Mercure Salzburg

... they filmed The Sound of Music around this area, and let me tell you, they were not greenscreening anything, people. This place is gorgeous! I think it had even Bruges beat on being picturesque. Winding streets, blue skies, cute shops, and the Alps. Seriously, how am I going to go back to Illinois after scenery like this? <br><br>Anyway, we started off our visit by taking a funicular ride up to the fortress, which ...

... we had ever seen, we decided to splash out and share one! Best waffle ever! Freshly made, smothered in heaps of golden syrup, strawberries, whipped cream and even shaved almonds would you believe?! We even had fellow travellers walk by and exclaim that they had 'food envy'... definitely worth the extra euros! Just shattered we'd left the camera on the bus.<br><br>Ok, signing off for real this time.<br><br>Love lots and lots,<br><br>the ever-expanding Chubby Bubbies, <br><br>Dani and Lewey.

<br><br> Before we left for Salzburg we had to say goodbye to our Austrian hosts. What a great couple - even though we know very little about them. We got on a bus and went to Salzburg. Things went fairly smoothly getting our next accommodation. We were only staying one night so it didn't really matter where we stayed - as long as it was cheap. Found a good place and I am fairly confident it was run by a witch - but a nice ...

Our original Austrian itinerary included a day in Graz, but we are really running out of precious time so we decided to skip it so we could see the salt mine in Hallstatt. And having missed Graz only gives me a very good excuse to come back!<br><br>We spent a lot of time on the road today trying to get to Graz. The GPS got confused once we were off the main highway. The steep and winding roads ...

... down and were given free ponchos, since it was raining. The show started, it was an Italian opera translated into German subtitles. We watched about an hour of it, and then left because we did not know what was going on. All four of us had a differmt idea of what was happening. Together I think we peiced together the storyline though. It was just really cool, the whole town shows up to these free festivals. I wish we had more stuff like that at home.

... at Schloss Hellbrunn, and purchased tickets which were only 4.50 (for students) and included an audio guided-tour of the castle. I found this place less impressive than Schonbrunn, for example, but it also felt more real. A lot more of the inhabitant's personalities remained, as it hadn't been totally re-decked for tourists. It also had some really pretty views outside, although you couldn't look down over Salzburg as you would be able to from ...

August 26-Monday<br>We left Kitzbuhel at 8:30. There was a brief stop in Berchtesgarden, in Germany, at 10:00. Up on the side of the mountain, we could see Hitler's Eagle&#8217;s Nest. It was rather chilling to see that part of history. The bunker is now a restaurant. Our rest stop overlooked a valley filled with wonderful homes. What a view! Back on the bus and on to Salzburg. Time 10:35.

... weather matched the day&#8230;glorious! In the evening, we went to a Farmer&#8217;s Buffet for dinner. It consisted of all the types of food that the local folks have. It was ok, but not my cup of tea. After dinner, though, we were entertained by a wonderful trio of singers doing songs from the Sound of Music. Great fun was had by all. It was then time to turn in and get ready for more adventures.