After leaving Vienna we headed over to Salzburg for a couple of days.
Hopefully we will get to see some snow and alpine country. Halfway to
Salzburg we got our first glimpse of the alps. Towering snow capped
peaks were the order of the day. They got even bigger the closer we got
to Salzburg.

We're staying in a small village just outside Salzburg called Anif, at a hotel called Schlosswirt zu Anif. Its a small historical hotel - should be just charming.

And it is. Its an old (very old) Austrian hunting lodge which has been
converted to a hotel. The view from the window is of a frozen lake and a
castle in the middle of it - almost like a story book.

Once settled we ventured into Salzburg for a bit of a look. Seems nice. The
veritable "old town" is there, the obligatory castle overlooking the
town, a river running through the middle. Its all there, as well as the
backdrop of the alps. Magical setting. Parking the car was a bit of a
hassle. Finding parking stations was maddeningly difficult. So we just
grabbed the first on street parking spot we found. A tip for driving
here - before you leave Australia practice reverse parking in a parking
spot which seems too small to fit the car into. Took us 10 minutes of
backward and forwarding to park the car (as well as a dented number
plate). Hope we don't get ANOTHER parking ticket (he he he).

Walked the streets of the old town. Not much atmosphere there - its been given
over to high end shops (Armani, Swarovski, Prada etc). As well as a
huge number of trashy souvenier shops. Still, we managed to find a great
Italian cafe for some lunch and coffee.

By now it was getting dark and starting to rain. Time to head back? Not yet. We
spotted a cable car which runs up to the Castle above the city, so
thought, why not. The view from the top, even at night was quite
breathtaking.

Found our way back to the car, and guess what - another parking ticket. Damn!! Must find out how to pay these fines before we leave (NOT!!). Restaurant at our hotel was closed,
so we had to find somewhere else to eat. Staff at the hotel recommended
a restaurant in the village as being quite good. How right they were.
We both had meals of exceptional food. Topped off with a couple of
glasses of excellent red wine, and the day was complete.

Next day we decided to forgo any further exploring of Salzburg itself and
instead take a driving tour through the nearby Alps. Hitlers old
getaway, the Eagles Nest is only about 30km away. Even though it's
closed for the winter, the drive up to the nearest town, Berchtesgaden
is supposed to be quite spectacular. So off we went. Scenery?
Spectacular!! The photos say it all. To top it off, the weather was
perfect. Above 800m we broke through the clouds into bright sunshine and
blue skies. Just perfect to appreciate the mountains and valleys we
drove through.

A perfect day of sightseeing, and to cap it off, a perfect meal of Austrian food at the hotel to finish with. Life is good!!