Salzburg, Austria
Over Columbus day weekend, Matt and the girls had another wonderful four day weekend. We decided to on our first, official, trip out of the "country". Austria is fairly close to us, only about a couple hours away, so on to Austria we went. We did a little loop and went down to Salzburg, then to Vienna, and then home. It was a wonderful trip, and helped us feel more at ease traveling abroad with 5 kiddos.
Here is the Salzburg skyline. This is a great shot of Hellbrunn Schloss, plus you get the spires of St. Peter's cathedral in there too. We didn't do the whole Sound of Music tour, but we did hit a few stops that were in the movie. The most famous being the fountain, and the graveyard (which isn't at the Abbey, but behind St. Peters!) where they are hiding from the "authorities". More on all that later!
It was rainy and cold, cold, cold, while we were in Austria. This was the first time this season where we broke out our winter coats, hats and gloves! Here we are, walking across the bridge into the "old town" to see some sights.
I thought this old church was pretty neat. We couldn't go inside, but it is right behind St. Peters. I think it may have been the original "St. Peters" before the "new" one was built, but I am not sure. Anyway, I just like the date. It was built or finished I should say, in 1491. A year before Columbus sailed to discover the Americas. I thought it was very fitting for our Columbus day weekend trip.
Inside St. Peter's
Behind St. Peter's there are catacombs built into the side of the mountain. The girls and climbed up through the tunnels to see it. There wasn't much to see, but it was a cool climb inside the mountain, and we got some lovely views of Salzburg.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire....
The girls and Matt trying the Chestnuts
The consensus is...they are ok, but very different from what we are used to. They are soft and sweet. It was fun to try them though. You see chestnut venders all over in Austria, and at the Christmas Markets here in Germany.
Of course we had to stop and see Mozart's birthplace while in Salzburg!
This was a pretty neat museum, it was set up with interactive displays so the kids liked it. I thought it was cool to see some of the original instruments and sheet music owned by Mozart. Alas, we couldn't take pictures inside, so here is the outside.
We decided to drive along the Grossglockner Alpine Highway for a bit. It takes you along a route through the Alps that dates back 2000 years before Christ. It is said to have been the route used by the celts and Romans, and was the third most popular route until the 17th century. We drove on it for the views :)
However, we didn't go to the bridge, we decided to walk to the bottom of the waterfall. It was a pretty cool, and unexpected sight to see! According to legend, the mists from the waterfall is supposed to have healing property's.
It was a fun little trip to Salzburg, now off to Wien!
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