13/08/08 - Mozart and Mountains.

It was a good thing we had a wash and swim in the lake yesterday
because we awoke to a very overcast day, though the low mist over the
lake was very romantic. We forgo visiting what was sure to be a very
picturesque Halstaff for the bright lights of Salzburg. A mistake as
it turns out because whilst we thought this little town wouldn't rate
a mention in our lonely planet, it is apparently a 4000 year old
UNESCO world heritage site with a church housing skulls and ice caves
high in the cliffs. Woops!
Onwards then to Salzburg, traffic from hell and no suitable parking.
It took an hour just to recover from that, and after a birthday call
to Philip we were off to explore this Austrian City of Kitsch as our
lonely planet describes it, a little harshly. With a huge Romanesque
fortress towering out of the rocks above the city, Baroque cathedrals
and a meandering river, Salzburg makes a very pretty picture. The
narrow main street selling Mozart and 'The Sound of Music' from almost
every shop was suitably kitsch and we wandered about for a bit.
Lacking funds until a money machine was found, we did not visit the
fortress, though we did hike up the hill to get a closer look.
Not succumbing to the lure of kitch, Salzburg enjoyed no more of our
patronage than 10mins at an internet cafe where much needed funds were
redistributed, though we also purchased our standard souvenir; a
magnet, this one declaring "No kangaroos in Austria."

Walking back to our van, the traffic seemed worse than when we drove
in this morning. However by some miracle, no one else seemed to want
to take the way out of town that we did?? Was this possibly because
our destination for the night was actually the Bavarian Alps in a
'whole other country' - Germany??

With the main town of Berchtesgarden far too popular for us to find a
nice quiet park, we headed into the hills above it where poor Pat had
to rely on 1st gear to make it up!! (A 24% gradient when the steepest
we got in Norway was 12%). However, it was all worth it as our view
to the valley below was quite spectacular!!!!