Salzburg Report - Salzburg is a tiny city we disembarked in the grounds of a 17th-century summer palace that sits like a queen bee in the midst of a web of walls and hedges.

Salzburg is a tiny city we disembarked in the grounds of a 17th-century summer palace that sits like a queen bee in the midst of a web of walls and hedges. It was impossible to discover any detail about the trick fountains tour, except that it left every 20 minutes or so from a nearby gate -- and the next departure was about ready to go. We signed up and a smiling guide led us through the gate to the first stop, a stone table surrounded by stone chairs, where apparently the Schloss's creator; Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus, would invite guests to join him for dinner on summer evenings. The guide suggested that some of our group might like to sit down where the Prince's guests had sat - and then turned on a secret tap. All the chairs except one sprouted jets of water; soaking all the sitters. It would appear that Prince Markus was a bit of a practical joker. The next stop was a grand gateway 'Admire the ornate workmanship in the facade," began the guide as the facade promptly squirted at us from all angles, prompting shrieking and giggles all round. By now we were getting wise to the basic idea, and could tell from damp patches on the ground when we might be entering a target zone. Keeping close to the guide was a pretty sure indication of safe territory and we managed to stay dry in the under-castle grotto, but the theatrical tableaux, full of moving figures powered by water, was so well engineered that we forgot all about Prince Markus's infernal sense of humour and were well and truly caught in the crossfire. By the end we were pretty soaked, but the children were thoroughly drenched, and took great pleasure in running backwards and forwards through an ambushing arch of fountains. It took an hour or so in the palace gardens to dry off; feeding carp the size of submarines with tile remainder of our picnic lunch. By that time the real heat of the day had waned and the children were happy to play for the rest of the afternoon on the extensive adventure playground, which fortunately had not been booby-trapped by any passing prince-Archbishops. As for the Salzburg itself, I have never been to a place, which is more carefully ornately and delicately presented. Once tile thermometer had eased off a bit, we discovered a city that was elegantly and exquisitely finished off in every detail; the castle walls freshly scrubbed, the shops full of twinkle old gents who all seemed to wear bow ties, the metal shop signs down the main shopping street Getreidegasse freshly gilded, and the shop windows were so dressed up it wasn't always easy to see which bits were for sale and which bits were just for show. Fortunately Salzburg is a very manageable size for children, who are not normally interested in walking or in cities, and we were able to break our tour into manageable portions thanks to regular stops in local tearooms Next we made our way to the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which dominates everything, and is easy to reach thanks to a funicular railway The view down, across a city framed by mountains might have been littered from a book of fairy tales. From up here the history of how Salzburg was ruled for centuries by independent Catholic archbishops - like our Markus Sittikus - made perfect sense. You could see their domain, and pick out their extravagant architectural designs. It was living history and you half expected to meet one of them coming round the corner. We didn't do justice to all the sights in one short weekend. After all, we couldn't expect the children to get too excited about Mozart's birthplace or his home. But we did get tickets to a Mozart concert out in the Marble Hall at the Mirabel Palace, where the composer himself used to perform. All in all a very enjoyable visit.

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