picture the first time so, I dared him to go again ... he accepted. The locals got a good laugh at our little man running through the fountain, he was soaked afterwards though ... whoops! 

We found Mirabell Palace which has beautiful gardens. Several scenes from the 'Sound of Music' were filmed here. I believe that now it is used to house Austrian politicians. There was a man playing his violin in the gardens and you could hear that as we walked around ... it was wonderful. I loved it!

Our 'Sound of Music' pose ... 

'Sound of Music' tunnel ... 

{can you tell how soaked he is? poor kid...}

I'm not sure who this guy is ... but for some reason, I loved this statue. Or maybe it was the park that it was in. The trees were HUGE and they were starting to change colors so it made for a gorgeous walk through there. 

Another view of the river, this time we sat and enjoyed the view for a bit while we people watched. {A common practice on our trips ...} 

I sure love my little family ... 

On our way back to the car, we came across this statue ... Mozart himself. 

Day 2: The Hohensalzburg Castle