Salzburg is a small and very beautiful Austrian town on the edge of the Alps. Geographically it has been an important town since the middle ages, influenced by its fortress, its position on the river, and its access to valuable salt mines. It is a popular tourist destination not only because of its historic buildings and quaint medieval streets, but because of it use as a filming location for the movie "The Sound of Music". The weather was unfortunately cold and rainy for most of our stay, but we had a great time anyway!

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The facade of the huge cathedral downtown	Meredith makes fun of a statue of a bishop immediately before being struck by lightning.	Brian makes fun of a statue of a saint immediately before being set upon by a plague of frogs.	The interior of the cathedral
The elaborate ceiling had to be rebuilt entirely after being bombed in WW2.	Meredith enjoys the best angle on the artwork.	The inside of the central dome	A tomb in the crypt. It seemed really odd to use MIIIM, which seems to violate the rules for creating Roman numerals.
The fortress overlooks the entire downtown area. It looks much less haunted during nice weather.	The medieval equivalent of a car wash, a horse bath. Meredith insisted that Brian pose next to it for some reason.	A cemetery with the most carefully tended graves ever. Each one looks like its own mini-garden with flowers and herbs.	Meredith ascends the "catacomb" stairs for a nicer view.
The Church of St. Peter overlooks the cemetery.	Meredith is all smiles with the cemetery below and the towers and dome of the cathedral in the background.	A view of the cemetery from above.	The beautiful ceiling and organ of the Church of St. Peter.
The cliff which the fortress is built on also houses a cleverly placed parking garage.	The main shopping street, Getreidegasse, is famous for the wrought iron signs above each store.	Meredith enjoys a lull in the rain at the baroque Mirabell Gardens.	The gardens are beautifully kept, have lovely fountains, and have a great view of the fortress on the hill.
A depiction of the happiest abduction scene ever.	Meredith greatly overestimates the drenching power of the fountain behind her.	The green archway is one of the garden spots made famous by "The Sound of Music".	The pegasus fountain and the steps behind it are all used in the "Doe, a deer" song.
Meredith takes a break from her singing and dancing.	Julie Andrews was kind enough to take our picture.	Brian incurs the eternal wrath of the Unicorn God.	Brian and Meredith in the Mirabell Garden, with the cathedral and fortress in the background.
This is the shot that is used to end the "Doe, a deer" song, except it's sunny and full of famous people.	Can you tell that this is Brian's favorite place in Salzburg?
Meredith chooses not to get lost in the rosegarden maze.	We got to see how they lay out the garden beds to get that baroque precision.	And here are the final results once everything is in bloom.	Fortunately for all involved, it was too chilly to imitate the statue's clothing as well.
Lots of famous people came from Salzburg. Mozart, of course, and Christian Doppler, the physicist who described the Doppler effect.	Octopus salad, cooked al dente with lemon and olive oil. A favorite dish for the Greer Christmas holidays.	We took the Sound of Music bus tour and actually saw blue sky. Peter our tour guide shows us the house and the lake that was used to film the back of the von Trapp place.	Remember the scene were Maria and the kids tip the boat and get soaked?
Salzburg and the vicinity is just full of beautiful lakes and mountains.	Meredith and a couple other tourists pose for a quick photo op at the gazebo featured in the "I am sixteen going on seventeen" song.	Meredith nervously awaits the ascent of her first alpine slide experience.	Sadly, this is the last anyone ever saw of her.
More beautiful lakes and mountains.	Going on a touristy bus trip means that there is always someone handy to take your picture.	A supposedly nice restaurant that can only be reached by cable car.	Meredith relaxes in a park in Mondsee, one of our stops on the S.O.M. trip.
Back to Salzburg (and dark clouds) for a view of the Salzach river and the downtown area.	A view of the city from the fortress itself.	One of the towers inside the fortress	Meredith enjoys the spooky ambience that can only be achieved by low-hanging rainclouds.
Unfortunately someone had the foresight to remove the cannon ball and fuse before Brian could get to it.	A fight breaks out on the fortress grounds. I blame the renaissance festival.	A model of the downtown area, in case you want to build a replica of Salzburg in your backyard.	Seems like construction techniques were a little more dangerous back when they built the fortress, especially with the giant female mathematicians lording over the work.
A model of the fortress itself shows that attackers had to bring their hiking boots if they wanted to have any chance of success.	An ornate ceramic heater for keeping your fortress warm in style.	Slightly less stylish was the medieval toilet, which merely emptied out onto an exterior wall.	A door in the prince arch-bishop's chambers.
Top-of-the-line medieval decor. The golden knobs in the ceiling represented stars in the sky.	This heater is for keeping warm in style AND impressing the hell out of your guests.	Brian is thrilled that the Stiegl beer hall is only 60 steps further.	The beer hall features the ultimate in tasteful decor, the fish lamp.
Taking a cue (and a piece of luggage) from Rick Steves, this is Meredith packing light with a single carry-on bag for the whole trip.	Brian fit everything he needed into a backpack from L.L. Bean.

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