Salzburg – Austria (Osterreich)

The weather is really heating up now, 33 degrees, have broken out the shorts at last. We are staying in a crazy camp about half an hour out of Salzburg, there are no sites or site numbers when you arrive there is a. "..maybe you can stay for one day, maybe we can fit you in for a second", then a chap on his bike heads off to help you find a spot where maybe your power chord can reach, (ours didn’t), We parked on a grassy patch and they kept squeezing in more and more vans around us. If we had wanted to get out at least 4 other vans would have had to move. All the same we had good wi-fi and stunning views of the Bavarian Alps.

We got some bus tickets and a vague map then headed off to find a bus stop. We arrived in the centre of Salzburg along the river. Salzach, which eventually arrives at the Danube.
As you approach the city you can see it is overlooked by an impressive white castle which sits atop one of the numerous peaks. It reminded me of Edinburgh Castle but here you do not have to climb the hill unless you want, as there is a funicular to take you up offering spectacular views of the city and surrounding alps.

The castle began life as a lookout post for Romans travelling trade routes and morphed through various fortifications and residences for Princes, Bishops and Prince Bishops as there was no real separation of church and state.
Going through the museum revealed yet more information regarding armour, weapons and the ever increasing ‘advances’ in weaponry, leading to ever increasing methods of defence. One interesting display focused on the local Austrian troops involvement in WW1 something that we had not seen displayed anywhere in Germany, despite visiting multiple museums.

We also popped into Mozart’s house which is still standing in the centre of Salzburg, they had set up a really excellent display and comprehensive information. There were displayed a number of significant artifacts from his life. Unlike the houses of some famous people, you discover that they only lived there for a couple of years, this is the house where he was born, nearly 270 years ago and lived through until the last 10 years of his life (he died at 35). We rated this far more highly than the Hans Christian Anderson Museum in Copenhagen.

Very hot and tired we made our way back on the bus, getting lost!!!!yet again, backtracking from the stop to our camp. What did travellers do before access to GPS!!!!!