October 15th, part III - Continuing a full day in Salzburg.

The view from the fortress was incredible. Here are some photos from the southern side, some from the ramparts and one from a little cafe just outside the fortress walls.

Before you ask, no, I don't know what the deal is with the first picture. It might be a farm, might be a park, I really don't know.

The southern tower was called Vulture Tower. It was built in 1496 AD, and provided a commanding view of the southern portions of Salzburg.

Here are three stone crests that we found around the fortress.

The first was on the eastern face of a wall, just inside the main fortress wall.

The second one was on the western face of a wall, over the western entrance to the inner fortress.

Interesting: Just look at that intricate knotwork done in stone on the left and right sides of the top!

Last but not least, the final one was on the southern face of a wall, in the eastern portion of the inner courtyard.

Just inside the western entrance to the fortress were a pair of cannons aimed through portholes, looking down on Old Town.

From all the way up on Monchsberg hill, you could see both Old Town and New Town, on opposite sides of the Salzach River. In the second image, we're looking down the cannon barrel at New Town, on the east side of the river.

The third image shows both Old and New Towns, with the curving Salzach right in the middle.

The last is a tighter view of Old and New Towns, with one of the many bridges in view.

A stairway took us up to the fortress museum above. The first picture is of Tracy and Rob ascending the stairs.

The next two pictures are of drawings they had mounted on the wall, showing the various incarnations of Hohensalzburg Fortress over the years. It went through the initial construction, and subsequently five additional expansions over the years.

There were several rooms dedicated to the World Wars, and the Austrian men that fought in them. There were uniforms and weapons, statues and ordnance.

The first photograph is of an Austria-Hungarian soldier from the WWI timeframe. The second is a display of weapons used by the Austria-Hungarian army during WWI, and the last is a display of the various types of ordnance applied during the Great War.

The museum included a dual-chambered furnace uncovered by archaeologists in the late 1990's. The second picture is the sign that went with it, and can describe the find much better than I can.

More interesting displays from the museum.

The first picture is a glass display case full of different types and pieces of pottery from the fortress. Some are glazed, some are plain earthenware, all are pretty cool.

The second photograph is of a display case full of silver items. I apologize for the glare, but the non-flash picture didn't turn out worth a crap.

The final picture is of an elaborately carved table or dresser of some sort. I think it's absolutely beautiful.

I honestly have no idea what the actual name of this room is, but with the chairs set up the way they were, I figured people gave speeches or talks or piano concerts here. Hence, I dub it "the Speech Room."

In the second photo, check out those incredible columns!

I'm not exactly sure what the dude on the right was doing in the third picture... He was obviously making a sudden movement, but the effect makes him look like an agent in the Matrix or something. Very odd, although neat. But ignore the man in the blur - look at that ceiling!