Day 9: Salzburg

Last full days are bittersweet. No matter the length of a trip, this day always feels like we've been traveling forever and also like we just arrived.

We didn't have many things planned for the day, but ended up squeezing in a fair amount of random experiences, like:

• Meeting a salesgirl who grew up in West Seattle.
• Enjoying a noon-time drink at Sporer, a century-old family-run spirits shop housed in a 15th century building. The orange punch is a house specialty made from the owner's grandmother's 1920s recipe, so we thought this counted as a "cultural experience" even though it was basically 4 oz of rum and prosecco. We made friends with a younger Austrian man at the bar, who was also enjoying an early afternoon pick-me-up and had spent substantial time on the U.S. west coast.  
• Soaking in the views during a rooftop lunch atop the Hotel Stein -- due to our mega-walk along the river, we didn't have lunch until 14:30 and had almost the entire rooftop café to ourselves.  

Café Tomaselli in Old Town was the perfect place for a late morning coffee and people-watching.

Some of the people-watching from the café.

We couldn't leave Salzburg without picking up a genuine Mozartkugel (a chocolate ball with a cake-like center). There are tons of imitators across Salzburg, but Café Furst has the original recipe from the late 1800s and still makes them by hand.  

Very few of the Old Town hotels had balconies, but that didn't stop me from rigging my own window seat with views of the cathedral.

After stopping by Mozart's Residence in New Town, we spent more than two hours walking along the river. As we ventured farther away from the town's center, it was fun seeing that Salzburg is truly a working city and doesn't solely revolve through tourism.

After four days in Salzburg and nearly ten in Austria, we were in love with this land of Alps, Bavarian and Baroque architecture, music and schnapps.

Auf Wiedersehen!