Salzburg, the Salt Castle!

Before the EU trip, when discussing the trip details with my colleague, he mentioned that Salzburg means "Salt Castle" and  1000s of years ago, Salzburg produced a large amount of Salt. "Salz" is salt in German. Since Austria is land-locked and assuming salt can only be produced from sea water, I was wondering how come Salzburg produced salt. After digging up further, I learned that the salt was from the mines near Salzburg and the city was built by the rich folks who owned these salt mines.

Among many other things, Salzburg is famous for Mozart (who was born in Salzbrug) and the backdrop for the musical,  "The Sound of Music".

We took the train from Luzerne to Salzburg. As I checked out the dining car menu, I was really surprised to see the entree "Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice". The 7-feet tall German waitress explained that they have this entree in almost all of the the train routes :))

Waiting in Luzerne train station. We have whittled down our luggage to one carry on item and one backpack each.
It really helps to travel light :))

Though not spicy, Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice was tasty and enjoyable.

The nice and spacious pent-house apartment we stayed - "Wolf Dietrich" - is walking distance from the old town, the Mirabell Gardens, many restaurants and is conveniently closer to the bus stops.  

Construction of the the "Hohensalzburg Castle" was started in 1077 and it continued expanding until 1519.
It is one of the biggest in Europe.  While you can climb the steps, we took the easy - lazy way, a Funicular :)  

The Golden Bed Chamber was impressive. We opened a door on the wall and saw an
elevated sitting place with a hole - an attached Toilet in the bed room, supposed to be most modern in those days :)

View of the Salzburg Old Town (forground) and New Town (background) from the top of the fort.
The Salzach River separates the old and new towns. The Salzburg Cathedral is prominent in this foto.

Mirabell Gardens is where we spent time every evening, enjoying the flowers, fountains and watching people.
Many scenes for the song "Do Re Mi" from "The Sound Of Music" were shot in these gardens.

View of the Salzburg Castle from Mirabell Gardens.

Salzburg Cathedral

Inside the Dome of the Salzburg Cathedral

Salzburg Cathedral

Outside Mozart's house. The birth place museum has his entire life history on display.
Of course, the girls are Piano wizards and knew much more about Mozart - like his elder sister was
more talented than Mozart but was never given or got the opportunity to shine.

During travels, while I enjoy the history, culture, local food and local beer, there is nothing to match the simple joy of
watching  people - locals and from all over the world ;)