We did absolutely zero sightseeing when we got into Salzburg, Austria last night around 8 o’clock but just checked into our hotel and relaxed. The hotel is a very nice change to the hostels that we have been staying in. None of the hostels (besides in Zagreb maybe) has been bad, but it is nice to have a TV, our own bathroom, and even a hairdryer! They even had complimentary buffet breakfast in the morning which we had read was supposed to be the best on the continent. If you make sure to just compare it to other European 
breakfasts, they may be right! This one even had eggs and bacon! We liked it so much that we decided to stay two more nights!
After breakfast, we walked around the city to get our bearings a little bit and decided to take the funicular up to the top of the mountain to see the Hohensalzburg which is a castle/fortress on the top of the Mönchsberg (Monk’s Mountain). Our ticket also included entrance to the castle and the museums inside (one being a marionette museum) and an audio guide. The audio guide was not particularly interesting but we did learn that Salzburg got its name which means Salt Village because of the large production of salt in the area that was a major benefit of the city because salt was the best and only means of preserving food at the time which meant they could be isolated for a longer time than most other cities when under attack.
On the other side of the Mönchsberg is a modern art museum which is worth seeing if you have the time. When we were there, only a third of the museum was open because the other parts were being prepared for an upcoming exhibit. Even just the views from the café and the views on the walk over to the museum are worth the trip. Salzburg is just as beautiful a city today as it is in Julie Andrew’s world, even if it is overcrowded with tourists even in February.
We went out to dinner at a chic little café that served good thai food and now we are back in the hotel watching “The Sound of Music” on Austin’s computer to prepare ourselves for our 4 and a half hour Sound of Music tour tomorrow morning!
