Climb every mountain.....

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Salzburg, Austria: the home of Mozart, the set for the Sound of Music, and the site of large quantities of salt excavation.

Mozart is everywhere here. There is no escaping his legacy, as you will find his name on hotels, his face plastered on signs, and a multitude of chocolates he appears to endorse in his latent state. He's quite a popular guy, it seems, though I haven't the slightest clue why. You'd think he was a great musician or something. Mozart must be a great guy, though, because he lets you explore his house, for a fee, of course, but we figured there was probably nothing exciting in his house--musicians are boring people, after all, aren't they?--so we decided to examine the outside of his dwelling. It was pretty and free, but mostly free.

Further meandering found us in the grand Do-re-mi Maribell Garden embracing the Pegasus fountain. Much to our astonishment, not much grows in the winter. We plan on returning to the garden when the weather has warmed a bit.

By the by, should you find yourself in Austria with a craving for something sweet--like anyone has such cravings--you absolutely must try the Apple strudel, it is a hunk of confectionary heaven.

As per the written suggestion of one Bill Bryson in Neither Here Nor There, we decided to seek out and explore St. Peter's Cathedral. We had much difficulty finding it--there are many cathedrals in Salzburg--but during our journey we happened upon a live game of chess being played, quite literally, on the sidewalk, we passed through the Catacombs, a place with some fancy metal crosses for tombstones and more dead people (we like them), and finally discovered St. Peter's Cathedral. It's nice.

Good eats, pretty sights, and a common cold later, we were in transit to Prešov, the little town of our Slovakian princess Adka.

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Photos

Hellbrunn Castle
The building on the hill is called the Hellbrunn Castle (it can be seen in the Sound of Music). The peak next to the castle is the Nonnberg Abbey which is the convent where the Baron and Maria got married.

Pegasus "the winged horse"
This fountain is located in Mirabell Gardens...the place where Mozart was said to have composed "The Magic Flute"...and the place where Maria and the children in the Sound of Music sang "Do-re-mi".