On the way to Salzburg, Austria, we stopped at the Salt Mines. Salz=Salt. Salzburg. Get it? Good. After hearing stories from the Mama, I knew what to expect. However, Martin told us to dress warmly. Thinking it was going to be freezing in there, I piled on the layers. I was wrong. And as soon as I put on my jump suit (think Michelin Man in a blue jump suit), I knew I needed to drop a few layers. (Seriously, what was I thinking...it's always the same temperature underground...duh) I got situated and then the little tram came. It was a fun ride into the mountain and reminded me of a ride at Six Flags or something. When we stopped, we got to go down a big wooden slide to continue our tour. Our guide did not speak English and there were other German speaking people on the tour. The tour man would speak in German, get some laughs out of the crowd, and then turn on the speakers for us. Our explanation we always half as long as what the man said, and nothing about it was funny. I'm really curious as to what was said. The tour itself was interesting, I wouldn't call it exciting, but still a fun touristy thing to do. My favorite part of it was 'mirror lake.' I was one of the first people to come down the slide and get to the lake. At first, I did not realize it was a lake. Because it was mirroring the ceiling, I thought it was just an open space of dirt. Nope, I saw a ripple and realized I was just having one of those days...a dumb-day if you will.
After the salt mine, the Michelin Man and the rest of the group loaded back on the bus to head to our hotel in Salzburg. By this time it was snowing pretty good. And by the time we arrived to our hotel, it was snowing harder than I have ever seen it snow before. I don't know how this snow compares to Attica snow, but it was a pretty heavy snow and the flakes were almost as big as my hand! We checked in and were let loose to find some lunch. At 4 o'clock we met Martin for our city tour and a break down of our itinerary. We saw all of Salzburg and he pointed out all of the things we would be doing the next day. At the end of our tour, Martin informed us that the hotel would be streaming "The Sound of Music" in all of our rooms at 9 o'clock. So it was settled, no going out on the town...we were staying in to sing along with Maria.
Tuesday was packed full. We had to get an early start and had to fight off the Italian 16-year olds for breakfast. Man, they can be rude. The funny thing is, I've started to be able to understand a little of what they're saying. They were making fun of us Americans, saying that the kitchen was on fire, talking about the dead cow in their hotel room, and about the tornado that was coming through Salzburg that day. Yup, my Italian is really coming along...
We started out at 8:30. It was about a 30 minute walk to the Fortress. The Fortress sits atop Salzburg and was built to be able to see out over everything and make sure Salzburg was safe from invasions. Each new Arch Bishop would build onto it, so it has very interesting architecture. We took a little car up to the top and got our audio guide. The audio guide took us through the torture room (no one was actually tortured in here, it just housed the equipment...it looked rough), up a winding staircase to the top (where I have never been colder in my life; it felt like the wind was blowing through to my bones, but great pictures were achieved), and through all these secret passages. It was interesting to see and had one of the best views of Salzburg. Martin said he usually takes his group there in the afternoon because there is a great little restaurant at the top to grab a beer in...however, this trip it was too cold (and too early) for a beer. Martin also informed us that due to the Snow, Ice, Sleet, Rain, Frigid temps, that he will never bring another group to Austria and Germany in March again. He also was kind enough to inform us that this time last year they were in short sleeves...
After we left the fortress, Martin let us have a hot chocolate break at the Mozart cafe. Overpriced hot chocolate was just what my body needed to gear up for our next touristy attraction, Mozart's house. It was interesting to see, but I have to admit, not terribly exciting. It didn't take us very long and I was craving some McDonald's french fries for lunch. So we went and I discovered one of the best things McDonald's Austria has to offer: curly fries with a SOUR CREAM sauce. Anyone who knows me knows my love of some good sour cream, so this was PERFECT. Enough about food...now onto the BEST part of the entire trip.
Do. A Deer. A Female Deer. Rae. A Drop of Golden Sun. Me. A Name. I Call Myself. You get the idea. THE SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR! Not only did Martin arrange this for us. He had the bus come pick us up from the hotel. Pretty sweet deal. The bus has Maria and the children painted on the sign and I knew I was in for the best 4 hours of my day. I remember getting the Sound of Music for my birthday from Aunt Marg. (Thank you for sharing with me one of the greatest movies ever!) We got to see so much! The pond where Maria and the children fall out of the boat, the gazebo (where our tour guide said we were not allowed to go in anymore due to an 80 year-old woman trying to run around and jump from bench to bench singing "I am sixteen going on seventeen." true statement), the house, the road where the children are hanging out of the tree, even the church where Maria got married. Not only was it enjoyable for all The Sound of Music enthusiasts like myself, but it was a great tour of Salzburg and the surrounding lake towns. GREAT end to a GREAT trip.
That night, while my own family was enjoying an ATL birthday celebration (Happy 42nd birthday, dad. HA.HA.), we had our own 'family' dinner in Salzburg. Martin arranged a traditional Austrian meal for us at the hotel. We got all dressed up (dressed up by our standards, or whatever was still clean in our suitcases) We had salad, warm bread, a stuffing/pasta dish, and fantastic mashed potatoes with chicken and rice. I was stuffed! It was so fun to again have the entire group together, including Martin. Also on our trip was his future-daughter in law. She speaks German so she was our translator for the trip. She is super nice, and us girls enjoy asking her questions like, where to get our hair cut in verona, or where to shop, etc. Back to the dinner. Stories were shared, toasts were made, jokes were told, and all in all it was the perfect way to spend our final evening on our first group trip together.
The next morning (St. Patrick's Day), I had one of those forgetful days again and left one of my coats in the closet in Salzburg. Do not fret, for Martin has already arranged for it to be picked up and brought back to Verona! Again, Martin is the best. It was an easy trip home. We stopped in Innsbruck to drop off six girls who were going to go skiing there (Katie Hardaway included) and ate lunch at the most beautiful McDonald's I've ever seen. The view as incredible! And like every McDonalds should, they had wifi...We made it home to go out and have a green beer for St. Patrick's day before heading to Amsterdam in the morning! Are you tired yet, because I sure was!
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