Salzburg, Austria

For Spring Break last week, we went to Austria! We drove from Zurich through Munich to Salzburg, where we stayed for 2 days. Salzburg is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birthplace, so we read a book about Mozart before we went. The city was absolutely beautiful! We took a horse carriage ride through the old town and learned a lot about the town itself. Then we went to Mozart's birthplace and saw where he grew up. We also saw some of his instruments (klavier and violin). Salzburg is a small city of only 150,000 people, but 2 million people come each summer to the Mozart music festival! We tasted Mozart kugeln (chocolates with hazelnut, pistachio and marzipan inside) - which none of us really liked. We took the funicular up to the top of the mountain and toured the Festung castle. And, we stayed in a castle hotel! It was a great old castle a bit outside of Salzburg - we stayed on the third floor in a big suite of rooms where everyone had their own "king bed". We had a great breakfast downstairs each morning, where the host and hostess, two lovely grandparents, told us about things to see and places to go in the area. They were so hospitable! On Sunday morning they showed us the chapel that is part of the castle, and when they found out that Elise plays the piano, they took her to the music room on the second floor of the castle where she played the grand piano. When it was time to go, the kids were running around playing on the big lawn outside and didn't want to leave! Salzburg is absolutely beautiful and so charming - our whole experience was wonderful. It is definitely on our list for a return visit!