Of Dungeons, no dragons

Another picture-perfect day in Salzburg. First thing this morning, we set out to walk into the Old Quarter, on the hunt for St. Peter's church and graveyard. The walk was beautiful and relaxing. It's early fall here and yet the trees and flowers show no sign of surrender. It is cool enough for pants and long sleeves though, at only 8 degrees in the a.m. The claim to fame about St. Peter's is the graveyard. It is tiny, tucked in next to an equally tiny Medievil church, and the graves are what I would call, "living graves." They are all planted completely with flowers, each site has their own tiny garden and they are tended by family or friends with meticulous care. Some of the graves were too old to read the dates, and yet some new tenants arrived, surprisingly, just a decade or two ago. Because it is such a little graveyard, the graves are not owned, they are rented. And, if rent goes into arrears, the tenants are... er... evicted and put into a different kind of neighbourhood. You can see why I really wanted to visit this interesting spot! However. Google decided to have some fun at our expense. We set out confidently, through the Dam Platz (now so deserted in comparison to St. Rupert's Day.) And then we were duped into a series of tiny alleys and switchbacks, climbing higher and higher, up many old stairs, past ancient stone walls. Huffing, puffing, dripping sweat. And then, near the top, she announced with great pride "You have arrived." We looked at each other, then we looked around the vista. And we didn't see anything that even remotely looked like a boneyard. Shrugging, we backtracked down, down down down.... to the halfway mark. And oh look, what's that? A castle! Dave's face lit up. "Let's go there! Look at all the stairs!" Hello, Fortress Hohensalzburg. This was a mammoth and imposing 11th century castle complex, towering over Salzburg like a benevolent, powerful mother. It is one of the largest Medievil castles in all Europe, and for 13 euros, we secured our passes and began yet another climb that led to the most stunning views I have ever seen. I'll tuck in a few pictures here. I took about 500 today so I'll try to be editorial:

The climb to the top of the fortress was lengthy, but we trodded on. There was a light of amount of tourists, which certainly makes all the difference in the world. And every time we thought we had made it to the viewpoint.. surprise! More steps! All in all, the iPhones reported 50 storeys and I'm pretty sure that might be an understatement. I think she cheaped us out. At long last, the steps opened to the fortress courtyard, and that's when I could really appreciate the sheer scope of this monolithic castle. From the courtyard, you guessed it, more stairs and then ultimately came the payoff. A stunning view of Salzburg, enough to make me gasp.

This was a pano shot, so I hope it comes through and does justice to the beauty. The fortress included an absolutely excellent museum, with simple signage panels in multi languages accompanied with more modern graphics that did a great job of bringing history alive, right from the Middle Ages to the Baroque Century. I was absolutely transfixed.

Those shell-shaped dishes were from the Middle Ages, made of some kind of hard-baked clay and tucked into a shelf. I thought they were gorgeous. And the armour also included complete head sets of iron that the horses wore, and a full suit of armour that weighed 70 lb. Soldiers were damned tough in those days. No wonder these Austrians all look like Olympians. After another few hours of exploring, we discovered a funicular that would return us to ground zero. Great fun, and free. Everyone crams in and in about 5 minutes you are safely whisked to the bottom and as we descended I caught sight of the little graveyard below and lo and behold! St. Peter's it was! So, a bit of a circuitous route (to say the least) but so worth it. We found it. Take that, Ms. Google. Here are a few of the beautiful graves. I love the idea of such natural reverence to mark a final resting place.

Attached to the little church were the catacombs, and of course they needed to be explored as well. Although there were no tenants that could be seen, the atmosphere was spine-chilling, spooky, and ancient. The steps that were carved into stone were steep, uneven and sometimes very narrow, there was no consistency to them and I was grateful for the sturdy handrail, especially in the low light that pushed its way through tiny windows.

This last picture was taken from the atop the catacombs, and is a beautiful portrayal of ancient and peaceful St. Peter's church. It has been SUCH a day. Tomorrow, we will try once again to go to the Cathedral for the organ concert that begins after the church bells ring out at noon. And then wind up our last night in Salzburg at the Augerstiner Brewery. It is far too early to be saying goodbye to this compelling, evocative city. On the do-over list, for sure.