I visited Austria in 2011 and one experience that stood out to me in particular is Hohensalzburg Castle. Built on the cliffs overlooking the city of Salzburg, this imposing structure stands out above the city and is backdropped by Austria’s mountainscape. While built for a defensive purpose, I was surprised by how beautiful the fortress was especially with the image I had originally had in my head of castles should look in that I always thought of a castle being a large, crude, and grey bricked behemoth.