Salzburg and the Sound of Music

Rarely do our adventures require homework, however, I admittedly had not seen The Sound of Music - a fact that confounded Julie's grip on reality.  It wasn't as if my family forbade singing like Georg von Trapp; I just hadn't seen the musical.  I was tasked with the chore of borrowing the movie and soundtrack from the library before we traveled to Salzburg.  I obliged.

We were now officially ready to make the journey to Austria.

With a six-hour drive ahead of us, I picked Julie up from her office and got back on the road as quickly as possible.  With blind optimism, we hoped to avoid the Stau (standstill traffic), but our wishful Autobahn ambitions were crushed by the time we reached Stuttgart.  The mind-numbing perils of being parked on the Autobahn made the remaining seven hours feel like hour 16 going on 17 - with no one to take care of us.  In fact, the added backup compounded our misfortune when we reached the hotel.

View from our room

When I pulled into the parking lot, I asked Julie if she had confirmed a late check-in to our room because the hotel was ominously fortified for the evening.  Unfortunately, my suspicions were reaffirmed.  Julie didn't foresee the extensive Stau and decided a late check-in wasn't necessary.  Also,  the hotel was evidently locked for the evening - granting access only to those with room keys.  Making matters worse, we were now in Austria and our only smart phone had no internet access.

How do you solve a problem like Maria..?  wait...  I mean, what the hell were we going to do?

We tried peering into the lobby through the glass doors, but to no one was inside.  Julie decided to take a lap around the building and coincidentally - a hotel-goer was on their way out.  Huzzah!!! Julie caught the door before it closed and allowed me to move our luggage into the hotel.  The ephemeral relief we felt subsequently changed when we saw an empty concierge desk.  Starving from the long car ride, I devoured all the remaining free apples in the basket while Julie went behind the counter to examine further.  She rummaged around for a minute or two and found an envelope with our name and room keys inside.  Once we moved the luggage into our room, I went down to the hotel bar to grab some celebratory brews - catching the bar staff off-guard in the process (both bartenders were drinking and smoking cigarettes (in a non-smoking bar) while watching Two and a Half Men (in German)).  The beers tasted of victory.  Somehow, we managed to sneak into our hotel and gather our own room key without the ability to contact anyone for help.  

Walking down to the palace

Schloss Hellbrunn courtyard

A famous gazebo

The following morning, we started the day with a complementary breakfast, complete with a juicing station.  I am sure the hotel staff was confused as to how we got into the hotel and our room, but our craftiness needed no explanation.  Before exploring Salzburg, Julie plotted a course for our very own Sound of Music tour.

Leopoldskroner Weiher

Gardens of Schloss Leopoldskron

Get thee to a nunnery

To kick things off, we drove to Schloss Hellbrunn, the location where the song, "Sixteen going on Seventeen" was filmed.  Hoards of tourists came and went by the bus load, but we were in and out just to see the gazebo before the sight-seeing cattle call diluted the grounds.  A short drive north and we arrived at out second stop, Schloss Leopoldskron, the palace used for exterior shots during filming.  Sadly, a wedding was to take place later in the afternoon, thus, limiting our access the grounds.  We completed our self-guided Sound of Music tour with a visit to Stift Nonnberg, the abbey where Maria Augusta Kutschera studied to become a nun.  During her novice years, Maria was assigned as governess to the von Trapp household; the basis of the story that inspired the musical and movie.  There was still one more attraction on our list, but would wait for the next day because it was located in Mondsee, a town of the Salzkammergut (the surrounding lake district).  Fortunately, the day was still young and we were ready to explore Salzburg.

Inside Stift Nonnberg

Mirabell Gardens

Gardens and a view of Festung Hohensalzburg

Having driven around the outskirts of the city, we made our way back north towards downtown.  Starting on the eastside of the River Salzach, we headed to the gardens of Schloss Mirabell.  Following our stroll through the garden, we crossed the river and briefly perused the weekend market before continuing to the pedestrian zone.  We passed two large tour groups who flocked to Mozarts Geburtshaus (birth house) and we proceeded to Dom zu Salzburg.  Shortly thereafter, to get a better view of the city and landscape, we took the funicular up to Festung Hohensalzburg.

Schloss Mirabell

Crossing the River Salzach

Dom zu Salzburg

...and again.

Mozart's birth home

We were pleased to avoid the hike up to the castle in the early-summer heat and were rewarded with a beautiful panoramic view once we reached the top.  We attempted to secure a seat at the restaurant atop the ramparts of the fortress, but hundreds of other tourists had the same idea.  Having explored the majority of Hohensalzburg, we returned to the pedestrian zone to visit one final church, Stiftskirche Sankt Peter Salzburg.

Panoramic view looking southeast towards Mönchsberg

Fortress cannon and Dom zu Salzburg below

Trying to set blog record for photos of us in single post

Fortress and flag of Salzburg

With our morning and afternoon full of driving and walking, our stomachs growled for sustenance and locally brewed libations.  Following a quick lunch overlooking the River Salzach and Festung Hohensalzburg, we drove down the street to grab a brief drink at Augustinerbräu.  For a relaxing end of the day, we returned to the hotel and enjoyed the comforts of the community pool.  Later, we enjoyed dinner at the hotel restaurant and planned our adventures in the Salzkammergut for the following day.

View of downtown Salzburg and River Salzach from Festung Hohensalsburg

Residenzplatz

Stiftskirche Sankt Peter Salzburg

View of Salzburg during lunch