St. Peter’s, inspired the Hollywood cemetery set in the Sound of Music.

I decided today would be ‘KFB’s Highlight Tour of Salzburg’s Old Town’, which is nestled in between the River and Mönchsberg mountain. My commentary started off at Mozartplatz near the statue of Mozart, and took in the horse-drawn carriages, pink Church of St. Michael and Dom cathedral; moved through the Residenzplazt with its beautiful horse fountain; then on to the Kapielplatz and the 18th century horse bath, giant chessboard, golden orb with man on top sculpture, musicians and marketplace. Towering above us was the ever-present Hohensalzburg Fortress on the peak of Festungsberg, built in the 11th century. Our tour took us around the old waterwheel and through the gate into St.Peter’s incredibly beautiful cemetery. The ultimate in final resting places, we were quite taken with the incredible flowers, and how each grave was marked with a magnificent miniature garden and unique marker. The cemetery in the Sound of Music movie, although built in Hollywood, was inspired by this one.

We saw the cliff over the cemetery that housed medieval hermit monks as well as the Gothic chapel built a year before Columbus sailed for the New World. A visit to Universitätsplatz and the open-air market resulted in some fabulous goodies purchased lunch for later in the day. Our oversized pretzel sandwich, Wiener Schnitzel sandwich and oversized sugar-pretzel proved later to be my husband’s favorite meal of the trip (so far). A stroll down Getreldegasse completed our tour.

My tips were not as expected!

In the afternoon, we took a tour to the Bavarian Mountains to experience a little of the beautiful countryside. We followed the Salzach River into Germany to King’s Lake (Königssee) and were surprised at how commercial it was. Nearby is a large bobsled training facility. On the route in, we traveled through the lower part of the Obersalzberg, and could see Hitler’s retreat ‘Eagles Nest’ on top of a peak in the distance. We also saw the cute alpine town of Berchtesgaden before our drive back to town. Traffic was heavy and the clouds and rain returned; we were glad we weren’t driving.

After a light dinner in the casual, comfortable hotel bar, we called it a day!