WE lucked out again with our scheduled "group" tour! Only 1 other couple (very nice young people from Silicon Valley California) so Mario (our guide) really did it right! We visited a couple of very small typical Bavarian dairy farm towns, just to see local culture. We stopped in to a couple of churches that although appeared somewhat "normal" from the outside, turned out to be artistic masterpieces inside! We had a delicious lunch at a cheese house farm restaura...

A short taxi ride back to the train station and we boarded the express from Salzburg to Munich feeling much like train pros Our arrival at the hotel Torbrau was late enough that we only had time for a quick Bus Tour around the city and then popped in to the world famous Hofbrau House for a beer and pretzel. I could get used to that!

On this cloudy morning, we set out for the FORTRESS that overlooks Salzburg. It was just a short walk to the funicular that carried us to the top, where we spent hours soaking up the view and history. We even had lunch up there....was marvelous! Then we visited the Hotel Stein, where my daddy lived during his time in the army at the end of WWII. It started to rain as we enjoyed a drink in the rooftop bar, then let up enough for the walk back to city center. The ...

We were met by our tour guide first thing that morning and pleasantly surprised to learn it would be a private tour, even though paid for group tour, because NObody else booked for that day...score! Bryan gave us more than we expected. We drove up to Konigsee and took the boat ride across the lake. Spectacular views, to say the least! Then we spent a little time in the small town of Berchtesgaden, had a quick lunch, then went to tour the Salt Mine. WOW! open top ...

We left our ship and ventured to the Nuremberg train station via taxi. I had already purchased our tickets online, so we had reserved seats in first class. We had to change trains in Munich, to then continue to Salzburg Austria. Our Boutiquehotel AM DOM in the old part of Salzburg was perfect! We were right in the heart of it all, next to MozartPlatz. After check-in, we just walked around getting familiar with it all. Darkness arrives at 5:00 p.m., so not out ve...