Destination Salzburg

Having acclimatised to the –12 degree temperatures we picked up our rental car and hit the back-roads off to Salzburg.  We could have done the journey in 90 minutes, but we chose the scenic route.  Our Skoda was registered in Slovakia, so it was just like having learner driver plates on – everyone knew we weren’t local and could give us a wider berth.



We stayed in an AirBnb in Ainring, about a 10 minute drive outside Salzburg.  This was our base for 4 nights.

On our 1 day in Salzburg, Andrew spotted a bakery and demanded we stop for coffee and CAKE and to warm up a bit.  Cake tempted him many more times on this trip, but he never again had the same amount of cream piled on the side.


We did manage to fit in some time outside the cafes in the old town


Given the salt connection with the area, one of our day trips was to the Salt Mine, in Berchtesgaden



At the mine tour we donned the regulation overalls.  After we took these pictures we realised we didnt need our winter coats on under the overalls – so took off a layer of extra padding.  Down the mine temperatures were a constant 12 degrees all year.  The tour was good, learning about the extraction process, from drilling to sending salinated water 20km down the road for the drying process.


As well as riding a tourist train and a boat across a crystal clear mirror lake, there were two wooden slides we happy tourists went down.  The touristy photo was too good to pass up.  Look at that happy face on the gold-card holder.  5 years old again and he squealed like a girl!



On returning to the car, he wasn’t quite so happy as the car-battery had died.  This necessitated a call to the rental car company and a 40 minute wait for the roadside assistance to turn up and jump the battery.