The hills are alive...
The main reason I wanted to visit Salzburg was to go on The Sound of Music tour, and since it was sort of on the way home from Munich and since G really didn't want to go on the tour, I headed off on my own to frolic through the hills and get a little dose of "Edelweiss". The tour wasn't so much about the real-life sights of Maria von Trapp and company, but rather we hopped from sight to sight where the movie was shot. I learned a lot about The Sound of Music, and most of what I learned is that the real story and the movie are very different. (I hope I haven't burst any bubbles out there!)
The tour was excellent. We were a small group in a little van and we drove all over Salzburg and the surrounding countryside. We saw the gazebo, the grand wedding church, the von Trapp house, the Pegasus fountain and stairs where the kids all dance and sing, and more. It was great. The whole time our little group was singing show tunes and snapping pictures of this or that. Now I have to watch the movie again!!
Since I had already gotten a pretty good overview of Salzburg from the morning SOM tour, I decided to go on an afternoon tour of the surrounding countryside as well. I thought we were en route to "The Eagles Nest", Hitler's mountain retreat just over the boarder in Germany. But I was happy to find out we got a choice as to where we wanted to go, The Eagle's Nest or on a salt mine tour. The two oldest folks in the van opted for The Eagle’s Nest. I went with a really nice expat couple (living in Germany but from Seattle, working for Boeing) and their two kids to the salt mines. We had to wear special clothes and then we hopped on an underground train that took us several miles into the mines.
The tour included these really long, steep slides made of wood. They were so long we couldn't see the end of them; they just disappeared into the darkness. We were given some safety instructions and told to get into groups of 3 or 4. Somehow I ended up with no group! I was worried I wouldn't be allowed to go, but then a really sweet German girl paired up with me after her boyfriend chickened out (I thought, Is he serious?!? It was scary, but not that scary!) We screamed the whole way down, but it was so much fun! We all wanted to go again. Soon, we got our chance with a longer, steeper slide. It was me and the German gal again... no way was her boyfriend going on the second one! It was a blast.
After the tour we picked up the Eagle's Nest couple and made our way through the countryside, stopping in a little town on the way back. After a very good, but a bit lonely, dinner I headed off to bed. The next day, after checking out the town in the morning, I decided to catch an earlier train back so I could have time to stop in the town of Innsbruck.
Innsbruck is a world-famous resort for skiers, but when the snow isn't falling (thank goodness it wasn't) it's really only worth a quick look. In two hours I got in all the sights and even visited two pretty interesting museums. But I realized the only place I really wanted to be was at home, with G. I missed him and with the long train ride, I just wanted to be back. When I rolled into Geneva at 11pm, I quietly unlocked the door to our apartment, kissed my sleeping husband, and was very happy to be home...
Although I couldn't get "Doe, a Deer" out of my head... :)
Salzburg, the town full of the tunes of Mozart and "The sound of Music"
In front of the famous "Sound of Music" gazebo
The Pegasus fountain in Mirabell Gardens. It's the site of the famous "Sound of Music" scene where the kids dance about before lining up on the stairs (just to the left of this picture)
One of the many statues in Salzburg's Dwarf Park (which also had a showing in "The Sound of Music")
Getreidegasse, Salzburg's colorful shopping street
Dome of the Salzburg Cathedral
On the salt mine tour. Me & the sweet German gal who was my partner sliding down a very long, fast slide that her boyfriend chickened out of going down!
Mozart is everywhere... even in the country
A wood "house" on the side of a country road
Innsbruck
Statue in Innsbruck
The tour was excellent. We were a small group in a little van and we drove all over Salzburg and the surrounding countryside. We saw the gazebo, the grand wedding church, the von Trapp house, the Pegasus fountain and stairs where the kids all dance and sing, and more. It was great. The whole time our little group was singing show tunes and snapping pictures of this or that. Now I have to watch the movie again!!
Since I had already gotten a pretty good overview of Salzburg from the morning SOM tour, I decided to go on an afternoon tour of the surrounding countryside as well. I thought we were en route to "The Eagles Nest", Hitler's mountain retreat just over the boarder in Germany. But I was happy to find out we got a choice as to where we wanted to go, The Eagle's Nest or on a salt mine tour. The two oldest folks in the van opted for The Eagle’s Nest. I went with a really nice expat couple (living in Germany but from Seattle, working for Boeing) and their two kids to the salt mines. We had to wear special clothes and then we hopped on an underground train that took us several miles into the mines.
The tour included these really long, steep slides made of wood. They were so long we couldn't see the end of them; they just disappeared into the darkness. We were given some safety instructions and told to get into groups of 3 or 4. Somehow I ended up with no group! I was worried I wouldn't be allowed to go, but then a really sweet German girl paired up with me after her boyfriend chickened out (I thought, Is he serious?!? It was scary, but not that scary!) We screamed the whole way down, but it was so much fun! We all wanted to go again. Soon, we got our chance with a longer, steeper slide. It was me and the German gal again... no way was her boyfriend going on the second one! It was a blast.
After the tour we picked up the Eagle's Nest couple and made our way through the countryside, stopping in a little town on the way back. After a very good, but a bit lonely, dinner I headed off to bed. The next day, after checking out the town in the morning, I decided to catch an earlier train back so I could have time to stop in the town of Innsbruck.
Innsbruck is a world-famous resort for skiers, but when the snow isn't falling (thank goodness it wasn't) it's really only worth a quick look. In two hours I got in all the sights and even visited two pretty interesting museums. But I realized the only place I really wanted to be was at home, with G. I missed him and with the long train ride, I just wanted to be back. When I rolled into Geneva at 11pm, I quietly unlocked the door to our apartment, kissed my sleeping husband, and was very happy to be home...
Although I couldn't get "Doe, a Deer" out of my head... :)
Salzburg, the town full of the tunes of Mozart and "The sound of Music"
In front of the famous "Sound of Music" gazebo
The Pegasus fountain in Mirabell Gardens. It's the site of the famous "Sound of Music" scene where the kids dance about before lining up on the stairs (just to the left of this picture)
One of the many statues in Salzburg's Dwarf Park (which also had a showing in "The Sound of Music")
Getreidegasse, Salzburg's colorful shopping street
Dome of the Salzburg Cathedral
On the salt mine tour. Me & the sweet German gal who was my partner sliding down a very long, fast slide that her boyfriend chickened out of going down!
Mozart is everywhere... even in the country
A wood "house" on the side of a country road
Innsbruck
Statue in Innsbruck
posted by Swiss Miss | 01:25
1 Comments:
Mary Poppins is better.
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