Austria--day 7

Off to Salzburg today. Our first stop was a tour of the salt mines. I have a rule about tours--the more protective clothing required to participate, the better the tour usually is. We had gear up in white hooded jumpsuits to be allowed into the mines, so things were looking pretty good.


To get down into the mines, you ride a little open trolley (at a pretty good clip) and then slide down these big wooden slides.
I took this tour as a kid and could only remember sliding the sides, and looking at the big underground lake. Now I know why those are the only two things I remember--they are really the only exciting parts of the tour. The rest is just walking deep underground (which is fun in its own way) and watching some films about the history of Salzburg. Really the tour should just be letting you do the salt slides over and over because that's the best part by far.

After learning all about salt production, we drove into town to visit the historic section of Salzburg and pay a visit to Mozart's birth house. By the time we found a parking spot, and parked in it, (parallel parking an unfamiliar rental car on a small busy street can take longer than you might think) we were starving. Luckily, there were some great smells coming from just down an alley, so we followed our noses and had lunch at a tiny, I'm talking the-size-of-my-kitchen tiny, restraunt where the girls got pizza (I think Natalie may have been in withdrawal) and the rest of us had döner kebaps. Apparently, these roasted meat sandwiches now outsell both hamburgers and sausages in Austria.

Mozart's house was interesting. Did you know Mozart may have had deformed ears? Also the black and white keys on his piano are reversed.


After a quick pit stop in Mozart's bathroom (seriously nasty) we took a peek at Salzburg's beautiful baroque cathedral before heading home. If I had to build a cathedral I would totally want it to be baroque. And if it ain't baroque. . .