Ciao and Au Revoir: Sound of Music

DAY 11**
Snowing had stopped & so we decided to visit Schloss Hellbrunn (Helbrunn Palace) in the outskirts of the city. We used the city bus service to reach the site, and it was obviously very popular on Sundays with the tourists.

For the season, the windows of the Palace had been decorated as an Advent calendar - you can just see one of the numbers for the day of the Advent season in this photo (------>), and the grounds were decorated for the Christmas market being held here.

OK, more Christmas markets!!! DW bought some lavender scented salt (scrub) and DS decided on hot roasted chestnuts from one of the stalls!!

Look - no children!!!

Couldn't visit here and not be at the glasshouse where the scene for the song "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" was filmed.

- well, maybe DD is the one going on sixteen.....

On returning to the city in the afternoon, it seemed appropriate to let the kids loose on the ice skating rink just near the Cathedral - do you think they enjoyed themselves???

Again, a most charming scene in this most charming of cities.....

We took the opportunity to take a look inside the Cathedral, whose bells had tolled yesterday for us on our descent from Festung Hehonsalzburg. The statue outside the Cathedral was encased in a glass pyramid, no doubt to protect it from the elements.

The inside of the Cathedral was similarly glorious and ornate. One had to strain to look up at yet another stunning dome!!!!

Our short sorjourn in Salzburg had rapidly come to an end - tomorrow we are catching the train to Villach on the other side of Austria, close to the Italian border. From there its not far to our next stop, the ski town of Tarvisio....

DAY 10*****

Ok, so you can guess we have arrived in Salzburg, home to the movie The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the place where we finally saw snow!

First on the agenda the next morning was Mirabell Gardens, surrounding Schloss (Palace) Mirabell. These gardens were the setting for the "Doe-Ray-Me" song from the movie The Sound of Music, when Maria had taught the Von Trapp children to sing. Maria Von Trapp's history is recorded on plaques around the city.

It isn't surprizing then that Salzburg is a very musical town, being Mozart's birthplace and where he spent his early years.

It is also the home to many students studying music, and when strolling through Mirabell Gardens we were pleasantly surprised to come across a group of ?high school students singing the song from the movie just like the Von Trapp children with Maria as they skipped around the gardens.

Note this photo - look behind DS and see the group of young people standing around the edge of the fountain - so here we are in Salzburg, watching an impromptu performance of this very song!! How magical!!

A view here of Schloss Mirabell from the other end of the gardens.

Next on the agenda was a visit to the castle on the hillside surrounding the city,

Festung Hohensalzburg (Salzburg Fortress).

It was built by the Cardinals as a haven/fort against invaders of the city. The Cardinals in those years were in charge of the army, and each cardinal in turn added to and further fortified the castle. It can reached by funicular railway (gondola) - which we used on the way up. The fortress was never overrun in battle, but was surrended to Napoleon without conflict.

DS can be seen here with the symbols of some of the ruling Cardinals - note the turnip to the right of him? Apparently one of the Cardinals had a turnip thrown at him by his uncle when he was a child - as a snub to his uncle, the now powerful Cardinal chose to make it his symbol!

Marionette Theatre was also developed here in Salzburg, and the Festung Hohensalzburg has a museum dedicated to the art.

Fun for children of all ages!!!

We decided to walk back down to the town but on route, were hit by a decent dumping of snow, and the sounds of the cathedral bells tolling at 3pm for more than just a few minutes!

Earlier this morning we had spotted 2 things we had to indulge in:

1. A button shop for DW, who judging by her expression here was truly in sewers' heaven. This particular store, Jos Mayer, had been in this same location selling buttons and trims since 1793 - a true business feat considering how few sew clothes at home today!!! DW had to indulge, find out more on her blog <here> .

2. Were the charming horse & carriage rides around the city - OK, a tourist trap we know but so very appropriate to this charming city. So in the afternoon, after the snow had stopped falling we all had a tour around the city - the lap rugs were truly helpful as it was still VERY cold!!!