The hills are alive... in Salzburg!

On my trip through to Vienna, I dropped into Salzburg for a couple of hours. I have visited Salzburg once before, in the middle of summer, so it was great to see it covered in snow. There is no subtlety to the seasons in this part of the world.

The view over Salzburg old town from the Hohensalzburg fortress

During my time in this pretty little city, I took the walk to the Hohensalzburg fortress, as can be seen on the top of the hill in the photo below, wandered the Christmas markets, visited the Salzburg Dom, and wandered through the frozen Mirabel gardens (of Sound of Music fame...)

The tourism bureau of Salzburg seems to push two angles prominantly - the home of the Sound of Music, and the home of Mozart. The Mozart angle is particularly amusing, as he spent much of his life in Vienna, and was not really made "at home" in Salzburg. Still the city seems to love him now, right down to the shop windows full of Mozart kugeln (Mozart balls - a chocolate made with marzipan) to Mozartplatz, with a statue of the man himself in the centre, and decked out with an ice-rink for the winter. Whatever the reason, Salzburg is a great city, a beautiful setting, and charming gardens and shops.

The Mirabell gardens, at the moment completely frozen over with a heavy layer of snow. Probably not the best time to run around singing "The hills are alive..."

The Salzburger Dom roof, and the view from the pathway up to the fortress

Here I am climbing the hill to the Hohensalzburg fortress, and two others doing the same

The view along the Salzach river