Day 12 - July 28 - Salzburg & Sound of Music Tour

Today started at 9 am with a total walking tour.  No bus trips until this afternoon.  By the way, 11, 322 steps today.  We started walking from the hotel walking through the Mirabell Palace gardens we went through last evening on the way home from our concert.  

A scene from the Sound of Music shot under these metal arches

This fountain was in the movie Sound of Music, where they danced and sang the song Do Re Me

From there we took a walk past the Mozart Museum.  Everything in this city is either "Sound of Music" or Mozart as he was born and composed here.

A walk across the same pedestrian bridge with all the locks on it was next on our way into "old town".  

a view of the river while crossing the pedestrian bridge

A walk along the shopping pedestrian walkway..  I have noticed every town we have visited has a pedestrian only shopping area where everyone goes to shop, eat.   It sure helps tourism.  

Another "Mozart lived here" house.  He composed some of his music here, we're told

Next was a visit to the local farmers market including the famous bavarian pretzels.  Ok, but REAL philadelphia soft pretzels are better..

Our next stop in the old city was an Odyssey Tour surprise.  For two weeks I've heard about Mozart balls.  A candy invented in 1890 by a confectioner here in Salzburg.  He called them Mozartkugln and won a gold medal with them in the 1905 Paris World's Fair.  Only the original candy can be purchased here at the market.  They're wrapped in silver pager.  You can buy "clones" in other stores and in the airport here in Salzburg.   But these originals can only be bought at this one store.  Odyssey paid for a stop in the cafe with everyone getting a coffee of their choice and a Mozart ball.  In the center is marzipan.  The chocolate was very good.  I'm not a real fan of marzipan.

The walking tour continued with stops in some of the many squares in the old city.  This is the Residence Square with the oldest baroque fountain anywhere in the world except Italy (i think).

This is the entrance to a monastery where monks still practice and live today

We were able to go inside the Salzburg Cathedral.  Not used in the movie Sound of Music, but still absolutely amazing.

The church was built in 1614 by the Archbishop.  Fully paid for from revenues and trade / sales of Salt from the nearby Salt Mines, the church was built in 15 years.  Only the dome is not orginial.  It was built in and finished in 1959 after World War II bombing destroyed the dome.

Baptismal font on the left - brass top; cast iron bottom.  Mozart was baptized in this font.

More walking after exiting the church, 

   

The Salzburg Music Festival is in town for 6 weeks, this is the outside of the music hall but many of the artists perform outside in the various squares and we heard a lot of different music as we walked the old city.

   

This is the Virgin Mary outside the Salzburg Cathedral.  The picture on the left is from a further distance.  As you walk a little closer, the gold crown higher on the building lines up with her head, "crowing" the Virgin Mary.

The last stop on our walking tour took us up another funicular!  Now my favorite word to the fortress at the top of Salzburg's old city.  Fortress Hohensalzburg is one of the largest 11th century fortress complexes in Europe.  

Fortress Hohensalzburg, one of the largest existing 11th century fortress complexes in Europe built under the orders of the Prince Archbishop.  A small conflict of church and state in my opinion.  They were princes (and therefore governed) and also Archbishops of the church.  They had the power and the religion.  

Our walking tour ended there and Wayne and I made our way down to a store he remembered from trips here in the past with Lois.  There is a store called Christmas in Salzburg.  They have 100,000+ eggs - real eggs - just the shells, painted  - many for christmas or easter.  The eggs are drained of their 'innards' and all are painted locally.  Yes, I bought a few.  You weren't allowed to take pictures inside.  They supplied you with egg cartons.  I've been assured they'll make the trip home.  Let's hope.  

After our little shopping expedition into the 'egg store', we found our way to a privately booked tour, just Wayne and I, using Viatour for the "Sound of Music Tour".  We got to see many locations which were used for the outside scenes of the 1964 movie shot here in Salzburg with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.  This tour was 3 1/2 hours long.  We got back to the hotel after 5 pm.  I think it was worth it but I wasn't prepared for the 1 hour drive (back roads) to the church where Maria was married in the movie.  

The lake where the children were in the boat and all fell in - supposed to be right beside the house.  Not really!

The steps where the children and Maria all come out of the water - but no house was ever there

The famous gazebo scene from the movie.  The gazebo has been moved pretty far out of town to a venue that can be rented for weddings.

The real picture of the Von Trapp family vs the movie.  They weren't even born in the same order as shown in the movie.  

We drove almost an hour outside of Salzburg to this church where supposedly Maria was married.  This church is absolutely exquisite.  I never would have thought this little town of Mondsee would have an amazing church, Basilica St. Michael.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of this church.  The church was consecrated in 1104.  It is built in the romanesque style.  The towers were expanded along with the facade in 1703.  

The gate was a 'phony' for the movie, but you can see the background compared to the pictures of the real church.

Wayne and I were beat.  As I said, 11,000+ steps.  We had dinner on our own in the hotel tonight.  

Another dinner, another beer!  Local Austrian beer, Stengle.  Good.  And, Wienerschnitzel.

Wayne and his bratwurst.   Happy Happy Happy

Tomorrow, early 'out the door' 7:45 am to go to see Hitler's retreat Berchtesgaden in the mountains of Bavaria.  After it was bombed and after WWII, it was eventually turned back to Austria and now operates as a hotel.   More on this tomorrow, our last full day with the tour.  Sunday, we are transferred to Munich where Wayne and I will be on our own for the day.  We are staying at the Hilton Munich Airport and flying home Monday, early, as usual.