Day 5: Salzburg

This was the day AB most looked forward to since she is a huge Sound of Music fan. We tried to stop at many of the famous movie scene locations in and around Salzburg (meaning: salt fortress). First stop was Mirabell Palace which was built in the 1600s, and so were the gardens. While they weren't made available to the public until the 1800s, the palace and gardens remain the most popular tourist attraction in Salzburg. We had fun touring the area, but it rained (more like poured) pretty much every hour we were there.

Gardens with a view of Hohensalzburg Castle in the background

Mirabell Palace

Normally it isn't that hard to see the castle in the distance, but the fog was pretty bad today

The famous Do-Re-Mi fountain

Next stop was where the famous boat scene took place: Schloss Leopoldskron (Leopoldskron Palace). This building was used for all of the scenes that took place behind the VonTrapp house. Their real home wasn't actually on the water, but they wanted it to be in the movie, so they used this place. If you look closely you can see the gold statues along the water that are famous from the movie (normally it is clearer to see but the fog was really bad). The building is now a hotel, so unless you are staying there, you can't actually go inside. 

Now onto Schloss Hellbrunn. This is a museum where the famous gazebo is now kept. It didn't originate here, but after being moved several times, it finally ended up at this museum in their beautiful gardens. About 400 years ago "trick" fountains were added to the gardens to entertain people. They are still there today, but we decided not to venture all the way back to that area of the gardens as it was raining cats and dogs when we got there.

 We were onto our next spot which was the town of Mondsee, but in order to get there you go by the lovely town of Sankt Gilgen (Saint Gilgen). Small little place, pop 3,700 that sits along Lake Wolfgangsee. This place is everything you would imagine a little Austrian village would be. Mountains all around you, some with snow, and quaint chalet homes. We only stopped for a few minutes since we had to keep going, but well worth the stop.

Now to the town of Mondsee which is about a 25 minute drive outside of Salzburg. The town is filled with charm, cute shops & restaurants, and the famous St. Michael Basilica. This was the wedding scene in the movie. I don't really remember much of it from the movie, but it was a beautiful church nonetheless. And for those still wondering....yes, it's still raining.

There was a market set up outside the church that day

Overall, our trip to Salzburg and surrounding areas was great, but we do wish it would have been sunny for at least part of the day for us to enjoy the area more. Maybe next time. Tomorrow it's off to Melk and Durnstein!

Day 4: Passau and Danube Sailing

Today we got up and decided we would hike up to the famous fortress that has wonderful views of the city and the three rivers. We got to the hiking spot and there was a sign saying the pathway was closed due to a landslide. We ended up walking up the cobbled stone street to the top. It was very steep and we were sweaty by the time we got to the top.

The VERY steep walk up to the fortress

Inside the walls of the fortress

The famous fortress, Veste Oberhaus, was built in the 1200s for the Prince Bishop Ulrich II. It is now a museum, with incredible historical artifacts, and great views of the town and rivers below.

view from the fortress of the 3 rivers coming together (see the 3 color variations, those are not shadows)

view from the fortress

Cathedral in downtown Passau

The fortress on the other side of the river in Austria

When many of the first bishops arrived to the town centuries ago, they felt that only Italian architecture was the best, so they hired famous architects and painters from Italy to come and help design some of the town in the Baroque style. there is quite a bit of Italian food here as well. Despite being a German town, Passau is known for its pizza and pasta! Inside the museum you could also see some of the Italian influence on their design and architecture.

an original coin press

Some of the various coins over the last 600 years!

Some of the fire trucks from the last 300 years

Apothecary

After lunch, we walked to the St Stephens Cathedral in central Passau. The hand painted ceilings, the hand carved columns, and everything else about this church was exquisite. Even the podiums were incredibly intricate. Outside of the Vatican, this may be one of the most intricate Catholic churches we have ever seen. St Stephens is also home to the 2nd largest organ on the world.

This town is known for flooding because it sits at the base of not just one, but 3 rivers. The main church in the old town of Passau keeps a flood height chart by the main door with the years the flood occurred. They do not have mandatory evacuations, so many people just stayed in their homes, or temporarily moved in with friends who live on higher floors until the water receded. As you can tell from the chart, the town floods quite frequently, but people still rebuild/repair and move right back in.

In the flood of 2002, the water came all the way up to the black car in the photo

A painting we bought of an artists rendering of the flood of 2002

Tomorrow we are off to the port town of Linz, and then we will take a bus/train to Salzburg, Austria!

Day 3: Passau

We slept in a little today since our bodies have been a little off with the 6 hour time difference. Our shuttle arrived to pick us up at the airport and took us to Passau. Once we arrived, we checked in to the river cruise ship, and immediately went into town.

We grabbed some lunch at a cute little riverside restaurant Braves München. AB speaks very little German, MB speaks none, and our waiter only spoke broken English, so that was a fun ordering experience. Somehow we ended up with delicious food and a great time.

We walked to the end of the Passau to a park where the three rivers meet: Daunbe, Inn, and Ilz. Because all three come from different sources, all three have very distinct colors. At the park you can actually see the mix of colors come together. The Inn is a grayish-green color because the water comes from snow melt and glacier melt. The Danube is brown because it's the most traveled and polluted, and the Ilz is black because of the marshy forest it travels through. Passau is called the Pittsburgh of Europe because of the confluence of the 3 rivers. Not really. Only our English speaking guide said that. Pittsburgh should probably be called the Passau of America.

The blackish color in the middle and left is not a shadow. That is actually part of the Danube mixing with the Inn. 

We had to be back to the ship for the welcome dinner, so we hitched a ride on the shuttle back to the ship.

Tomorrow we will have more time to explore Passau in before leaving for Linz/Salzburg!