Salzburg Austria In A Day

Salzburg Austria is easily one of the prettiest cities in all of Europe. The surrounding alpine landscape full of green valleys and snow capped peaks is the perfect back drop to the cobblestone streets and beautiful architecture of the city. Lindsay and I were in Munich with her mom and sister during our 2009 trip and decided to make a day trip into Salzburg. Thanks to the INCREDIBLY efficient train system in Germany this is very easy to do. We simply went to the Munchen HBF (central train station) to catch the shiny red train to Salzburg. The train ride was simply spectacular. We passed through numerous small villages and the early morning sun lite up the alps and surrounding green valleys with an incredible light. I put on my head phones and just starred out the window the entire time. At one point I looked over at Lindsay's sister and she was playing a game on her IPod (her eyes glued to the screen) and to this day I still make fun of her for being so into her Ipod with the incredible scenery outside the window. :) The train ride is only a couple of hours and before we knew it we were in central Salzburg. It was late November and the annual Christmas market was just starting. This part of Europe is famous for their Christmas markets. The town square fills up with vendors selling food, decorations, etc, etc. This mixed with the trees, lights and overall Christmas feel is truly incredible. We thought Lindsays mom Pat (A die hard Christmas fan) was going to die. We enjoyed the market for a few minutes but decided to come back at night when it really gets busy. We wandered the old streets of Salzburg for hours just taking in the scenery. We saw numerous buildings from “The Sound of Music” and Lindsay and her sister had a blast running through singing “doe a deer a female deer”….etc. As the day ended we made our way up to Hohensalzburg Castle for its incredible views of the city below. Once night fell we headed back down to the Christmas market and Pat (Lindsay's mom) went crazy. She ended up being tonz of souveniers for her grand kids while the rest of us enjoyed the local food stalls. The last thing I remember about the day was how tired everybody was on the train ride back to Munich. We were all passed out surrounded by tonz of bags from Lindsay's mom shopping spree. That beautiful late fall day in Salzburg is something we will always remember.