No Kangaroos in Austria - Day Two Cont'd

The famous Getreidegasse.
see all photos »

Day Two Cont'd

As I wandered the narrow pedestrian streets of the shopping district the city was beginning to come to life. Vendors were opening up their stalls and their carts. The smell of coffee and roasted chestnuts was in the air. It was such an amazing sight. Everywhere I looked their was something that I could stop and look at forever. I love this city!!

No Kangaroos in Austria!!!!

I finally found myself in the Mozartplatz and at the information centre. I bought a Salzburg card which allowed me free entrance into all museums and galleries and free access to transit for 72 hours. It is definitely worth the money.

Statue of Mozart at the Mozartplatz.
see all photos »

From their I left and walked across the square to the domplatz. It is the most amazing place. The fountain their is the largest Baroqe fountain outside of Italy and it is truly majestic. The glockenspeil in the square plays a piece of Mozarts music three times a day. After visiting the fountains I wandered over to feed the horses at the carriage departure place. I passed through the majestic columns and came face to face with another incredible site.

The dom is simply stunning and while some of it is being worked on and is covered right now it does not really dim its intimidating domination of the square.

The side view of the dom.
see all photos »

There is a statue in front of the church of different biblical characters that is simply beautiful. I decided to enter into the cathedral and it was a wondrous experience. There is just something in the air. Everyone is hushed and respectful and the sheer beauty of it brought me to tears.

Back outside a gentleman was doing silhouette cut outs and he would dance around as he did the cutting. He was funny and engaging and so I had one done of me.

Passing through another set of amazing arches I found myself in the Makartplatz with an amazing view of the castle overhead. Another stunning fountain was in the square. There were plenty of vendors around with a variety of wares including a full line of the "No Kangaroos in Austria" line. I bought many family gifts here and was told that in fact a great number of tourists do come and expect to find kangaroos. Such a number in fact that they market a wide variety of products now with the slogan and have actually added a few to the zoo at Helbrunn.

The Baroqe fountain with the glockenspiel tower in the background.
see all photos »

In the middle of the square a chess board is painted and everyday families are out here and mostly the men play. The pieces are wood and about three feet high. On the weekend when I went their the man that won stayed and played until someone beat him and then that winner would stay. It was really great.

After this I decided to head up to the fortress. It is called Hohensalzburg which means High Salt Fortress. I will tell that story in a future entry.

Bye for now!