A coffee menu awaits you at each table. There are lists of hot and cold drinks, with coffee, of course, leading the way. Our phrasebook, however, was no match for the Austrian dialect. Cafe mit Obers? A coffee with a waiter? No, that's not right. A discussion with a friend whom I met in Munich also caused confusion on her part: "It must be Austrian dialect. Perhaps it means cream." And, sure enough, it was a cute little porcelain pitcher of cream that accompanied my strong, dark coffee. My brother chose the equivalent of a milk coffee... whose name I've completely forgetten now.

An impeccably dressed waiter takes your coffee order. An equally impeccably dressed waitress comes around with a large assortment of cakes balanced on a large tray. Feel free to ask her what's in them all! My brother chose the Sachertorte straight away. After much hemming and hawing, I finally chose an elaborate, round chocolate confection topped with pureed sweet chestnuts. When our coffee came, he waved aside my attempt to pay him and told us to pay him before we left.

The coffee was strong. The pastries were divine. The Sachertorte was rich but not too cloying--the apricot jam helping the slight dryness of the cake. My confection was better (my brother disagrees)--three layers of cake separated by a buttercream were surrounded by a chocolate wrapping. On top sat a dollop of a red-fruit jam, and then pureed sweet chestnut covered that. It was everything I expected of a Viennese confection!

You are free to linger over your coffee and at your table for as long as you require. No one was going to chase us out. The cafe also provides newspapers if you should wish to peruse them.

After many stops around the old town, my brother and I finally made it to the base of the hill and looked around for our options to get up. There were two: (1) climb the hill or (2) take the funicular up the hill. My brother was rather excited to take the funicular, since we had seen so many examples of them at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The price seemed exceptionally high for a single ride up--about €5! I asked if it included entry to the fortress, and the man behind the counter shook his head. Oh, well, there would be no other potential funicular trips, so I paid up. Later, we learned that entry to the courtyards of the fortress alone was €3.60, so the €5 ride up to the courtyards seemed okay.

The funicular was already crowded when we entered, and we, along with another man, decided to wait for the next one. This was not going down well with the funicular operator, who grunted at us to squish in. So squish in we did... but not happily! The ride itself was also unmemorable--it took less than a minute to reach the top! The views from the top were gorgeous, though. I'd highly recommend coughing up the minimum €3.60 to get up here. There is a small church, a school. As it was starting to get dark, we decided not to visit the museum this time--this would have given us entry to the residences of the Archbishops and a musuem about the history of the fortress--but at an extra cost.

In one of the courtyards, there is a painted bull beside a plaque telling its story. The people of Salzburg are known as bull-washers, and this dates back to the 16th century, when the royal citizens were holed up in the fortress during the War of the Farmers. The had only one bull, but each day, they would paint it differently and lead it around so the enemy would see it. This led the enemy to believe that they had enough food up there to last a long siege! Of course, the enemy left, the bull was washed in the river, and the citizens got their nickname.

We decided to walk down, and it's a steep and winding road. I definitely suggest walking either up or down this trail once, as there's more of the fortress to be seen than on the quick zip up/down on the funicular. We walked in the snow, however, and I recommend good shoes and a slow pace!