Pictures and stories, part Zwei

A few more select favorite pictures. I now have many pictures loaded up to a collection available to view online, if you would like to see more. Only pictures from Prague and Vienna are up, more to come shortly. I'll also be posting a few more in the next few days that are associated with special stories. Site for pics: www.paynesineurope.shutterfly.com

Schonbrunn Palace gardens in Vienna. This was the summer home for the family of the Hapsburg Empire. Very lavish and beautiful.

Stefansdom (St Stephen's Cathedral) in Vienna.

Prater (park) in Vienna. The ferris wheel there is over 150 years old and is still in working order. It is the main attraction in this enormous amusement park, which also had the best beirgarten in the world.

Traunkirchen - a little town on our way to Salzburg that we got to stop for lunch. More stories of this beautiful stop to come because it was quite an experience.

Salzburg wound up being my favorite place during our travels. Amazingly beautiful, so much history, and it still has the small town feel - nothing like Vienna at all. It of course is a huge tourist stop, so you couldn't get away from tourist signs and attractions the whole time, but I forgave that for the quaint beauty that it is.
Our tour on our first morning in Salzburg included Mirabell Palace gardens (where many of the Salzburg sites in Sound of Music were filmed), St Peter's monastery, the fortress/castle, Dom Cathedral, and Mozart's birthplace. And everything in between! This shows our group walking through the garden and cemetery at St Peter's with the view of the fortress up above. Phil at St Peter's garden and cemetery, with a view of the spires of the Dom Cathedral peeking up in the background.

Sunset of the river in Salzburg.