BEAUTY AROUND US

If you look closely, you will see the Alte Stadt or Old City of Salzburg.  Hohensalzburg fortress sits atop a mountain and overlooks the city of Salzburg.  Normally, you would take a suspended cable car to the top but this weekend it was closed because it is not yet the tourist season.  So, being the curious tourists that we are, we climbed it.  The fortress sits up 800 feet above the city and let me tell you, my legs are still like jelly from the climb.  Was it worth it?  Yes!

After our climb, we found a relaxing spot to sit and catch our breath in front of this lovely sculpture.  It was 80 degrees and we were happy to sit in the sun and admire the beautiful gardens.

I wish I had found the name of this city park, but I was just too exhausted to go searching.  It was lovely.  Notice the fantastic arbor on the right.

I was fortunate to get a shot of this great looking couple in their traditional trocken.

This photo was by chance and I love that the couple on the bench is reflected by the pair of flowers in front of them.  Total coincidence.

We were not the only ones whiling away the afternoon in the outdoors.  Bench seats were difficult to find that afternoon.  Fortunately, we were able to clinch one.

One of the city's many fountains was this modest one of a young girl squatting in the fountain with birds in her hand, her shoulder, and on her head.  So simple and so innocent.

Here is another view of her from the front.

This garden was chock full of flowers so i did my best to capture  a few of the more spectacular blooms.

As beautiful as the flowers were, I was also charmed so much by this little guy, that I had to take his photo too.

It was wonderful to sit and examine the beauty that surrounded us.