Europe, part II: Salzburg and Bavaria

3 days into our trip we found ourselves in Salzburg for the day. As we became big Rick Steves afficionados, we took his advice and signed up for a Sound of Music tour. He said he took it skeptically, but that it was the best way to really see Salzburg and the surrounding lake district and other areas. Right at 9 a.m., our tour guide showed up - Bruno. He was an awesome Austrian with a great sense of humor, who kept right up with Kathy asking so many detailed questions (it was so fun to have her along). He took us to some of the sights from the movie, recapped what happened in the movie, and then gave us the truth. We were the only people in our tour group - it was awesome. Here is Bruno and his van.


Here we were at Mirabell gardens. This is the place where Maria and the kids were out dancing, etc. in the movie. You can also vaguely see the Salzburg fortress on the hill behind us (we went up there too but it's not worth writing much about).


In front of the horse fountain at Mirabell Gardens.


We also saw where the Gazebo (I am 16 going on 17) is now. It's been moved a few times. And they lock it up because I guess people would go in and try to dance on the benches, like in the movie, and would get hurt.


We also saw gorgeous tulips everywhere! I took this picture for Emma. Every time we saw pretty flowers and fields we said, "Emma would have picked half of those by now."
(She is notorious for picking flowers, especially the ones at the temple...)


This was taken from up at the castle. The castle wasn't anything great but the views were really spectacular, and the sky looked pretty foreboding. This was the only day we had bad weather in our 11 days in Europe, and even then, it didn't rain for too long.


Part of the tour is a "pit stop" at an Alpine Slide in the hills of Austria. Spencer and Joe went down it. Poor Joe...his cart stopped when he was almost at the bottom. We laughed so hard as we heard him and Spencer try to figure out how to make it move. He should have gotten a free ride for having a defective cart! It was a fun little break in the car time for the guys. And taking an Alpine slide ride in Austria? I mean, who gets to do that??!!



This chapel was where the Von Trapps (supposedly) got married, in Mondsee. It might have been fictional, but man it was pretty. And the inside was so over the top it was just crazy!! We had a great time looking around and seeing just how elaborate it was. Here is the outside, and the inside.



We started on our way that afternoon to our next destination: Schwangau, Germany. We had several good laughs on our trip, and I still giggle when I think of the mix-ups we had with "deodorant" and "yogurt." I love Spencer's parents - they're such good sports.

We also laughed about the GPS. I could have sworn that in some secret location, the GPS voices were real people who were actually laughing at us. We saw more of the Germany countryside than maybe anyone EVER. It was unreal. The GPS just did NOT want us to take major roadways! One thing I noticed more and more was how every little town had lots of houses, pristine-looking, a church, and at least one crane. I don't mean the bird kind of crane, but a building crane. I'm not kidding - they were everywhere! It became the joke in our car. We had a great time driving, and it was a good thing none of us really mind roadtrips...

We got to Schwangau at night and happened to see the castles lit up. What a sight! It was beautiful. We went to bed, exhausted. (Who am I kidding, we were exhausted at the end of every single day.)


The next morning we picked up our castle tickets. We had to go to Hohenschwangau first, which is where King Ludwig grew up. Then it was time to go to Neuschwanstein, the "Disney castle." That one was crazy!! I can't imagine living in a place so decked out and elaborate! King Ludwig had the place built for himself but only lived in it 172 days before he died. We bought a couple souvenirs here for the kids. Also, the views of Schwangau/Bavaria were incredible. It was one of the most beautiful places we went.
(Also, you may notice the tissue paper sticking out of my pocket below... Kathy gave it to me to hold onto. You never know what you're gonna get (or not get) when you use a European restroom...)





Next up...Switzerland!