Day 13: May 12, 2015 - A Wall, a Fortress, and a Four-Course Dinner

After breakfast, we decided to go on an adventure. Our tour guide George from yesterday had told us about this medieval wall that used to guard the city. We could see it when we were walking down from the Abbey yesterday. We stopped by a little supermarket for some sustenance (chocolate) then headed up to the wall. It was a short little walk but was steep and had a lot of stairs. There was a bunch of little shrines on the way up that had Christ on them. George had mentioned them yesterday - he said there were 12 little shrines dedicated to Christ's life beginning with his birth and ending with the Crucifixion and Resurrection. I thought it was interesting. Once we found the wall, Jess and Mom decided to turn back to do laundry and to give pregnant Jess a rest. We passed this lady that lived by the wall. It smelled really weird and she cackled at us in a different language so we walked a little faster... There was a trail leading along the wall so we followed that. There were a bunch of little openings in the wall where you could look out at the city or be used to defend the wall back in the day. It was a cool little place.

Nice Cor...

We hit a dead end with the wall - the trees got too dense so we headed back on the trail, past the cackling old lady, and down back into the city. It was a fun little adventure. We hung out at the hotel for a while so Mom and Jess could finish doing laundry.

We then took a stroll through the city, along the river and then did some shopping. Al bought an umbrella that came with free flip flops. It was ironic because she spent 60 bucks on a pair yesterday when her shoe broke. My uncle Matt had told us about this artist that sold his art in the square named Igor that he loved. We didn't think we would be able to find him (I mean, how many street artists named Igor are there in Salzburg?) but we found him! We bought a few things from him. He was really sweet.

You better believe I bought that hat. 

We love Igor!

We stopped at the McDonald's for lunch (we are American, get over it!). While we were there, this lady came up and started talking to us. She was from Washington and had been living in Salzburg for a few years. Mom asked her if she liked living here. Her response was, "There are good and bad things about it. The scenery is beautiful and the tradition. But there are nazis." Uh what now? She said that and Dad and I both looked at each other like what the... Are there still Nazis living around here? Is that really a thing? I guess we'll never know...

We then went up to Hohensalzburg Fortress. We took the cable car up and walked around for a bit. It reminded me of the castles I had seen in Scotland. Jess and Cor did the walking tour, the rest of us just explored for a while.

"One kiss in the love grotto and your love will be everlasting." How precious. 

We headed back down so we could shower and get ready - we were going to the Sound of Salzburg dinner theater. 

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This is where Mozart lived as a child.

Random cow we found waiting for the dinner to start. 

The experience at the dinner theater was probably one of the most hilarious experiences I have ever had. Let me just explain to you first of all how my family is. My dad and Cory eat like normal human beings. Jess usually does too but pregnancy made that not the case. I am usually not that picky either but I hate fish and I hate my food touching. My mom is allergic to a bunch of food, especially fruit and fish. Al claims she is a vegetarian, but she doesn't eat vegetables... she mostly just eats carbs. Mom, wanting the evening to be special and fun, had paid the extra money for the four-course meal. Meanwhile, everyone else in the room (probably about 20 other people) had gotten just the three-course meal. We were seated at the very front. They brought us our drinks as everyone else filed in. The waiter, once again, judged us for not getting beer or wine. Suck it man. He then brought us out our first course - fresh salmon. Mom and Jess literally couldn't eat the stuff and Al and I flat out refused. I could not stop laughing. This french lady sitting across from me by Jess kept glaring at me. I was tempted to offer it to her. I think this picture best describes my reaction. 

Al and I moved it around to make it look like we at least tried it. Dad and Cory did like it but unlike the hot dogs yesterday, we couldn't sneak it all onto their plates - they still had three more courses to eat. When the waiter came back to get our plates, he started to smile at how we didn't eat it. He brought out the next course which was noodle soup. It was the same soup as yesterday, just without the hot dogs so it was good. The next course was potatoes and roast which was really good as well. It was just so much! I usually eat like a bowl of cereal and I'm good. They gave us two pieces of roast and two big helpings of potatoes. That's a lot of food. At this point, the waiter was full on laughing at us and how American and stupid we are. One of the best quotes from the trip was when Jess said, "Everybody just put your pinkies up and it'll be fine!" We are classy people.

As for the actual show, they had four people there that sang songs from the Sound of Music as well as some Austrian folk songs. They also danced and brought people from the audience to dance too. It was fun and entertaining. 

Excuse the sideways video,  dang it Al!

They brought out the last course (thank goodness!). Everyone else got apple strudel. We got some weird flan cream thing. Dad said it looks like a breast implant. 

We were really surprised they did not kick us out by the end of the show. I'm sure they will stick mug shots of us up on the door - "Do not let these weird, sober americans in ever again". Let's just say it was a very entertaining night, one we will never forget. And we obviously stopped by for gelato on the way back to the hotel. 

Day 12: May 11, 2015 - The Sound of Music

We had our The Sound of Music tour with Bob's Special Tours today. We had breakfast at the hotel (I love being asked if I want coffee or tea by the waitress and getting the weirdest looks when I say no. I don't drink coffee or tea, ok people! Get over it!) which was pretty good then headed down to Bob's Special Tours to meet our tour guide. Dad was very excited. He loves The Sound of Music.

We met up with our tour guide, let's call him George, mostly because his actual name was some weird Austrian name I can't pronounce. We started walking around the city for the walking part of the tour. George was very knowledgable and told us not only history about The Sound of Music but the city of Salzburg as well. He informed us that a lot of the stuff in the movie was actually not how it historically happened. For example, the children's actual names were different and the eldest child was actually a boy. Also, in the movie, the Captain was the strict one but in reality, Maria was the strict one.

He informed me that the creepy statue I hate is actually the virgin Mary. That makes it even more creepy. We walked through a lot of the places we had stumbled on yesterday but we just hadn't realized they were in the movie haha the I Have Confidence horse statue is called Residenz Brunnen on Resident Platz. We all had to flick the water again. Pregnant Jess was too short so Al got down on all-fours and gave her a boost haha

We headed up to the Nonnberg Abbey where Maria spent some time as a nun. On the way up, Al's shoe broke which sucked. She ended up having to buy another pair that cost her $60! We had a great view of the city.

On the way down, we stopped by this little shop and the lady let us try some meat. It was very spicy!

We stopped by this little bread shop where they were making fresh bread. We got some, it was super yummy. We then visited the graveyard we visited yesterday. It is part of St. Peter's church and is called St. Peter's cemetery. We guessed right though, this is where the Von Trapp family hid from the Nazis at the end of the movie. They only filmed a few select scenes there, most of it was filmed in a studio.

George took us by Pferdeschwemme, the horse bath Maria and the kids passed on the way to their picnic. He also took us by the Toscanini Hof and Felsenreitschule, the opera house the Von Trapp Family performs at and escapes from in the movie. It is still used today as part of the school and for performances.

The gardens we had visited several times were call the Mirabell Gardens, just outside the Mirabell Castle. We saw the dwarf they dance around in Zwergerl Garten and we ran through the ivy-covered Laubengang. We walked around the Pegasus Brunnen fountain and ran up the Mirabell Steps.

This is where George left us with our new tour guide, Jonathan. The best way to describe Jonathan is with two words: Austrian Dwight. He was wearing lederhosen that were a little too short... He took us to this restaurant where this guy taught us how to made apple strudel. It was super fun, we did boys against girls. While it was cooking, we had lunch. It was this noodle soup with pieces of hot dogs floating in it. It was not good haha we gave all of our hot dog bits to Cory, our human disposal. They then let us eat our strudel. It was good, we made the crust very thin so it was flaky and yummy. A little too much apple and not enough sugar and cinnamon for my taste though.

We got back in the van and headed to the real house they used for the Von Trapp Family house in the movie. It is called Schloss Leopoldskron. We just saw the backside, which is ok because that's the only part of the house they actually used. Plus, the guy that owned it wanted a lake so he just built it himself. That's reasonable. 

We then headed over to Frohnburg Palace which was the used as the front of the Von Trapp house and Hellbrunner Alley where Maria sings I Have Confidence on the way to the house. The real palace is owned by this super rich guy and I guess he has these trick fountains everywhere that squirt people. This is also where they keep the gazebo from Sixteen Going on Seventeen and Something Good. 

This is a screen shot that we took from the video of Al running singing I Have Confidence. It's just too good not to share. 

We drove a while through the hills and saw the scenic little farmhouses with goats roaming. "The hills are alive... with the sound of music!" Throughout the whole ride, we listened to the soundtrack of the movie. It was amazing. We stopped by this little place to take a toboggan ride! It was like the Alpine Slide in Park City but on a metal slide and in Austria. It was fun. 

On the way back into the city, we stopped by this restaurant for some gelato. It has an amazing view of this lake. 

We finished up the tour with the cathedral where the Captain and Maria got married. The exterior was not the one they used but they used the interior. It was called Basilika Mondsee. We went inside and each did the walk down the aisle like Maria. Leave it to Cory to ruin a beautiful moment for me. 

We headed back in Salzburg. We said thank you and goodbye to Jonathan/Dwight. 

We had a chill night. I got in the bath - the tub in our hotel was super nice and the ceiling had fun lights! Ooh! 

It was a super fun tour! I love Bob's Special Tours because it is personal and you are able to be in small groups and ask the tour guides questions. Traveling in large groups is harder and you don't get to see as much. I loved how much George and Jonathan knew about Salzburg and The Sound of Music. Dad enjoyed his tour and we all had a wonderful time!