Days 1.5-3: More majestic mountains and a palace

 The higher we went up the mountains, the colder it got, and greyer.  We decided our turnaround point would be the tram ride, and it had the bonus of a herd of cows to watch for a few minutes.  We wished we had some long fur like they did - it was chilly up there!  And that was before we rode up to the highest point where it was probably single digits (Celsius, so probably around 35-40 degrees Fahrenheit.)

 Glaciers were here and there, so we thought we would give the kids a chance to play in the snow a little on our way back down, but turns out the authorities were on to our plan, and had roped off the little spot of snow behind us, so their introduction to snowballs will have to wait. 

 My own little von Trapp:)  But seriously - how did they climb over these mountains?!?

 Will thought it was awesome (one of his new favorite words) to be able to push this mining cart. 

 I think this is a giant marmot? 

 We stopped in this village, St. Johann, for lunch/dinner and again, the definition of picturesque!

 We made it back to Salzburg in time to take the tram up the hill to the fortress and explore a little there - Will loved the "real" cannons, and Finley loved just running.  There was a cool pyramid of cannonballs that Will practiced his mountain goat skills on, and it was nice to avoid the crowds - until we left to go back down, and the nightly concert had just let out, so the trams were super crowded!

 

 Our last adventure in Salzburg was Hellbrun Schloss (Palace), which I think was built by an archbishop as his summer residence.  Helps one understand the corruption of the churches if this amazing place was a summer home for a church leader.  He wanted to impress his visitors, so he had some engineers create a bunch of trick fountains (pictures to come, from different camera). 

 

 Finley spent a lot of time like this - if we stopped for more than 3 seconds she was up and ready to be held.  A couple of times she was in the back seat and Will had jumped out, so she almost tipped over in the back heavy stroller!  She also loves this hat - every time she found it, at Grandma's or while on our trip, or in the car, she would pull it on.

 The gardens had some perfect climbing trees!  And if you have a few minutes, you can set up Nate's new tripod and get full family pictures without being at the mercy of whomever passes, and their notoriously poor picture taking skills!  So we actually got some nice family/scenery shots. 

 Finally, raise your hand if you would love to live anywhere near this Alpine lake, and have this view year round...