On the morning of 8th September, 21 members met at Edinburgh Airport to fly out to Munich from where they caught the train to Salzburg, arriving in the evening  at their accomodation for their stay, the amazing Gastehaus Priesterseminar - first constructed in 1693, the seminary became the training centre for prospective priests of the Archdiocese of Salzburg, but now renovated to provide the comfortable rooms which we stayed in.

For the first day we explored the city, starting off walking through the colourful Mirabell gardens and across the river to the narrow streets of the older part of the city where we found Mozart's birthplace. It was then off to the cathedral where we were treated to an organ concert which started with pieces from three of the pillar organs, followed by two more on the Metzler main organ - a quite uplifting experience. From the cathedral, the group moved on to look at the St. Peter's cemetary with its baroque tombs of nobility as well as 12-Century catacombs and chapels, all beautifully kept. Next it was up to the castle (Fortress Hohensalzburg) on the funicular, where there were fantastic views of the city and the surrounding hills. A tour of the museum provided a detailed history of the castle as well as an interesting history of Europe .   

The next day, Wednesday, we took the bus to the village of St Gilgen where we caught a ferry on Wolfgangsee to Schafbergbahn where we caught a train on the cog railway that took us up to Schafberg. This was an amazing journey - built in 1893, it is the steepest cog railway in Austria, rising 1,200 metres over a distance of 5.85 kilometers. Despite it being quite wet, we spent time walking around the summit, taking in the atmosphere created by the clouds below us.                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Thursday, and in glorious sunshine we took the gondola from St Gilgen to the summit of Zwolferhorn where, on one side we could see down to St Gilgen on Wolfgangsee plus three other lakes, and on the other, across an open alpine valley, to a vista of mountain peaks, including a sight of Austria's largest glacier - it was all quite breathtaking.

In the afternoon we moved on to the spa town of Bad Ischl where some of the group treated themselves to some wonderful cakes at Zauner's cafe. It was then another gondola up to the Katrin from where there were great views down to Bad Ischl  and over the Salzkammergut, known as the 'Austrian Lake District' ( Historically, Salzkammergut translates to ''salt chamber possessions'' due to its ancient salt deposits). 

On Friday, some of the group remained in Salzburg as there was still much to explore, including the shops! The rest of us took the train to Bad Hofgastein to walk the Gastein Trail to Bad Gastein. (unfortunately, due to our late running train, we didn't quite finish the walk, and had to take the bus into Bad Gastein). This was a lovely walk along the side of the valley, passing several waterfalls and passing through a long tunnel, constructed at the head of a steep sided gorge.

 Saturday, and time to head back home, everyone in full agreement that this had been a wonderful holiday that had exceeded all expectations.