Bohemian Rhapsodizing: The Hills are Alive

In our summer full of trips, this was probably the one I was looking forward to most of all. Probably because I chose it. Venice has always been a dream of mine. Always. When we moved to Prague and I found out that it was within driving distance, I knew that it was only a matter of time. And finally, the time was upon us.

It is a bit of a drive from Prague to Venice. Do-able in one day, but we had littles with us and 9 days to finish the trip, so we decided that we would break it up and make a few additional stops along the way. Our route would take us right through Salzburg, Austria. It is actually the half way point on the drive and so it became our stopping point that first day. And the closer we got to heading out on our vacation, the more excited I was to see this great city.

MadHatter and I brushed up on our knowledge. Me, by Googling everything I could about what we must see in the 36 hours we were there. MadHatter, by watching (and falling in love with) The Sound of Music. Since her reading is a lot slower than mine, showing her what she would be seeing just seemed more natural. And the right call. Because she was enthralled from the first moment she saw Maria singing on the hills. And it became silly how many times that the place I was reading about on my computer, showed up on my TV screen while we watched, side by side. It became obvious that you can't go to Salzburg without seeing the sights shown in the movie...though, interestingly enough, most Austrians have not heard of, or seen the movie. Nope, not kidding. Not even a bit. There are tours that you can take, and they will show you all of the highlights from the movie, but it will be filled with American tourists...Not our sort of thing.

But I think we hit all of the highlights. Movie scene or not. And I think the girls loved their time in Salzburg. I know I did. It was a fabulous start to a great trip.

So, without further ado, these are a few of my favorite things about Salzburg...

We had been riding in the car since early morning. So they were a bit silly...

It started to sprinkle on us. And we had no plans and nothing we needed to see since it was already late afternoon. We sat it out for a bit, and then ducked into a really old and cool looking church.

Turns out that the church was Kirche St. Blasius, built in 1330, it's style is mainly gothic. And it is not one of the most impressive in terms of interior style and character, but they do have some awesome lighting...

And that was all we had time for when we arrived. As I said we hadn't gotten in until later in the afternoon than we had planned. We had assumed, wrongly, that because it was only 235 miles, it would take us a bit over 4 hours...It took almost 5 1/2. Czech roads are not fast, or easy. Now we know.

The next morning we were up and at it early. We only had one full day, so we had to make it count. And, for once, I was glad my girls are early risers. We were almost the only people on the streets (until about 11 am!) Which meant we got to play, and run, and dance to our hearts content while we made it to the Fortress. And I got pictures of the monuments, and sights, without all kinds of pesky people in them.

Our first stop - the Mirabell Gardens. Stunning. Beautiful. Beyond compare.
(Sound of Music note - this is where they sing Do Re Mi) I do have a ton of pictures, but this post would be way too long with them all, so I have had to just pick and choose. Sorry.

We crossed the bridge...

and ended up at the Horse Fountain - or the Kapitelschwemme. Since I can't pronounce the second, I opt for Stinkerbells Horse Fountain.. She was spot on because it literally once was a local watering hole...for the horses.

And finally, we made it to the funicular. We opted to take their transportation to the top because as you see in the picture above, the Fortress is quite a walk. Straight uphill. This was the beginning of our day and we didn't want to wear everyone out right at the beginning.

Once at the top - the views were stunning...

Before touring the fortress, we stopped here...

And played a bit...

And then we walked the halls of the fortress.

And rested a bit. Too. Much. Information.

These were all torture devices. I even told the girls I would make this their time out chair if they didn't behave. Funny - because we don't have a time out chair and they were still a bit unsure if I was kidding.

The legend says that if you kiss under the arch your love will last forever. I never doubted theirs...

We moved on to St Peter's Catherdral (just at the bottom of the funicular) and began our tour of the famous church in the Catacombs. The Catacombs are a set of caves carved directly into the rock face of the Mönchsberg mountain range. Used in their heyday as a place to inter bodies, they are still used for services each week.

From there we toured the Salzburg Cathedral. MadHatter was in heaven as she wandered around, head swiveling up down and around to take it all in. I don't blame her - it was a beautiful sight. Originally built in 744, it burned down in 842, was rebuilt 3 years later, burned again, and was built again. (There seems to be a pattern here). The church, as it stands today, was completed in 1628.

Interesting fact - the baptismal font used to baptize Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is still there.

We took a break for lunch and then did our tour of the DomQuartier. Newly opened just this year after a 200 year closure, this Baroque museum includes tours of the Residence of the past Prince Archbishops, the Cathedral museum and St. Peters museum. It gives you a lot of history and insight into the days when the Prince Archbishops controlled Austria. Which was all new to me since I had no idea that there was such a thing. So much for segregation of Church and State. Back then, in the 1600's, one man ran them both - and did so with an iron fist. (No pictures allowed inside so the one above is all I have from the outside and the one below that I quickly snapped inside)

By the time we finished the tour, it was late afternoon and we had just one more thing to do...

After stopping for a picture with the cities most famous citizen.

We had to put our lock on the bridge. Yep, just like we did in Paris, we locked our family together on the Makartsteg Bridge. I see a tradition being born. This time Stinkerbell wanted to be the one to secure the lock, but she just wasn't strong enough. MadHatter stepped in and saved the day. And then both of them got a chance to throw away the key.