Missing, I know

*As you can tell, I've quit blogging much lately...there is an explanation.  Our internet here is really slow and our computer has reached its capacity from all the photos we've taken in Europe, as a result it does not upload pictures to the blog very well anymore.  It takes hours to do more than five pictures at a time.  I still have a few trips to post including our big trip to Switzerland with the Reese family.  But you'll have to wait until we get back to the states to see any of that.  I still have a few journal entries I wrote on the computer, so I am going to post them without pictures.  So here is the rest of our Austria trip we took in May.

Salzburg

After we visited Vienna for two days, we took a train back to Salzburg, Austria.  We walked from the train station to our hotel only  a few blocks away.  We dropped our bags off at the hotel and then headed into the city.  First we walked through the Mirabell Gardens.  This is where they filmed many scenes in the Sound of Music during the Do-Ra-Me song.  We had fun walking through the gardens and showing Ainsley all the places where “Maria” sang and danced.  We saw the arch where the kids run through, we saw the unicorns where they sit, and the Pegasus fountain where Maria runs around.  It was fun for Ainsley to recognize all the places she had seen in the movie. 

After we walked through the gardens, we walked over to Mozart’s House.  Mozart was born and lived in Salzburg.  You can tour two of his homes in Salzburg.  We chose to go to the Mozart Residence which is where he lived with his father and sister from the time he was __________________.  The house is set up like a museum with an audio guide which has facts about his life and music he composed.  Unfortunately Sam was exhausted and grumpy and started screaming while we were in the museum.  I had to take him outside while Tom and Ainsley stayed in the museum. 

After they were done, we walked across a bridge.  It was covered with locks.  Couples come to the bridge and attach a lock to the bridge.  After crossing the bridge, we went to a farmers market.  There were crafts and stalls of all kinds. We breezed through them and then headed downtown.  We stopped at a couple of different stores.  Tom bought a hat at Jack Wolfskin.  This store is the most popular outdoor store in Germany.  It is similar to the North Face.  

Then we headed to the Dom.  After we walked through the church, we ran into our friends the Trappuzanos.  We knew they were in the city the same day and had been trying to get ahold of them to get together.  But we hadn’t been able to yet and then we randomly ran into them.  It was fun.  We spent the rest of our time with them. 

We took the vermicular up to the Schloss Hohensalzburg.  It is a large white fortress built at the top of the peak.  It overlooks the entire city.   It was built by the Arch Prince-Bishops who ruled this area.  Salzburg means Salt Palace.  Salzburg was a huge salt mining area along a major trade route in the Middle Ages.  This castle helped protect the city and the salt they traded.  It was never destroyed in the Middle Ages.  Inside the castle, you can take an audio tour to see some of the rooms of the castle.  Then they take you up to a viewing platform where you have a beautiful view of the Alps and the surrounding area.  They had a little marionette museum where you could try playing with a marionette. We had seen the marionette play the night before so it was fun to try to experiment with it. 

After we toured the castle, Ainsley and Brady had fun running around the courtyard.  They climbed on a bunch of old cannon balls while Nikki and I checked out one more part of the castle.  Afterwards we headed back into the city to go see the Glockenspiel.  It turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.  Then we went souvenir shopping and got some dinner. 

The next morning, we got up early and went to a bakery to get some breakfast.  Then we took Ainsley to the Mirabell gardens to let her play on the playground.  At 9:00 we headed to a platz to catch the bus for the Sound of Music tour with Nikki and Andy.  We barely made it on their bus because we got there a little late.  The bus tour took us to several sites around Salzburg that were used for the movie.  Ainsley had  a blast because she recognized all the different places.  As we went to each place, we kept telling her “This is where Maria did this…” I think she thought we were going to see the real Maria though.

 First we went to the lake that is supposed to be behind the Von Trapps  house.  The funny thing we learned about the movie is that the movie producers used two homes when filming the movie.  The front of the house was large yellow palace.  The back of the palace another huge mansion on a lake.  But what was interesting is that you never see the house on the lake.  So they had to shot every scene twice.  Then we drove out to a park where we saw the pavilion where they shot the “Sixteen going on Seventeen” shot.  Ainsley loved this one.  Then we drove past the other home where they shot all the front exterior shots and then past Nonnberg Abbey where Maria was a nun.  They told us they weren’t allowed to film inside the abbey, so the only thing you see in the movie is when the kids go to the front gate.

  After we saw these, we drove up to the Lake District.  We passed many charming small towns surrounded by lakes.  We saw Lake Wolfgangsee, this is where Mozart’s mother was from and named her son after her hometown.  When we were stopped by the lake, Sam threw up on the bus.  Luckily we were able to contain it and clean it up quickly since we still had about another 30 minute to hour drive ahead of us.  We saw there Red Bull has their headquarters.  We ended in the small town of Mondsee.  This is where they filmed the church scene where the wedding between Georg and Maria took place.  They were really married at Nonnberg Abbey, but they filmed it here instead because this church was more beautiful.  After seeing the church, we stopped at a little pizzeria and had lunch together.  Then we rushed off to catch the bus.  Then we headed back to Salzburg. 

After the tour was over, we went back downtown.  We stopped infront of Mozart’s birthplace and then did some more souvenir shopping.  We crossed the Mozart footbridge where the von Trapp kids run across during the “Do Re Mi” song.  Then we took the Trapuzzanos back to Mirabell gardens because they hadn’t seen them yet. 

Salzburg was a lot of fun.  It is charming and fun to see where all the Sound of Music scenes occurred.  Everytime we watch that movie (and with Ainsley…that will be a lot!) it will remind us of our fun trip to Salzburg!