This was a really fun trip for all of us. First of all, we had fabulous weather. And second... we stayed in the CASTLE above Salzburg!It was amazing! Okay, there were some downsides- it cost to get to our apartment and the hours of the funicular (the nearly vertical train that carries people to the top of the castle mountain) weren't always when we needed it... but even so the experience was incredible.
We arrived from an early morning flight, stopped by a grocery store and met up with the apartment owner. She gave us directions to a parking garage INSIDE the Salzburg mountain. After meeting her next to the festival hall (where in the Sound of Music movie the family sang just before their escape).
We were then guided through a monastery courtyard (see the castle in the background?... that's our castle!)
and then (believe it or not) the most beautiful cemetery that we've ever seen,
bypassing the market square with man sized chess pieces and up to the funicular. We purchased week tickets up and down and rode up up up with a glorious view of the city of Salzburg. We were still in unbelief that we were staying up in a CASTLE!
Down stairs and up stairs and up a few more, through the castle wall into the courtyard and immediately to the left was our apartment. The apartment was old but totally new on the inside. Lots of space with a very functional kitchen. It was fantastic! And all for a price cheaper than a hotel for the 5 of us! Hoorah!Sound of Music Tour
We hurried on to our 2 pm sound of music tour. We were able to ride down the funicular and walk across town to catch the tour bus. Okay, the tour was a bit cheesy. But the guide actually was pretty funny at the same time he was sappy, nostolgic, entertaining and informative. It was a delicate balance that he carried off quite well without offending the seriously SoM lovers or boring to tears those who despise the movie (like some tall teenage member of our family... ).We were able to see lots of places filmed in the movie and hear funny stories to go with them. One of the funniest was why the gazebo is now closed to visitors... Apparently, they finally had enough of the crazy sound of music enthusiasts and locked it up for good when an 80 year old visitor fell and broke her hip while leaping from bench to bench inside the gazebo. WOW!
Other sights we visited included the church where they were married, the do-re-mi garden, and the backside of the "house" that included the picturesque lake where the canoe tipped over full of the children.
And then we went home to our CASTLE (Can you tell we were excited about staying there?) for a spaghetti dinner.
Salt Mine Tour
Today was the day for Germany! We tried to wake up early enough to get to the Salt Mines by 9 am. But the funicular wasn't working until 9, so we had to walk down which took 30 minutes. We then drove over to Berchtesgaden a bit behind schedule. That is where both of our tours of the day began.The first was the salt mines (we made it just in time!). And what a tour it was! It actually ended up being our kids favorite for "fun". The tour begins with an official jumpsuit and then a motorcycle seated tiny (high speed) train into the heart of the mountain.
A large two leveled cavern greeted us after we got off. And then came the fun part... a huge salt-mine slide! It consisted of two wooden rounded rails that we straddled. We were to slide in a family unit with small in the front going up in height. Christina at first didn't want to do it because it was quite steep... but the flow of the crowd came fast and all of a sudden we were on the slide and going down! What fun!We then had various stops along the tunnel describing aspects of salt mining. Jeanne decided NOT to lick the red salt wall that everyone else licked. Yuck!
A fun interactive room (star trek style) with touch screens full of salt information
And a second slide! And then there was a spectacular underground salt lake! The surface of the water reflected the ceiling. It was beautiful with sparkling light effects. To the right you can see the boat that we used to glide across to the other side.
And one more train ride back out. What fun!Eagles Nest tour
We then rushed out to grab a bite to eat before our 1 pm tour of the Eagle's Nest. For those of you not familiar, this area of Germany was favored by Hitler and the Nazi party. On the tour we learned some fascinating facts... like that Hitler wanted to be an artist! He tried for years to get into the Vienna art school but was turned down several times because his work was "uninspired". He was actually a starving artist for several years... to the point that when the army tried to draft him into military service the doctors labeled him physically unfit to serve! He then came back to the Berchtesgaden area and rented a small cabin which he later bought. He found the political party that matched his ideologies, joined the army in a very dangerous position, was convicted of treason but still rose to power through connections and the use of propoganda machines. The grounds for his party expanded and transformed that beautiful area near his cabin into a Nazi party headquarters.
Though most buildings were obliterated from bombing there were a few buildings left. In one of the foundations they built the documentation center where we entered the bunker system that ran under the entire area. The guide factually told us lots of information but in a monotone voice that somehow matched the german style on a serious subject matter (though it wasn't too exciting for the kids...)
Next we walked over the backside of the documentation center and the guide purchased public bus tickets up the mountain on a special bus that has a double braking system. This made Jeanne realize that this entire tour could have been done on our own for a lot less money...
but the information given from the guide was very helpful.
Then upup up a very winding single lane road to the top of the mountain to the eagles nest! We had a perfect day for it. Crystal clear blue skies, nice temperatures, low wind... beautiful!
A tunnel into the side of the mountain led to a brass elevator which we rode to the top and we were there!
It was surprisingly small. No bedrooms, just meeting rooms that now house a restaurant... but what views!
A view from the top looking down on the official Eagles nest building.
We could see our CASTLE from there! (can you tell we liked living in a castle?)
Here is a much damaged fireplace that is thought to have been given to Hitler by Mussolini.
On our way home we were in a bit of a predicament. We only had 24 euros to our name in cash and we needed dinner. But it was Sunday and no grocery stores were open (bad planning on our part). But we happened to drive by a "Prima Pizza 6 Euro" sign. Hooray! 4 pizzas later everyone was full and happy. So up to our CASTLE we went- riding a nearly empty funicular car with happy full tummies. Hoorah!
We explored the virtually empty castle courtyard where we discovered a beautiful night time view.
Had a rousing game of unicorn...
And the girls built a castle community.
We ended the day with a fun movie thanks to Bryce's Ipod. It was a fun day.
Werfen Ice Caves -(Austria)
For our last full day in Salzburg we decided to visit the Werfen ice caves. We have visited lots of caves but never one of ICE.
We had read it was a lot of walking though. Jeanne's knee was a bit agitated, but with some ibuprofen she hoped it would be okay. But her knee wasn't the problem... it was the hike! 20 minutes up to a cable car (pant! pant! pant!), an incredible ride up the mountain in a cable car, followed by another 20 minute walk (pant! pant! pant!). But then when Jeanne made it to the entrance of the cave the tour started immediately (pant! pant! pant!).
The tour guide then proceeded to inform the crowd that we had another 1400 stairs to go... Yikes! The good news was that it was 700 up and 700 down, the bad news was that it was that the up came first (pant! pant! pant!).
The ice cave is formed from the wind that blows in through cracks in the rock mountain and blows in water and snow. The water freezes in the cavern during the winter and remains through the summer. The ice actually is growing in the cave! Another interesting thing about the cave is that the wind blows down and out to the lowest point of the cave... the entrance!
We were given some old fashioned lanterns to provide individual light (no flashlights here!). But as we entered through the door to the cave we were BLASTED with a gust of icy air which immediately puffed our lantern flame out. The tour guide immediately re-lit the lanterns and in we went. The cavern opened up into a wide expanse that looked like a massive frozen waterfall. Initially it was a gentle slope and then it seemed near vertical!
Finally we reached the top! Everyone really enjoyed the amazing ice formations. They were MASSIVE!
We then were able to walk DOWN an ice tunnel staircase. It was amazing.
This was such a wonder to see. Bryce turned around and said "this is now my favorite of the trip..."
But by the time we were heading down the girls had reached their cold tolerance level...they were frozen. Madison slipped, hit her head and nearly tumbled down the stairs and Christina had reached her breaking point (would have said melting point but freezing point would be more accurate). Fortunately, the going down and out was faster than up.
We were blown out of the cave and Christina was sunbathing in the cave entrance in no time ( full of smiles now).
It was an experience of a lifetime. Bryce pegged it "this is so COOL!"
HellBrunn Palace
We then found a grocery store for lunch supplies and drove to Hellbrunn Palace for a picnic lunch (with Nacho Cheese Bugles our new favorite). We had heard that the trick water fountains were a fun tour. So off we went again. Christina didn't want to go... actually everyone was quite exhausted from the mountain climbing. But it was our last afternoon...
So we talked Christina into going. It didn't take long for Christina to start getting excited on the tour. Markus Sitticus, a Prince AND an Archbishop came up with the idea of the playful water gardens. It was powered by gravity (manual labor carrying buckets of water up to the higher lakes...wow!). From a table where no one was allowed to stand in the presence of the prince (even while their seats were squirting water- what a prankster!),
to RAIN-deer,
water driven bird calls, lifting crowns and tunnels of water...
everyone got wet on this tour (though Bryce almost stayed dry).
Christina then decided that she wanted to go again... this was her favorite of all the tours.
Exiting Hellbrunn Palace there was a tree lined walkway lined with conker trees. The girls climbed the trees like the kids in the movie and sang and skipped along the lane. After a LONG walk we finally arrived... at the SoM VonTrapp family house!
The girls tried to remember the "I have confidence" song that Maria sang as she pushed open the gates but we couldn't quite remember the words. Still the girls had a LOT of fun.
It was quite nostalgic. But that was soon lost in a conker and acorn battle between Bryce and Madison. Sigh.
Spaghetti dinner up in our CASTLE ended our last day as Kings and Queens... okay maybe spaghetti isn't the normal table fare for royalty... but it's fast, cheap and easy... and it's the girls favorite food as you can tell from their new song they invented.
Back to the UK...
We caught the morning flight back to Stansted, dropped Scott off at work for the second half of the day, picked up groceries and unpacked. And then the girls of the family snuggled down to watch scenery of the CASTLE in which we lived... in the Sound of Music! We kept saying "we've been there" or "there's our castle".
Such good memories!
