Salzburg: 6/22/14

Today we woke up early (again) because we had to catch our 7:30 AM train to Salzburg, Austria.  The train ride is quite short, we were in Salzburg at 9 AM, and had until 1 AM when our overnight train left for Venice.  This left us with a full day to explore and enjoy Salzburg.  Salzburg is known for 2 big things... One, the birthplace of Motzart.  You can hear his pieces resenating through the streets of he city.  And two, the backdrop & location of the Sound of Music!  If you remember how beautiful some of the scenery was in the movie then you may understand when I say the city is GORGEOUS!  All of Austria seems to be pretty and Austrians are nice people too.... It makes me proud of my Austrian heritage!  And we really lucked out on weather again.  In a city where there are more rainy days than sunny we had blue skies and weather that makes you want to skip around while singing "Do, a deer, a female deer. Rae, a drop of golden son. Mi, a name, I call myself.  Fa, a long long way to run. So, a needle pointing thread. La, a note to follow soooo. Ti, a drink with jam and bread. And that will bring us back to Do!" :).  Here are a few initial views of the city.  The large castle in the hill is called the Fortress.

First up on the itinerary was a ride up the Monchberg lift in the Museum der Moderne.  It offers fantastic birds eye views of the city.... See??

After this we headed to Stiegl Brewery... What I have called my favorite beer since trying it 10 years ago while studying in Innsbruck, Austria.  I have not been able to find it in Houston, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to retaste!  The brewery is pretty nice, and it has a very nice view, too!  We did the museum tour, but skipped the brewery tour since it is only offered in German.  Afterwards we got 3 free tastings, and had lunch... The best Wiener schnitzel I have ever had!  They even gave us free souvenirs!  Here are a couple pics....

After the brewery we had a boat tour down the river that runs through Salzburg.  It was such a relaxing break before our bike tour of the city.  It was actually a Sound of Music bike tour that teaches not only about the city but takes you to all of the famous settings from the movie.  Every bike has a characters name from the movie... And Kyle and I we're given Fräulein Maria and Captain Von Trapp, woohoo!  We also learned a little Austrian newlywed tradition involving pretzels (they love their pretzels there!).  Similar to a wishbone, you are supposed to each grab a side of the pretzel and pull.  The person who ends up with the bigger side gets to wear the pants in the relationship.  Even though we are not newlyweds, we decided to give it a whirl.... Results below!  Okay, so Salzburg is picturesque, and in case you wanted more proof, here are some pictures of the city from our bike tour.  You will see some reinactments from the movie (featuring Kyle & Liz)... The best of which is a video it won't let me post but we are skipping in the hills holding hands while "the hills are alive, with the sound of music" is playing.  Lol.  Do you recognize the buildings though?!

That pretty much concluded our day in Salzburg.  After the tour we walked around a bit, had dinner, and headed back to the train station.  So with that said...."so long, farewell, auf wiedesten (sp?), goodnight"!