Ideally situated in the Austrian foothills, this city felt like “home†— literally. As we took the train to and from, we realized that the surrounding landscape looks much like that of southwestern Virginia. With brightly colored houses lining a river and old castles visible in the distant hillsides, it’s a quaint, striking village.As the birthplace of Mozart, many of the sights are geared toward his life and work. While here, we visited the mountaintop fortress (not visible in most of our shots due to the fog), enjoyed a Mozart Dinner Concert on Christmas Day, browsed their local Christmas market, drank lots of hot cocoa and coffee and tried the wiener schnitzel, bratwurst (each town has its own recipe), and authentic homemade apple strudel (a favorite). We also visited the gardens at Mirabel Palace, where we believe G performed once with his high school choir.
As in Nuremberg, all was easily accessible by foot (except the mountain top Fortress) and we were able to make it about town without the need for public transport.