On Saturday we had booked train tickets to visit Salzburg, Austria. We got up plenty early to find our train and get a breakfast for on the train. Gemma was quite satisfied since she found her souvenir, a Muchen hoodie sweatshirt.
More lazy teenagers taking naps while EUROPE passes them by on a train!!
It was gorgeous scenery out the window. Sweet county villages with these amazing snow capped mountains in the distance.
After about two hours on the train we made it to Salzburg. The old city center is only about a 15-20 minute walk from the train station. There was a fantastic local farmers market we happened upon. They have a pretzel stand with every kind of variety, savory and sweet.
Gemma made the tough decision of a sugar donut pretzel. It was ABSOLUTELY the right decision. We all devoured it.
One stand was this sweet little grandma selling her home made Gingerbread cookies. They were almost too beautiful to eat. We wanted to buy them all.
The final decision was Santa. I have to say he one hundred percent tasted as good as he looked.
Salzburg is the birth place of Mozart. They like to take credit for that although apparently he wasn't well liked or respected during his life there and left as an adult.
This is the home where Mozart was born.
There is also this thing in Germany and Austria called a Krampus. He runs around and punishes those that are on the naughty list, while Santa brings treats for those that are good. He only comes one day a year and we were not there for the Krampus run.
The Salzburg Christmas Market was huge and so beautiful! They had many unique stalls. To balance out our sugary morning we got a jacket potato with toppings.
Plus some Gluhwein of course.
Gemma was our little elf for the day.
So many sweet decorations. A whole stand of nutcrackers.
We took the Funicular to the top of the hill above Salzburg to explore to fortress.
The Fortress is actually really huge. You can go inside and explore.
You can run around and climb like monkeys outside too.
They even have a small market at the top in the center of the Fortress.
So many nooks to explore. Gemma was shooting canons at the invaders.
Family selfie from the tippy top.
You can see the tiny track the funicular takes up the hillside.
We found one tiny snow pile that was left over from an early season snow storm that had mostly melted. The girls really only wanted to play in the snow the whole time. They built teeny tiny snowmen.
As it got darker the lights started to shine in the market.
We walked along the river path to a local beer hall we had read about.
It was very traditional and not a tourist place. There was room after room filled with tables. Almost no seats in the whole giant place!
Lily found a few little treasures at the Medieval market in Munich. She got a little leather necklace pouch to keep her treasures in.
It was back to the train station for a late night train to Munich.
