Today is our last day in Salzburg as we will catch a 5:02 PM train to Vienna (Wein). I began the day Wednesday with an early morning walk along the river. Discovered a footbridge where tradition has it lover's write their initials on a lock and then lock it on the chain links of the bridge. Then they throw the key into the river to demonstrate the eternal nature of their devotion. I'm looking for one of those locks in the souvenir shops. The tour guide said that in low water times, some are out there trying to find their keys to remove their locks!
We were picked up at 9:10 AM at our hotel for the Panorama Tours "The Original Sound of Music Tour", a 4 hour tour. Our guide, Naomi, was a "most of her life" Salzburg native, extremely knowledgeable, and we were able to ride in a small cozy van vs. going onto a larger bus like expected. We were teamed up with a business owner and his wife from Missouri, a honeymooning couple from Mumbai, India and a single guy named Ali from Bahrain.
The tour was very educational and interactive with main stops at major filming areas from The Sound of Music movie. Funny thing is that most Austrians have never seen the movie and know very little about it. You'll recognize perhaps the back of the mansion where several scenes were filmed with the children, the gazebo where Rolf the oldest daughter kissed (same one used in the movie was donated to the city), the lake district, and Monsee (town where the wedding scene was filmed). You'll see a few pics posted today along with Carol and my re-creation of the gazebo scene where the song "I Am Sixteen Going on Seventeen" song was performed.
You'll see a picture today from our stop at the village of Monsee, where the wedding scene was filmed for the movie. It is a quaint and picturesque village and Carol got some Edelweiss (small white mountain flower) themed table settings as souvenirs. I enjoyed a delicious piece of fresh apple strudel with sauce at the outdoor cafe while Carol shopped. It was so beautiful driving over the lush green and flowered countryside with the soundtrack to the movie playing. I found out the tour guide had a collection of yodeling and polka CD's and she needed very little encouragement to play them as well.
Whe we arrived back in Salzburg we spent a few minutes walking around the beautiful Mirabell garden/park area downtown. We then caught a bus out of town to the cable car ride at the 6,000 ft. summit at Untersberg. The cable car ride put us up even with the clouds and gave some scenic views all around as the summit straddles the Austria / Germany border and the weather was beautiful.
Dinner in the evening was at the oldest restaurant in Europe, the St. Peter Stiftskeller Restaurant, which has been in operation since 803AD. The restaurant is located at the base of the mountain beneath the Hohensalzburg Fortress and is one-half embedded in the porous rock mountain, adjacent to a Benedictine Monastery. 1,210 years is a long time for a restaurant to be in operation in the same spot. I see them come and go inside of 6 months sometimes in Lake Highlands. The reason we know this restaurant has been in continuous operation on that spot is because this eating establishment, just to the right of the Catacombs, was mentioned in a journal kept by Charlemagne when he was in town back in 803.
Thursday we plan to walk around the hotel area and visit Mozart's birthplace and family residence, take a quick river cruise, and enjoy the start of a large "Oompa" music festival that begins today in town, before we catch the train to Vienna.
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