Day 5--Salzburg, Austria

You may have heard that there has been some flooding in Germany. I had planned to go to Salzburg on my own, but the flooding has affected the trains to that city. Early trains were cancelled, and they had to run a special train. Some women I met yesterday suggested this tour, and I´m so glad I did it, since I did not fully understand about the train fiasco.

We took a 2 hour train ride through German countryside and into Austria. We walked through some of the sites that Frauline Maria sings her way through in The Sound of Music.  The kids sing on these steps, I believe (our guide knew the movie better than anyone, but she said that it is unknown in Bavaria).

We also walked through the real cemetery that inspired the cemetery hiding scene in SOM. The movie didn´t get permission to film there, so they rebuilt it as a set.  The real one is outdoors and does not have tombstones you could hide behind--they are affixed to the wall.

Mozart´s childhood home

We saw the exterior of the house where Mozart was born and wrote his wunderkind pieces, and also the house he lived in as an adult. I also peeked into the church where he played the organ and heard someone playing it.

This city was founded on the wealth of the nearby salt mines, and it had some bishops who liked to spend money to build things. The result is a very Italianate effect with lots of domed church towers. I thought it was funny that the one bishop had a turnip as his emblem.

the fortress

When the walking tour ended I headed up the funicular, a tiny train that just goes up to the burg, or fortress that sits atop the hill. This one was built around 1077, and princes and bishops kept adding to it over the centuries.  It had lovely views of the Alps, as well as some interesting apartments on the top floor decorated as they would have been during the late Medieval period.








                    I love old towers!


I also saw a garderobe, and I think that was the first one I ever saw in real life. Not as picturesque.

I also had a chance to pop into a schnapps store for a shot of blueberry schnapps. I don´t know what I expected, but I did not detect any blueberry flavor, just alcohol. The glass was pretty, though.  

Then, because our train ride was lengthened and complicated (three trains to get back to Munich), our guide brought us all a beer for the train ride. Germans drink beer in public very freely.  It is not unusual to walk onto a train and find 10 small Jaegermeister bottles and a row of empty beer bottles beneath the seats.  This is not pretty, but I did manage drink my beer to experience this part of the culture (and I don´t know that I´ve had more than one or two in my life).




We made it back to Munich by 8pm, and Nancy and Katie and I made our way to a beer garden, where we tried some local dishes in a very German atmosphere.  Here´s the Huge Schnitzel dish--basically breaded fried pork, much like the pork chops I make.

Sorry little girls, there are not many animals here (they wanted to see animals), but I thought of you all when I saw scenes from the Sound of Music!