Austria
March 20, 2019
Our port this morning is Linz, a city right on the river. Linz has never been a favorite of mine as it is more of an industrial city. But there is a nice old part of town that is worth exploring if you have some time.
Without any question I was going to Salzburg today, one of my favorite cities!! The city of Mozart with it’s graceful green oxidized copper domes, spires reaching high into the sky, an imposing cliff top fortress, gardens galore and the mountains beyond.
The view from Mirabelle Gardens is one of the best, and the gardens themselves are some of the prettiest in all of Salzburg!
Spring is in bloom in Salzburg
Beautiful views as we cross the river Salzach. Salz means salt in German, Salzburg means salt castle. The areas surrounding Salzburg is full of salt mines which is where Salzburg gained its riches. Well most of the riches were from taxing the salt that came through the river in the eighth century.
Getriedegaße is famous for it’s wrought iron guild signs for each business, the birth home of Mozart, fabulous shopping and it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This narrow pedestrian only street is so picturesque, it is one of the most photographed in Austria.
The Salzburg Cathedral is impressive and has a beautiful square front where they have many local events and concerts in the summer. 
St. Peter’s Abby is such a beautiful place to wander around and they have an amazing restaurant right next to it that’s a must.
Mozart’s House
The skies cleared so more pics of Salzburg from the bridge!
Views from the fortress over Salzburg and the river.
The Lakes District of Austria outside of Salzburg, the Salzkammergut, is dreamy. The little town of Mondsee or Moon Lake is named because of the shape of the lake that is located on. The church there is famous as being the one they used in the wedding scene in Sound of Music.
Some pictures of the pretty buildings in Linz.
Tonight we were graciously invited to have dinner aboard one of the Crystal Cruises River ships! Everyone went, even the AMA, Avalon and Scenic people, nice to be able to see all the differences between the different River Cruise companies. More pictures in another post!
See the post from our Crystal experience:
http://travelwithlorifoster.com/2019/04/01/crystal-river-cruises/
See more pics of the ship on my Facebook Album AMA Waterways Danube River Cruise: http://tinyurl.com/yygz24fp