Walking tour

We spent the day seeing Salzburg. Kim is tired of my renditions of SOM (that's Sound of Music for you yankees)songs. Especially since I don't know most of the words. I can hum, though!

We started in Mozartplatz, with a little bit of shopping. We toured the cathedral, in Residenzplatz, which was originally built in the 700's. The interior was pretty amazing. From there, we went to the little cemetary, which some of you may remember from SOM. It's where the von Trapp family hid, while attempting escape. It is really interesting. Apparently, the family of the deceased rent the plots for 10 years. If the bill doesn't get paid, they dig up the dead and put some one else there.

Above the cemetary is where some old hermit monks lived. They built their residence and chapel right into the cliffs. We walked up there and enjoyed the view most of all. Although, the monk digs are interesting. We walked back down and toured the attached St. Peter's Cathedral. Not quite as elegant as the first one we saw, but it was spectacular in its own way. We left the church for Universit\228tsplatz. It has an open air market, which made both of us anxious for spring and planting a garden!

We walked down Getreidegasse, where Mozart was born. The street is covered with iron signs advertising all the shops along the way. Even McDonald's has an iron sign hanging out! We crossed over the Salzach River, via a pedestrian bridge, and walked along Steingasse. It is a very narrow street that winds below the old castle walls. Along the way, we passed the brothel (with requisite red light out front), and the house where the guy who wrote Silent Night was born. There is an area, on one of the buildings, where a large chunk of the wall was destroyed. Supposedly, an American GI tried to drive his tank to the brothel and found the streets a little too narrow.

Tomorrow, we hike the hills.