Salzburg, Austria ... Sep. 26 - 28, 2008

My parents were back in Europe for a conference and to visit us, so we decided to all travel together to Salzburg for the weekend. My parents spent most of the week in Poland, so they left from there and we met up around Vienna to carpool the rest of the way to Salzburg together. We decided that it was finally time (and the girls were old enough) to do the Sound of Music tour (the official one!). We arrived Friday night into Salzburg, only to find that the reservation we THOUGHT we had at our hotel was non-existent, so we went and checked into the Marriot, more expensive but a lot more convenient.
We woke up early the next day, walked to the train station for some breakfast pastries then to the Mirabell Gardens where our tour bus was waiting for us. The tour was very nice (even though had I had a guidebook and the addresses to the locations, I could have done it myself) and we learned a lot about the making of the movie. We visited Leopoldskron Castle and the lake (where the children topple over the boat). The front of this castle was used as the Trapp family home. We visited the Gazebo that Liesel and Rolfe danced around in (now sitting on the grounds of Hellbrunn castle). We visited the church that the wedding scene was filmed of Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer getting married in Mondsee (about 30 minutes outside of Salzburg).And we also saw the Abbey where Maria was a nun and the street with the line of trees that the kids were hanging out of when the Captain came back with the Baroness from Vienna.Finally, we strolled around Mirabell Gardens where the kids hopped back and forth on the stairs and throughout the gardens singing Do Re Mi. We had watched the movie with Katie and Ashley a few times over the past few weeks and they loved it. So, while very touristy thing to do, all of us had a good time and learned some interesting trivia about the family and the making of the movie (nothing exciting enough that I remember right now).
After the tour and a quick break back at the hotel we took off for Obersalzberg, about 30 minutes outside of Salzburg and site of the Eagle's Nest (German Kehlsteinhaus). This chalet style house at the highest peak of the Kehlstein Mountain was a 50th birthday gift to Adolf Hitler. Built over 13 months and completed in 1939 it was supposedly only visited by Hitler about 10 times, so rarely used. The US captured it in 1945 before giving it back to the state of Bavaria in 1960. Besides the obvious historical significance, the view from the top is pretty spectacular, especially on the relatively clear day we had. It was cold up there but Katie and I decided to hike up a bit up from the house and get an even better view of the surrounding area.
We wanted to visit the bunkers that were built at the foot of the mountain, but they had just closed.
We went back to the hotel, ordered some pizzas and went to bed. We actually had done a lot and all of us were exhausted.
We woke up Sunday morning and took a walk through the old town. It is so peaceful and quiet on Sunday mornings in Europe, whatever town you are in, and I LOVE just taking a walk enjoying the architecture of an empty city. The street in front of Mozart's birthplace was empty enough to get a good picture without the bustle of Salzburgers or tourists.We did find some breakfast before going to church at a ward that is situated basically just below the Salzburg Fortress. The people there were very nice to us and although I spent most of the time in the hallway with Ashley, it was nice to visit the ward and attend Sacrament Meeting there.
After church we took the Funicular up to the top of the Salzburg Fortress and wandered about the little mini-town up there. It originated in the early 11th century with each subsequent century adding something to it. You can identify the additions as each seem to be in a different style, whichever was prevelant at the time of construction.
After our "tour" of the fortress we drove back to Budapest. It was a great trip. Salzburg really does have to be one of the most interesting places in Europe and it was great to visit there with my parents and spend time with them there.