Friday Photo Favorite: Salzburg with Friends

One of our favorite things is to have visitors!  A friend of Herr J's from high school, with her husband and two boys, stayed with us for a few days.  They wanted to see Salzburg, so we rented a car and spent a half day there.

It is so nice to see friends from "home" (the U.S.), and we had a wonderful time showing them around.

Here they are from the Salzburg castle, overlooking the town:

Note: above photo was bracketed and HDR/tonemapped using Photomatix

And here is the old cemetary (where a scene from "The Sound of Music" was filmed, I believe).
The view is looking back up at the castle, from where the first photo was taken:

Note: above photo was bracketed and HDR/tonemapped using Photomatix 

Thanks for visiting, Mr A and Mrs J !!!  Come again soon!

Munich Day Trip - Salzburg (Austria)

Another city that is sooooo close to Munich is Salzburg, Austria, perfect for a Saturday trip:

Wikipedia describes its appeal:  "Salzburg's "Old Town" (Altstadt) has internationally renowned baroque architecture and one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997."

Just a few photos from a brief time there...

The view from the nearby Hohensalzburg Castle (on a small mountain overlooking the city) is lovely.
The castle itself it interesting too -- one of the largest medieval castles in Europe (built 1077-1519).

The two greenish spires in the cityscape above belong to the Salzburg Cathedral.  The crypt is my favorite part because it dates to 1020!  But the two towers and big dome get most of the photos:

 Here's the facade of the Cathedral:

Some of the small shopping streets are really charming.