"Salzburg, Germany" Salzburg by StayLonger

During the night, we sailed from Passau, Germany, to Linz, Austria. I really do enjoy waking up in a new town, with someone else having done the driving for me.

After breakfast, several of us boarded a coach for the 90-minute ride to Salzburg. While it was cold, foggy, and rainy in Linz when we left, by the time we got to Salzburg, it was considerably warmer, eventually getting above 50F.

Laura and I have fond memories of visiting Salzburg in 1995 and being very impressed. We were really looking forward to our first return back.

Cemetary - Salzburg, Austria, 2010

Even though it's quite expensive, Salzburg is one of my favorite cities. It's a fabulous mix of old-world charm and upscale shopping that is impossible to resist.

We met our guide and walked through the old town, through some narrow streets, back alleys, and finally ended up in a church courtyard. Along the way, our tour guide happened to met some of her family, who were in town for the day, so we stopped while they had a little chat. Very pleasant little diversion.

Part of the tour included walking through this cemetary, which I think was part of a monastery, but I could be wrong. I do find, as I get older, my memory gets the best of me. I always think, "I'll remember the name of this street", but back at the hotel later, I'll be completely blank about it. I guess it's best to just live in the moment.

Christmas Market - Salzburg, 2010

We continued to walk until we came to a Christmas market. At this point, we separated from the tour and continued on our own.

I did try on a traditional boiled wool men's jacket, but the price was high and the stall worker quite pushy, which is really a turn-off to me. It did give me a chance to try out some of my basic German: "Nehmen Sie Kreditkarten, bitte? Ja natürlich!"

We did purchase a few pewter ornaments and also had some delicious orange rum punch, another cup for the collection.

After that, it was lunch, some shopping (more on that in the Travelogues), then back to the ship in Linz.

• Pros:Striking architecture, marvelous shopping, extraordinary scenery
• Cons:Crowded, expensive, somewhat frantic feel overall
• In a nutshell:So beautiful, So busy