Our Last Night in Austria

After the comical dinner theatre we walked around before heading back to the hotel. This was our last night in Salzburg, and in Austria, and we hated to leave. We had really enjoyed our time in this beautiful country. This is also the last page of Album #2. Album #3 will begin on Friday, May 13, 2005 with our arrival in Munich, Germany

"Sound of Music" Dinner Theatre

Oh boy, where to start? We had high hopes for the SOM dinner theatre, but we expected waaaay too much! These people were talented enough, we guessed, but the stage was small and they had too many hand and feet movements and would run into each other. Also, they were depicting the Austrian characters in the film, so when an Asian guy came out, we about died. In fact, some of the audience left. We also forgot we were in Austria with Austrian singers singing American songs in English - the Asian guy couldn't even speak English, much less sing it! And to top it off, we thought the director, who accompanied on the piano in front of us, was drunk! It was a fiasco, but the dinner was good!

Mozart Chocolates in Salzburg

Don't know what Mozart had to do with chocolate, but there were a lot of Mozart chocolate stores in Salzburg. Evidently they were in Vienna too, but we didn't see them. Vienna was supposed to be the best chocolate, so of course we had to take the taste test. Frankly, we thought they were equally good and bought some as souvenirs for the kids - and some for us too.

A Chess Game in Salzburg

After our tour, we went to one of the "platz's" in Salzburg for a pretzel and to watch a chess game in progress (this photo). It was a beautiful afternoon, no rain for once, and it was a perfect time to slow down. See Toddy, we're beginning to smell the roses. It's about time - this is day 15 of the trip!

The "Luge"

Well, at this point, we completely lost our minds and volunteered to ride a toboggan/luge down a mountain! Some in our group were afraid. It actually was very tame since we had control of the speed. It made us think of Trent, or Troy, or whoever it was on the phone in Green Bay when we were watching the Winter Olympics and wanted him to join us, so we all started yelling "The luge, the luge" - well, I guess you had to be there!!

St. Giffin - Wolfgang See Lake

We stopped in a little village called St. Giffin and had a wonderful apple strudel and cappucino. Bob took this great photo of our view of Wolfgang See Lake.

The "Sound of Music" Tour

We had no idea what to expect on the Sound of Music tour. A minivan picked us up at the hotel with about six other people. We sat in the front seat with the tour guide, the best seat in the house . . . er car! We saw the mansion used in the film (this photo), the gabezo, the church, the Abbey, etc., but the best part was the Austrian countryside. We were on all the backroads around Salzburg and it was wonderful! The scenery was beautiful and we found some lovely little villages that would make wonderful places to stay on a future trip.

The Salzburg Fortress - Bob

This is another shot of the Salzburg Fortress.

The Salzburg Fortress - Marti

The best part of Salzburg, other than the pretzels and Mozart chocolates, was the Fortress that overlooked the city high above. We didn't walk up this time, it was definitely a killer hike! But it was the neatest place, almost as neat as Warwick Castle in England, only not nearly as large. We had fun walking around there and taking pictures. And for once on this trip, it didn't rain.

Salzburg, Austria

As much as we hated to leave Hallstatt, we had to catch the train to Salzburg, Austria. Once again, it was raining when we checked out of the Gasthof Simony and walked to the ferry, Stephanie. We arrived in Salzburg in the morning rain. This photo is a nice overhead shot of the picturesque city of Salzburg. The Weiss Taube (White Dove) was a hotel that had been built in 1365, and although that sounds neat, this hotel wasn't. It was dark and the bathroom was nearly as bad as in Rome. The location was pretty good, though, close to the Mozartplatz.

The Funicular View of Hallstatt

After climbing the mountain, we passed on going into the salt mine. We were pretty tired and hot. So we got on the funicular for the trip down the mountain. This photo shows our view as we descended back down to Hallstatt. By the time we reached the bottom, it had started raining again.

We Made It!

We are so proud of ourselves in this photo! Bob set the camera up to take an auto shot of us together. We're actually laughing from pure exhaustion here, holding on to our makeshift walking poles. Most people funiculared up and walked down. When they saw us, they told us we'd never make it - it was too high and steep, they said. But the more they talked, the more determined we were! At dinner that night we ran into a few of them and proudly announced that we had indeed made it! It must be that Danish/Swiss/Irish/German blood in us - or we're just plain stubborn!!!

The Climb - Did We Bite Off More Than We Could Chew?

Well, the climb to the top of the mountain in Hallstatt proved to be quite a challenge. It was almost straight up on a mountain path that wound back and forth, but just kept going up. It took us over an hour of climbing - and resting - before we finally saw what looked like the top. It was way more of a workout than we had anticipated, but once we started, we never looked back - well, hardly ever.

The Climb - We're Determined To Go To the Top

We found one path up the mountain, but thought the sign said to "Salzburg" and we knew we didn't want to walk to Salzburg, Austria, our next destination. We learned later than the sign really said to the "Salt Mine" and we could have taken it. As it was, we had already hiked 1/4 of a mile going that route, then turned back, so our entire hike up the mountain that afternoon was quite a trek.

The Hallstatt Scene - Window

Every little chateau and cottage seemed to have delightful flower boxes in the windows, or wonderful homemade wreaths hanging on the doors, or willowy garlands dancing above archways and entrances. It truly seemed like a fairyland place to us.

The Hallstatt Scene - Hallstattersee (the lake)

This is another view from our deck at the Gasthof Simony. We should mention, in case anyone thinks this is a perfect vacation spot, we were here on May 10, evidently about one week before their high season. And from what we heard, you would not want to be here during high season. The world does know about this place, perhaps thanks to Rick Steves, and we think all the magic would disappear if there were too many people - or should we say, any people at all.

The Hallstatt Scene - Bench

The next series of photos, including this one, seem to best show the unbelieveable peacefulness and solice one felt in this lovely community.

Hiking in Hallstatt

We didn't linger on the deck long, as we wanted to get down to breakfast (which was great) and head out to investigate this darling little town, and to climb up the mountain to the salt mine. It had rained, but had stopped and was sunny and crisp now. We climbed the hills all around this little village and we hardly know which gorgeous picture to post to capture this experience - there was a photo-op at every turn - it was truly wonderful!

The View From Our Room

When Marti awoke early on Tuesday, May 10, she bundled up and went out on the wooden deck. The morning air was freezing and misty, but the beauty of the scene was impossible to describe. Such pristine beauty and such unbelieveable silence is not seen nor heard very often. A white swan appeared from nowhere and glided along the water's edge. Marti wanted to sit there forever in that spot, but got Bob up instead so they could enjoy it together (and this time he didn't complain)!

Our Deck at the Gasthof Simony

This is all a person needs - a simple place in the middle of nowhere with a beautiful view!

Frau Schuetz at the Gasthof Simony

Marti loved Frau Schuetz. She was so down-home and spoke enough broken English to converse. She sat in that same spot everyday in the parlor and Marti asked if we could take her picture. She replied that she didn't look very good, and we had to laugh because she looked exactly like we expected her to look!

The Gasthof Simony, Our B&B

Our B&B is the gray one in the middle in this photo and this was our first view of it from the ferry. Our room was the one on the 3rd floor with the door in the middle. The room itself was small and rustic, but charming, and we fell in love with it, the owner Freu Schuetz (a 60-ish matron), and the whole sweet village of Hallstatt!

Hallstatt, Austria in the Rain

We couldn't linger in Melk as we still had a long train ride to Hallstatt. It began raining again and as we stepped onto the ferry, which interestingly was named "Stephanie", for the 15-minute ride across the water to our Hallstatt hotel, it was absolutely pouring.
Welcome to Hallstatt, we thought!

The View of the Danube River

This was Bob's view of the Danube River from the Abbey in Melk. Per Rick Steves, there are many hiking and biking paths in this area. We thought it would be neat to return to Melk and stay in the region for a trip of just hiking, biking and picnicking. Sounds neat, huh?

The Abbey in Melk

Bob is standing on one of the huge terraces at the Abbey. This particular spot offered a wonderful view of the entire Danube River valley (see next picture), and the beautiful, hilly, green Austrian countryside. Rick Steves was "right on" with this one.

The Benedictine Abbey Cathedral

This Cathedral took our breath away. It was huge, and all done in gold overlay. We had not seen anything as awe-inspiring on our trip yet, including the Renaissance art in Florence and the vast artifacts, paintings and sculpture at the Vatican! Neither words nor photos can do this Cathedral justice.

The Benedictine Abbey in Melk, Austria

The Abbey in Melk, Austria was a huge surprise. Melk turned out to be a darling little village with a gorgeous Abbey at the top of a hill. We were so surprised to find such grandeur in such a small, out-of-the-way place like Melk.

Train Trip from Vienna to Melk, Austria

By early the next morning, Marti was pooped - we had had a very busy first 12 days and sometimes weren't getting a lot of sleep. We loved the train compartments and they made a good place to catnap. We're now on our way to Melk, Austria, a Rick Steves recommendation.

. . .and Music Filled the Air in Vienna

Somehow it seemed fitting to attend a concert in Vienna. So, in the middle of a driving rainstorm, we bought tickets and attended an enjoyable concert in a beautiful building that evening. Stephanie, does anything look familiar?

A Vienna Highlight

One thing caught Marti's eye - and it wasn't hard to miss - a huge poster on the side of a building of Brad Pitt - hawking watches! Anyway, a real surprise and a reminder that we really weren't on another planet, just in another country!

Beautiful Walkways in Vienna

The rain let up later in the day, but it remained very windy, making walking not very pleasant. We found some lovely parks and thought, given better weather, Vienna probably would be a fun place to stay.

Vienna, Austria

We arrived in Vienna at about 11 PM on Monday night, May 7, 2005. It was raining and our hotel was less than impressive - stark, dark and not in the right part of town - a Rick Steves recommendation - and yes, it was cheaper. On Tuesday, May 8 we set out in freezing, windy conditions on foot to find the St. Stephen's Cathdral plaza where we rushed indoors to the only coffee shop open for a cappuccino and apple-strudel, and to warm up. At this point, it began to rain heavily and continued most of the day.