On June 29th, we rented a Tourneo van from Sixt and hit the road. First stop- lunch at McDonald's, of course. Thank goodness for those order screens to help with our translation barrier!
Mauthausen concentration camp is about two hours from Vienna on the way to Salzburg. There were over 81,000 recorded deaths at Mauthausen which makes it a pretty 'minor' camp, but contrast that 81,000 to the 2,753 at the World Trade Towers. It was such a moving experience. We were able to tour at our own pace through an app on our phone (you could either listen or read text at each stop), which was nice with Cressey so we could share just enough for what her little heart could handle. She waited outside many of the buildings, and the rest of us took turns touring places. This is the main entrance. To the left outside of the gate was a pool for the officers and their families. So cruel.
Once you are through the gates, the entrance doors for the prisoners was to the right.
Up a flight of stairs, this is the entrance to the main section of the camp.
Looking back at the stairs we just came up, past that statue
These barracks were double-sided and were built to hold 300. At times, they held 2000. One side of one barracks was a brothel. That was not fun to explain to Cressey.
I didn't take a ton of pics inside buildings, but they had so many tributes to people at every turn. Seeing their faces was so touching.
Sitting outside with Cressey trying to process all the atrocities that happened here
About 30 minutes before we made it to Salzburg, we passed through Mondsee, and we just had to stop and find a view of the lake we could see from the interstate. We tried to see it from this beautiful old church. Very pretty but not much view.
Kept walking down the street
Salzburg was about an hour and a half away from the camp, and we were so relieved to pull up to Hotel Sacher. (Sacher is the national cake of Austria, like a very dense brownie.) We stayed in the Toscanini Suite which was like two adjoining rooms that were then connecting to a third room and a living room. The view from the balconies was stunning.
We ate dinner in the bar downstairs that night, and I loved finding a drink named after HG! The menu was pretty swanky, but they were happy to make pasta for us with noodles in the shape of teddy bears.
Good night, Salzburg! I have a good feeling about you!
June 30. Getting ready for a tour of Salzburg. The best way to do breakfast!
We had the best guide for a Sound of Music tour. The first stop was Mirabell Gardens where so many scenes of Do Re Me were filmed.
HG was the only one willing to jump with me!
The Town Hall of Salzburg where weddings take place every Tuesday
The Dwarf statue
There are a lot of them! In the 1700s, during a change in political and cultural tastes, they were thought to be grotesque and were sent off to places throughout the world. They have collected and returned all but two now!
Mozart's teenage home
Lock bridge (pedestrian only)!
Griesgasse is a pedestrian cobblestone street in old town Salzburg with so many beautiful traditional signs.
Mozart's childhood home- third floor
Doors everywhere in Salzburg had the same blessing written on it that classroom doors at St. Agnes have. A cool small world moment for the girls!
That taupe building with three white rectangles is the scene of the music competition in the movie. The roof can open or close.
Stumbling stones recognize households of those who were taken to concentration camps
Petrusbrunnen square outside the St. Peter's Church
These doors are relatively new (in the last few years) and were spectacular
Inside St. Peter's
The inside of the doors looks starkly different from the dark outside with flowers
The oldest restaurant in Europe, St. Peter Stiftskulinarium
Through the gate to St. Peter's Cemetery
Do you see those stained glass windows up in the rock hillside? There are several churches built inside the hillside from as early as 700 AD. These iron gated tombs are not the actual ones from the Sound of Music, but they created ones that looked like them in a studio in LA.
Trying wild strawberries
As we came out of the cemetery, we started smelling the delicious smell of bread. Then we heard the sound of rushing water- a waterwheel! It was Stiftsbackerei St. Peters, the most delicious and beautiful bakery. We got some loaves for those hangry moments (which some of us may or may not be experiencing).
Salzburg Cathedral
We then hopped in a car and headed to see the Basilika St. Michael in Mondsee where the wedding in the movie was filmed. It's all accurate except that they built a gate for the movie for the nuns to stand behind. In reality, there's no gate.
We stopped for a little bite to eat. The ice cream was a little more than we bargained for!
One of several gazebos that were used in the movie has been relocated to the grounds of Hellbrunn Palace, although you can't go in it anymore.
We were able to drive past the house that was used for the outside scenes of the front of the house in the movie. You have to park about 10 mins away and walk to it, so we didn't have enough time to get up close to it.
The scene where the children fall out of the boat was filmed on Leopoldskroner Weiher. In these pics, you can see the concrete gates at the water's edge. The back of the house facing the lake was also used for scenes on the patio. It's very close to Salzburg old town- you can see the fort on the hill!
That red-onion topped building is the actual abbey were the real Maria came from. She joined the family as a tutor for the oldest daughter who had been weakened from scarlet fever, which sadly took the first Mrs. Von Trapp.
Our hotel was on the opposite side of the river from Old Town, but there is another pedestrian area, Linzer Gasse, on that side where we often found dinner spots. The water features were a big hit with Cressey.
L'Osteria for dinner
There was this water feature that ran down this hill right outside the restaurant, and they had balls that kids would run up to the top, drop in the water at the top, and then chase all the way to the bottom of the hill.
July 1. About 30 mins outside of Salzburg, Berchtesgaden Salt Mine is an amazing salt mine where you can take a little 'train' down into the mine, ride some wooden slides, take a boat across an underground lake, and see how the salt is mined. It was a fun little side adventure, especially on a potentially rainy morning. You have to put on these coveralls, which was funny for all of us!
HG and I sat out of the first slide- we chose to walk down- but GD, Spiffer, Cressey, and John jumped right on the opportunity! HG and I did ride the second (shorter) slide, but sadly, there is no photographic evidence.
The boat ride
Time to go back UP!
After the mine tour, the torrential ran began, so we drove through the old town on the hill near the mine and found Pizza Paradiso Da Stefano (Rathauspl. 2, 83471 Berchtesgaden, Germany). It was run by true Italians, so we all had a lot of hand motions to communicate- they couldn't be sweeter! I wish it weren't raining because the little town was beautiful.
We had hoped to go to Eagles' Nest that afternoon, but the rain was pouring and visibility was awful. We also learned that you had to take a 20-minute bus ride up to the elevator which had a ticketed time, and then you also had a ticketed time to come down the elevator and another 20-min bus ride back to your car. So we skipped that long and wet adventure! I decided to use the wet afternoon to do some souvenir shopping with HG and then explore the rest of the Sound of Music famous spots.
Residenzplatz
This plaza is in "I Have Confidence" where Maria splashes water in the fountain. The building behind me was also used with "flags" hanging from the windows. The mayor gave them two minutes to film it and required the whole plaza to be emptied.
Where Maria strolls through the arches in the same song. I asked the nicest European lady to take a pic of me walking through them, and she videoed me. Lol!
Salzburg Cathedral
Mozartsteg pedestrian bridge was where Maria and the kids ran across as they got off the bus
We had one of our best dinners that night at Osteria Cavalli.
All. The. Gelato.
July 2. HALLSTATT. I believe I may have peaked in my trip planning. This place was heaven on earth. Like Eze but no hills. Rumored to be the inspiration for Arendelle in Frozen.
Parking is famously limited. I'd read that you have to get there really early or else you wouldn't find a spot. The weather showed rain until lunchtime, so I planned on getting there around 10 am. Of course, when we woke up in Salzburg (an hour away), it was SUNNY. I panicked, but we made it there in enough time to find a parking lot (parking lot #2). The sky bridge and salt mine were closed when we were there as they were rebuilding the funicular. The first view of the lake you see when you emerge from the parking lot is right at one of the ferry spots and has a great view of the edge of town.
The SWANS!
When we made it to the town center, it was PACKED with bikers. Welp. That wasn't what I was expecting. So we took some pics and then set off to explore before lunch.
When we were standing at the lake's edge at the other ferry landing, behind the famous church, we looked up and saw another beautiful church up on the hill. And a waterfall! How the heck do we get up there?? We found a guy that had on a "hey y'all" shirt (from KY) with a suitcase and asked him how to get up high. He told us to go back to the center courtyard and look for stairs. So off we went!
Let's go find that upward path!
So many stairs but how cute is this?!
Made it to the top!
And the church up there- the Catholic Parish Church of the Assumption
Wait a minute! There's the Charnel House I had read about! When I researched Hallstatt, I didn't understand the topography, but thankfully, the Charnel House found me in the cemetery behind the Catholic Parish Church of the Assumption. They ran out of burial space, so after a few years, they excavate bodies, decorate their bones, and display them in this tiny room (cash only). My family was not necessarily excited about this surprise visit I took them on, but we were all fascinated.
There were so many little doors and stairs within the church. Cressey and I found this altar down one set of stairs.
HG and John set off up more stairs to find the waterfall, while Cress and I set off to find our way back DOWN the hill.
They found it! In a parking lot....???
These little streams run all through the village
Our concierge made us a lunch reservation at Gruner Braum (translates to green tree), and IT COULD NOT BE TOPPED! It's on the end of the main courtyard, and from the outside it looks just like a normal hotel. When you walk through the inside and out the door, it opens onto a huge deck patio RIGHT ON THE LAKE. It was stunning! And had food we were all happy with!
Cressey just had to put her feet in the water
She and I enjoyed our waiter dance along the edge of the deck
And when we walked out, the bikers had left, and the courtyard looked so tranquil.
While we were buying some blueberries for Cressey at this stand, this truck stopped right in the middle of the street, and it was entertaining to see how everyone scampered around it.
Endless views like this on our drives
I was surprised to learn they have a bridge with locks on it in Salzburg. Not to worry, souvenir stores nearby sell locks!
Sternbrau, a traditional German beer garden, had been recommended to us by our tour guide, so we gave it a try. It had several inside rooms, but since it was such a nice night (finally), we sat outside under the trees and enjoyed trying an Austrian cheese dumpling in beef broth (we quickly ordered a second one!) and a Salzburg Nockerl (meringue and custard- delicious!).
A nice after dinner stroll in the old town. Nothing like it. Florianibrunnen plaza
The locals were READY for the World Cup that night!
