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Published: August 8th 2008
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Gardens in Austria
This is where we had our picnic lunch, incredible! Yesterday was the single most incredible day of our trip yet, and possibly the most incredible day Chelsea and I have ever shared together.
The day started like any other day in Munich with Starbucks coffee and breakfast bagels. We boarded our train to Salzburg, Austria (that’s right Austria, NOT part of our original agenda) at 1030am. Our decision to go to Austria came about because so many people we have encountered on our trip have recommended it as a not-to-be-missed county. Chelsea, being the travel wizard that she is, knew that we had one extra day of train travel available on our Europass train tickets, so with a little (read: A LOT!) of help from a friendly guy at a train ticket office (EurAide, amazingly helpful people) we were off to Salzburg.
We had a few options of what to do once we were there...the old part of the town is a World Heritage Site in and of itself, so that was a must see. There is a fortress on a hill that was built around the 15th centry, very cool. Also, we could go on a 4 hour Sound of Music tour, or we could just
Lots of nuns in Austria
Maybe this is a former Sound of Music nun turned pro-bicyclist? bum around the city for the day before getting on our midnight train (with sleeper bunks!) to Switzerland.
Well, Chelsea was hesitant to do the Sound of Music tour because it was pricey and she didn’t think I would find it too exciting….well God gave me wisdom beyond my years and I made the executive decision that we would go on the Sound of Music tour because who knows when we will ever get back to Austria, right?
We arrived in Salzburg and it was VERY HOT. As we stood in line at the tourist info desk I had beads of sweat dripping down my arms and onto the floor, gross. We got the necessary details to do the tour, and were on our way into town. (After checking our large backpacks into lockers at the train station, very helpful.) We really didn’t know what to expect on this tour, obviously it would be about the Sound of Music and Austria, but 4 hours? What are we going to do for 4 hours? I didn’t know if I would like it or if I would be bored out of my mind. I should mention that I have never even
Sound of Music fans
Where Lisel got her first kiss. Chelsea too, just kidding! seen the movie, but Chelsea loves it.
We boarded the tour bus and I knew we had made the right decision, the bus had AC and it was CRANKED UP! My aforementioned sweat dried up in no time and I was again cool as a cucumber. The tour started predictably enough, talk about what was true from the movie and what was invented Hollywood magic. We started driving around the city, and pretty soon we were taking in some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever witnessed. Austria is GORGEOUS! Green hills and mountains falling down into milky green, blue, and turquoise lakes. It is amazing. The tour showed us sites from the filming of the movie, and told the story of the Von Trapp family. We stopped at a couple postcard worthy sites to take pictures, and we had a special treat on the way. We stopped at a downhill luge! It was a metal track built on the hillside, and you paid a lift fee and were pulled up the mountain on a tiny little sled, just big enough for the 2 of us. On the way down, watch out! It was very fast and very
Another Sound of Music Photo
This is one of the houses they used for the Von Trapp family residence during the movie. fun and very scary. Chelsea took some great pictures from the back, you’ll see!
After the tour, which really was way more than just the Sound of Music, we headed into the Old Town to see the historical sites. The best of which is the fortress. After a sweaty walk up a really big hill, we sat down and had a drink and a pretzel. When we had regained our strength we wandered around the top of the fortress, and it was here that we realized how special and beautiful Austria is. I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. Chelsea and I just hugged and talked about how we would never forget that moment.
But we had to press on, because we were going to have dinner at the St. Augustine beerhouse and brewery in another part of town. We decided to walk to the brewery, expecting to just trot through the woods. Well, we ended up seeing beautiful houses tucked away on the hill, some apparently built out of centuries old fortresses and buildings. It was so incredible! The path soon led us to the edge of a cliff, looking down over the old town, the
Exercising at the park...
There was a group of 30 using these scooters... was it a joke? river, and out towards the many Austrian Alps. We had to just sit down on a bench for a while and take it all in.
When we did finally make it to the brewery, it was overwhelming! They have about 10 different food vendors in the building, so it is like a buffet style. They serve the beer in 1 liter steins, I wish I could get that in the US! After finding a table outside in the beer garden (that probably seated 2,000 people under shady chestnut trees) it took me about 45 minutes to round up our food and drinks. I was unaccustomed to the style of restaurant, in addition to the language barrier. But I was determined and a while later we had a true Bavarian spread of jo-jos, sausage, potato salad, sauerkraut, pretzel, and of course 2 liters of beer! (Chelsea didn’t quite finish hers, but I did). The food was great!
Just when we thought the day couldn’t get any more spectacular, it did. Lightning started flashing in the not-to-distant distance, and we were in for a real visual treat. We probably say 200 lightning strikes in a half hour at dinner. The
Gorgeous Austrian Countryside
Chelsea and I swore we had to go back and swim in that teal water. strange thing was we didn’t hear any thunder, or get any rain. At first. After maybe 45 minutes of just lightning the wind started to pick up. 2 minutes after that it was POURING DOWN RAIN. I know I was born and raised in Seattle, but this impressed even me. Chelsea and I had to walk back to the train station in the pouring rain, dodging lightning strikes all the way. As we walked through a tunnel that I THOUGHT was the right way, came upon an eerie scene of road construction. I couldn’t help but feel like the construction workers were looking at Chelsea and I in our summer clothes, soaked to the bone, thinking what a couple of dorks. Oh well. I don’t have a great sense of direction, but I realized we were lost and I couldn’t get our bearings on the map. I went into an empty Chinese restaurant they pointed out on the map where we were. We were nowhere near where I thought we were, but fortunately we weren’t far from the train station either. After another 15 minutes of rain walking/lightning dodging, we were back in the comfort and safety of the train
station. I say that sarcastically because train stations at night are anything but safe and comforting.
We both had to change in the bathroom because we were so soaked (but at least we got our shower for the day!). Our night train was 20 minutes late, which gave us about an hour of sitting and waiting outside for it. Under a cover the thunder and lightning continued. When the train arrived we were momentarily relieved, until we found out that the bunk beds we had reserved were the top bunks of a room with 4 other beds, already occupied with sleeping (and stinky) college guys. You would think Chelsea would be used to this from living with me, but for some reason 4 strange men in a room wasn’t the most inviting place to sleep. So instead of each of us having a really small bunk, we BOTH slept in a really small bunk. Great. I love my wife.
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Edmonds Mom
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"Raindrops On Roses & Whiskers on Kittens"
Chels, your voice over the phone was sweeter than the "sound of music!" I love you! PS. When you get home we will have movie night and introduce David to Julie Andrews!