12 August 1999


In the morning, we packed up, ate breakfast and checked out. We had a short conversation with Tim, a Physics student at Kings College. And before we left, Claudia Neubacher asked us to take a stuffed kitten along in the cable car, for the little Italian boy who left it. When we reached the station at the bottom, we held the kitten up high and watched the boy's face light up.

Walking down into Ebensee was a little easier than walking up, but with our bags and another cold drizzle, it was still difficult. We picked up a couple newspapers and boarded the train for Salzburg.

At Salzburg, we locked our bags into a locker under the station and walked toward the Alt Stadt (Old Town). We were hungry, but all the restaurants had already closed after the lunch rush. We found a Turkish KeBap (Kebob) house that quickly prepared for us two delicious sandwiches.


Walking down the east side of the river, we saw the old palace and decided to take a look at it. A beautiful building, now used for the city government, it is surrounded by colorful, meticulously-kept gardens and scores of statues.

Nestled in the grounds, we found a baroque museum--a very nice side trip. Inside were over 200 pieces of baroque art, in oils, sketches, and sculpture. We proceeded out through the palace gardens through all the statues and flowers.


Salzburg was teeming with people, even though it was a Thursday. We walked along the narrow streets and stole in and out of the picturesque alleys. We found the horse pond, the tunnel through the mountain, the baroque cathedral and Mozart's birthplace.

It was a short, but moving, tour through the house in which Mozart was born, and lived the first 17 years of his life. On display were period oil paintings, personal letters, and some of the actual instruments that Mozart used for practice and concert play.


A short walk took us to the tram to the top of the mountain, where the mighty and famous fortress stands. With a beautiful late-afternoon view to the west of Salzburg, we ate Tortellini and Pork wrapped in bacon, then walked toward the upper part of the fortress. It was closed off for a play that was about to start. But we found a place to view and photograph the city from another vantage point.


Back down from the fortress, we crossed the river Salzach, and found a bench on the riverside, to watch the city slowly light itself up in the dusk. After night had fallen, we picked up and walked back to the train station, checked the schedules and waited for our midnight train. On the schedule was the Orient Express--a temptation for a mid-vacation adventure.