Scott and Tiffany in Israel

Salzburg

The drive to Salzburg was beautiful. We decided to take the scenic route through the mountains rather than the faster and less scenic freeway. Tyler especially loved all the tunnels (over 20!) through the mountains and Tiffany and Scott enjoyed the fall foliage.

We found Peppermint Rittersport chocolate at a gas station along the way which made Tiffany very happy, as she was panicked when she couldn't find them in Vienna. We arrived at our bed and breakfast, the Pension Sallerhof, at about 6 pm. The staff recommended an authentic Austrian restaurant down the street. The kids got chalkboards and chalk to color with which was fun for them, but meant that they were covered in chalk dust by the time our food arrived. Tiffany had a Cordon Bleu weiner schnitzel and Scott had a very spicy weiner schnitzel with blue cheese.

The next morning, we had a wonderful breakfast of yogurt, eggs, bread, cereal, sliced meat and cheese with juice and hot chocolate. We had our own table reserved for us in the breakfast room, with a high chair for Brooke and a booster seat for Tyler.

Just a short drive from the bed and breakfast is the Untersberg cable car. Tyler loved playing with the toy cable car in the station while waiting to board. The cable car ride was amazing; it took us up over 1300 meters (4300 feet) in altitude. The top station is on Geiereck peak of the Untersberg mountains.

There is a local legend that the Emperor Charlemagne is asleep on his throne next to a round table inside the mountain. His beard has already grown around the table twice and when it makes it around the third time it will be the end of the world. We didn't get a chance to see him, but we did see some of the ravens that are supposed to fly around the mountain until that time.

Untersberg cable car

At the top, we put Brooke in the backpack carrier and we hiked to the next peak, Salzburger Hochthron. Overall the hike to the peak and back took us a couple of hours. We were a little out of breath from the altitude, but it was a beautiful day and the view was amazing.

Salzburger Hochthron

After we descended, we drove to Hellbrunn palace. We took a tour of the trick water gardens that were built in the 17th century. They were lots of fun. There was an outdoor table that the Archbishop of Salzburg would use when he had guests over. He could cause water to spray through all of the seats except for his own. We got to watch an elementary school class get soaked. There was also a rain grotto room that rains inside, a room full of bird sounds produced by water forcing air through whistles, and lots of unexpected jets and hidden water spouts. We survived mostly dry, but only because we were very careful to walk where the ground was dry.

Hellbrunn Water Gardens

After the tour, we wandered in the gardens and toured the palace. We also watched a glass blowing demonstration and tried to convince Tyler that he didn't need anything from the gift shop.

Hellbrunn Water Palace

On the grounds of Hellbrunn is the authentic gazebo used in the Sound of Music. It is actually one of two gazebos. This one was used for all the outside shots. There was another, much bigger one in Hollywood used for the inside shots. We ate a picnic lunch on the grass nearby and let the kids play on the playground equipment. The palace park was huge and the kids were sad when we left.

Sound of Music Gazebo

After Hellbrunn, we drove to downtown Salzburg. Tyler saw the funicular to the top of the Salzburg fortress, so we had to ride it. We explored the fortress and then rode the funicular back down. We walked through the pedestrian zone, saw the house where Mozart was born, window shopped and then ate pizza for dinner. After dinner we drove back to the bed and breakfast and slept.

View of Salzburg

The yard of the bed and breakfast was beautiful, with lots of flowers and green grass. There was also a crystal clear stream running by on the other side of the fence. It was very relaxing and refreshing. We enjoyed the view from our balcony.

Bed and Breakfast backyard

Our plan was to go on the Salzburg salt mines tour. However, once we got there we found out that Brooke was too young for it. It was a two hour tour, so we decided not to split up. Instead, we drove back to downtown Salzburg to visit Mirabell palace. It is the site of some of the scenes in the Sound of Music. We had fun playing and exploring the grounds.

Mirabell palace

Tyler and Brooke had lots of fun with the gnomes at Mirabell.

Mirabell gnomes

Here are the famous Do Re Mi stairs from the Sound of Music.

Do Re Mi Stairs

Brooke fell asleep on the ten minute drive from Mirabell to the Salzburg zoo, so we ate our lunch in the car until she woke up. At the zoo, there were coin opereated toy construction machines. Tyler and Scott paid one Euro to scoop up dirt and move it around for about five minutes.

On the job

We loved the zoo. The African section was especially fun because we were able to tell Tyler that his Grandma and Grandpa Bowden live in Africa and have seen some of the same kinds of animals. Zebras are Tyler's favorite animals, so he was thrilled to see some up close. He was disappointed, though, that they wouldn't talk to him. Tyler also enjoyed seeing the tiger, panthers, rhinos and bears. Brooke had fun pointing to all of the animals. She seems to like animals and is starting to name the more common animals.

Tyler and the Rhino

After the zoo, we went back to downtown Salzburg and ate at a Japanese restaurant. The only other family in the restaurant was an Israeli family. We overheard them speaking Hebrew so we had fun talking to them for a few minutes (in English).

After another restful night at our bed and breakfast, we headed back to the Czech Republic.

Tyler-isms:

"I'm a cow." - Tyler's response after Scott called Brooke a clothes-horse.
"I'm sad because I want a movie like this at home." - About the ski channel that shows panoramic views from the top of ski resorts, including views of chairlifts and cable cars.
"Push me again, my time is running out." - On a swing.

Brooke-isms:

"horse" - One of Brooke's favorite animals.

Posted by sjbowden at October 13, 2005 8:18 PM