Salzburg

The language shift to German was apparent from the first rest stop we made on the drive over. It was pretty much dark by the time we got into Salzburg on Friday, so this is actually a pic from Sunday morning before we left. Our hotel was an adorable family-run place in a little town right outside of Salzburg called Grodig. They actually split us up into 3 hotels for the weekend, but most of our friends were in this one anyway.

Jess and I were roomates for the weekend. We had an end unit (which explains the slanted ceiling).

Everyone came to chill in our room the first night because we were too tired to go out by the time we finished dinner. Poor Justin couldn't even use our bathroom :/.

"Big People, Little World"

Jess didn't get on the bus to Salzburg because she went with JenP, JessC, Alison, & Scotty to see Lance at The Tour de France in Colmar! I basically had the room to myself the first night because they didn't get in 'til 4am. I stole some Tour pics from JenP (as usual). This is one of the finish line!

They reported that it was raining and freezing, but lots of fun! They also picked up a lot of cool stuff from the sponsors...like these awesome hats!

Jess and her sign for Lance. Texans gotta stick together, y'all!

While JessD and JessC came back in time to spend all of Saturday in Salzburg, Ali, JenP, & Scotty continued on to Zurich to try to catch the Jamie Cullum concert on Saturday. They didn't make it inside, but raved about how beautiful the city was.

JenP, who might be the #1 Jamie Cullum fan, said she could hear the concert and was satisfied even though she didn't get to go in. Hopefully he'll make an appearance soon in the states Jen! Btw, where are the pics the girl took for you inside the concert?

JD came back just in time to go on our 9:30am Sound of Music tour that Page had booked for us months ago. Waking up to get there was pretty rough, but it ended up being totally worth it! This is Rococo Leopoldskron Place. In the film, it was the back of the Trapp family home.

As you can see, the weather was not so nice. At least we got to use our umbrellas (thanks for the heads up, Jacy) finally! Surprisingly, it really didn't detract from the tour at all. Someone said it was 9 degrees celsius at some point which is about 48 degrees fahrenheit. I hate walking in wet shoes and/or jeans so I wore these that I bought out of desperation (because my other slippers broke way back in Madrid) for 7 euro in Strasbourg. Yep I was freezing, but it was worth it!

Duck family in the lake. Salzburg has lots of lakes!

The gazebo that Lisl and the postman sang "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" in. It was a lot smaller than it looks in the movie because the actual dance scene was filmed on a soundstage.

We were all humming the song...

But this guy broke out into the full song and dance...classic!

Where Maria sings "I Have Confidence".

Through the raindrops--that's the town where the headquarters of Red Bull is located.

Pretty, even through the haze. Imagine what it looks like on a sunny day!

Where they filmed a bunch of the opening scenes.

We saw Stephen, Lynn, and Andrea at one of the stops! They were on a different Sound of Music tour.

We headed to Mondsee and got to see a helicopter land in the field in front of us on the way.

The trees the children climbed in.

Our tour guide said that this was her favorite place to get warm apple streudels.

It was nice and warm inside!

The hot tea rejuvenated me.

Warm (and crisp) apple streudel with vanilla sauce. I know I say everything tastes good, but this really was amazing!

Mondsee Cathedral, the wedding scene was filmed here.

The inside was gorgeous.

We sat down to take a little breather and warm up a little more.

So impressive.

Look how cute our tour guide was! Her name was Trudy and our driver's name was Marcus.

Mirabell Garden, where they filmed Do-Re-Mi.

Keeping each other warm.

If you've never seen the Sound of Music, or even if you just need a refresher, you should watch this youtube clip (starting at 4:00 if you're short on time) before you look at the next few pictures. You might recognize some of the scenery...

The fountain! Do, a deer...

Fa, a long long way to run...

So, a needle pulling thread...

La, a note to follow so...
We ran into Corey and JessC in the middle of the garden!

The steps! Do So La Fa Mi Do Re

Crossing the river to get to the shops and restaurants.

I nicknamed it "the raging deathtrap" because it was carrying large trees down the river.

Radlers=beer+soda

Schnitzel, Vienna style with fries.

This bottle definitely needed a refill by the time we left...victim of the condiment queen!

Panorama Museum

Johann Michael Sattler painted this.

It's a 360 degree view of the city as it was in 1829.

The detail was crazy.

We just crossed this river!

They have telescopes set up to help you get a better look.

Mozart's birthplace and where he lived until he was 17. It's in the middle of a busy shopping street in the old town section of Salzburg.

Filipino pride!

We picked up Salzburg cards. For 21 euro, you get access to virtually every tourist spot in town and unlimited public transportation...deal!

Next stop was the Stiegl Brewery. I had never heard of this beer prior, but our Salzburg card got us free entry, a free gift, and 3 free samples! We had trouble finding it and ended up walking a lot more than necessary to get there. Did I mention it was pouring rain the whole time and I almost got splashed by a huge puddle when a car drove by? There's the building in the distance...almost there!

We made it before closing!

They're holding our free gifts in those bags.

Moo

Lots of levels. Sort of like a less high-tech version of the Heineken experience.

The bottles were shaped cool.

How do you open your Stiegl?

Beer pyramid/tower!

According to the plaque next to this display, Salzburg's greatest son drank Salzburg's best known beer! They found an entry in his sister's diary written by Mozart himself talking about visiting the brewery.

I needed one to match the Heineken pic. No earrings this time :(.

We were exhausted so we took a 5 min break to gear up for our free samples!

Food and beer time!

Cheers! (for the 1,000th time this trip)

The 20 men sitting next to us were all matching..."Is this real life?"

Austria: the land of soft pretzels.

Goulash soup...this was EXCELLENT! Totally hit the spot on a cold, rainy day!

"Roasted bread dumplings mixed with whisked egg and served with salad"--yea, even master food order-ers like me make mistakes sometimes.

It was so nice and warm inside! This is probably about the time we started singing r&b and disney songs...

Cheese streudel...not warm and not as good as the one we had earlier in the day. The food was so cheap that we really couldn't really complain!

Long day...finally on our way home!

Jess got attacked for directions by a group of 50 American teenage tourists. Maybe it was her "Austria" jacket. Anyway, they moved right along when she opened her mouth and they found out she was from Texas and probably knew less than them.

I was so tired, but still curious about the Salzburg nightlife...I decided that I'd leave it up to fate and go out only if there were people who wanted to go out back at the hotel. I didn't even make it that far before turning around. We ran into the Nicks, Justin, and Sarah at the bus stop in Grodig and I basically just stayed on the bus and rode right back into town with them! We headed straight for the streets right below the fortress along the river because there are a bunch of bars and clubs there.

I don't know why they are holding hands, but I guess the floor was a little slippery from the rain? Safety first!

The first thing Nick does is open up his umbrella when we get inside the Irish bar. The lady to the left looks pretty weirded out.

Curly Nick and Justin.

New friend from the UK. He didn't understand why I was drinking Guiness.

Sarah is on the trip with us, but I didn't get to meet her 'til this night. She goes to school in San Fran. Justin does not look happy...I think this was about the time he wanted to head back.

We weren't dressed for a club so we stayed at the Irish bar. I would have to say that I am a fan of Salzburg nightlife from what I saw. So glad I trooped it out and stayed on the bus to hang out with these boys!
I woke up bright and early the next day to this beautiful view from our balcony and automatically felt energized.

Perfect weather for our last 1/2 day in Salzburg!

I couldn't wait to get out there and see things. We didn't have to be on the bus and ready to go until 1:30 so we had a good 5 hours to get some hardcore sightseeing in before we left.

I had to pause during breakfast to take this shot out the window. I even loved Salzburg in the rain, so this weather just catapults it to the top of my list of favorite cities.

First up for the day: cable car to the top of Untersberg right behind our hotel! We were headed WAY high up!

The cable car pick-up station.

Coming down to get us.

All aboard!

It's pretty crazy that those 2 thin cables are the only things holding all of us up...

Not for anyone who is afraid of heights!

Way past the first tower and still going...

The trip up took about 15 minutes.

Breathtaking.

At the top of the cable car line.

The air was chilly, crisp, and refreshing--the perfect companion to this view!

We all fell in love with Salzburg and didn't want to leave!

Wolf-dog at the top of the mountain.

Cheesin'.

One more group pic for the heck of it courtesy of the VAB again.

We did a little exploring at the top.

Where is Nicole?

Corey risked his life for this shot.

There's Nicole!! She lost us and ended up hiking to the very top because she thought we were already up there. She's the only one of us who made it!

Snow caps in the background. Someone said it was the Bavarian Alps...I'm so terrible recognizing those kinds of things :/.

At first we thought this was Edelweiss. It's def not, but still pretty!

Going back down the mountain.

These guys were at the bottom! I took this from inside our bus.

We took the 25 back into town right away so we could try to head up to the fortress before we left. We wanted to go on the salt mine tour, but didn't have enough time. A bunch of our friends went the day before and said it was really fun...I guess I'll just have to save it for my next trip to Salzburg!

Here's the Mozart bridge...it was also featured in the Sound of Music!

I'm actually surprised we didn't take one running down it.

There was some kind of Red Bull sponsored event going on.

Complete with sky-divers!

I looked high and low for the smaller version (it existed, I saw people with it) of this umbrella because I wanted it so bad! It was an unsuccessful quest, so I took a picture with the big one instead. So not the same, but it'll have to do for now.

Gold globe with the man on top (anyone know who that person is supposed to be?) and the fortress in the background.

Giant chess!

We took the funicular to the top to see the fortress.

Yet another pespective of the city.

Salzburg is so green.

Courtyard inside the walls of the fortress.

Walking around inside.

There is a Marionette theater on top. Our friends gave it mixed reviews. Some said it was awesome and others said it was the creepiest thing they had ever seen. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to check it out for ourselves.

Rockin' my 4 euro Austria bag!

I think that's the Basilica that Alyssa recommended in the background. We didn't get a chance to go inside, but she said it was amazing. I'm not sure what that is in the foreground, but it's what greets you when you step off the funicular at the bottom of the hill.

There was also a shop full of Amber pieces at the bottom. It was nice, but really random?

Mom, this looks like a lot of your amber jewelry.

Lederhosen stuffed animals!

Austrian soft drink.

Bauernkrapfen aka Austrian donut.


I am in LOVE with Salzburg. There's nothing bad I can really say about the place & people. I only wish we could've spent more than 2 nights and 2 days there. It was the perfect mix of nature, culture, and fun...I'd recommend it to anyone! Another bonus is that it was the cheapest city yet. So glad we get to spend an entire week in Austria...Vienna bound next!

xx