Germany Day 4: Trip to Salzburg, Austria

The last two days of our trip we did as part of a tour group.  After we got to Munich and realized how easy it was to navigate the public transportation we wished we had just done our our entire trip on our own.  Joseph is actually the best tour guide a wife could ask for...he does great research and we would have had longer in the cities we visited the last two days and we would have gotten home sooner.  We live and learn!  

On Tuesday we took a day trip to Salzburg, Austria and the surrounding countryside referred to as "The Lake District".  Salzburg is beautiful like everywhere else we visited.  Salzburg is also where the Sound of Music took place so we visited a lot of the actual places where the cast filmed on location.  I"ll post a "SOM"  on the pictures from the movie.  I was able to watch the movie on the airplane on the way home and see the places I had just visited!

I'm not sure what this tree is actually called...in Russellville I believe people called them "tulip trees".  It was beautiful in bloom.

This was the entrance to the Mirabellgarten.  SOM

I loved the flowers in the grass.  They were so pretty. 

You can see a little more of the decor in the grass.  In this picture you can see the fountain where the Von Trapp family danced and the gate at the front of the picture with the stairs that the children jumped up and down during one of their songs.  SOM

Salzach River.  The Von Trapp children danced along this river.  SOM 

This bridge was so pretty with colorful padlocks on it.  There is another picture later.

The main shopping streets have iron signs above the doors with a symbol of what is sold in the shop.  For example, a musical instrument for a music shop.

More signs.

Apparently, hundreds of years ago the city was flooded weekly to clean the streets.  Because of this weekly flooding the plague never had hold on the city.  These were little walkways under the buildings.  It was nice to have access to the next street every 15 feet or so.  The stores have display windows in these walkways.

Horse Bath SOM

This area is the outdoor amphitheater where the Von Trapps sing at the end of the movie.  We never could find the exact location because of construction.  SOM

St. Peter's church

Inside St. Peter's.

The next 5 pictures are of the St. Peter's cemetery.  This cemetery was the model for the set in the Sound of Music where the Von Trapp family hides at the end of the movie.  The church wouldn't allow filming in the cemetery so the filming took place in Hollywood.

St. Peter's Cemetery.

It really did look and seem to me like the cemetery scene in the Sound of Music.

Salzburg Cathedral.  Dedicated to St. Rupert.  

Mozart was the chief organist back in the day.

Residenz Fountain  SOM  Here Maria is singing as she leaves the abbey on her way to the Von Trapp's house and she flicks water at the horses.

Mozart Statue.

With Easter only the previous week the towns were still decorated.  One of the shops was filled with decorated egg shells.  They were so elegant.  I think it would be pretty to have a wedding reception and decorate with these eggs.  

Mozart's house where he was born.  We didn't have time to tour the house so we made do with a picture.

There was a store that sold locks so you could put one on the bridge.

The locks made the bridge kind of pretty from a distance.

One more shot of Mirabellgarten.

After we left Salzburg our bus took us on a drive through the "Lake District".  When we arrived at our little town we could pay for a boat ride across the lake or just take the bus to St. Gilpin and visit the town during the boat ride.  The idea of cramming onto a boat with 50 other people wasn't appealing so we opted to skip the ride and explore the town.  So glad that we did!

Wolfgansee  (Wolfgang Lake)  Mozart had family that lived in the town of Wolfgansee but he himself never visited. 

Pretty flowers in a park.

Cuckoo clocks are everywhere and rather pricey.  Some of these clocks were over $1600.

In St. Gilpin we saw an International School and Joseph thought it would be a great idea to send Kimball there to pick up German faster.  It would be quite an adventure, but I would miss having Kimball at home.  I couldn't imagine sending one of my kids away to school like that.

Germany Day 3 Neuschwanstein Castle

Day 3 was probably my favorite day of our trip.  We visited the Neuschwanstein Castle.  This castle is nestled in the Alps on the Southern border of Germany close to the Austrian border.  This castle was built by King Ludwig II.  Ludwig had an obsession with castles and nice things.  He had multiple castles built.  He died mysteriously in a lake before this castle could be finished.  He was called "mad" because of his obsessions which caused him to be steeped in debt.  

Only 15 of the 200 planned rooms were finished in this castle before Ludwig died.  It was 17 years in the making.  He only lived in this castle a total of 172 days!  

Joseph had done a lot of research about this castle before we went and heard mixed reviews about paying for the tour.  One website said to pay for it since you are in the area, but it is really disappointing.  We went in with really low expectations and we were pleasantly surprised.   No pictures were allowed inside the castle.  

The interior is very elaborate and ornate.  Ludwig was a fan of Richard Wagner so he had multiple murals on the walls depicting various operas of Wagner.  Ludwig also loved swans and in his sitting room he had over 100 swans in the room--in the wood work, embroidered on the curtains, his flower vase, etc.  Back when Ludwig was alive there was a cave in the castle with a real waterfall.  Ludwig patterned his castle after a medieval castle, but made sure it was up to date with the latest conveniences as well.  He had a swan shaped wash bowl that had running water.  He had a lift for the servants to bring up his food.  He had a telephone and a huge modern kitchen.  I can't describe how beautiful it was inside and how happy it made me feel to see it.

This castle is referred to as the "fairy tale" castle and sometimes the "Cinderella" castle since the "castle" in Disney World is patterned after this one. It was definitely more of a palace than a castle used for defense.

View of the castle from the town below.

The street below the castle.

These next few pictures are of the Hohenschwangau Castle.  Ludwig's parents owned this castle so it was fitting that Ludwig built his "new castle" within in view of his parent's "house".

I wish we would have had time to tour this castle but we didn't.  I guess if we had rushed through the tour of the Neuschwanstein we might have had time, but we didn't rush.

Walking the path up to the castle.

The view from the top of the path just before the castle gates.

The front/side.

Inside the castle gate.

The castle gate.

This gorgeous view was from the lower balcony of the castle.  You'll see a picture in a moment of the two balconies.  Wouldn't you love to have this view in your backyard?

In this picture you can see Ludwig's parents' castle.  It's dead center.

Here you can see the two balconies.  We were allowed out on the lower of the two.

The bridge that gives you the "picture perfect" view of Neuschwantstein castle was closed because of damage.  Joseph really wanted that picture location though and when he noticed other people on the forbidden path he convinced me to walk around behind the castle to see if he could find the path.  I told him I didn't want him to die or get arrested and that he had 5 minutes to get his picture.  He didn't die or get arrested but he did get this:

In case you missed it...here it is again...

and again.

Dreamy!!

Last view of the castle after we came down the mountain.  It's dead center.

Since Ludwig was so heavily in debt the castle was open for public tours 3 weeks after he died and it has attracted millions of visitors.  The rest of the castle was never finished.  If you are ever in the area, 

You should go!!