Ah yes, it was the Sound of Music day! The SOM tour was surprisingly good, but by no means was that the highlight of the day.
The morning started way too early with a long walk across Salzburg to begin my SOM tour. The tour guide was fantastic, and we got to see all of your favorite SOM sights: the convent, church, gazebo, yellow walls, do re mi parks, palaces, lakes, fountains, and.so much more. The guide was very informative with information about both the movie and the real family. Along the way, we even stopped for a luge ride and some world renowned sachertorte (my breakfast--MC would be proud). Of course, there was lots of SOM music, with some do mi mi, mi so so, re fa fa, la ti ti...(go fa).
Next to me on the tour was a great couple from Indy...add them to the list of incredible people I have met on the trip, from places like Tennessee, Missouri, Canada, Romania, Florida, Ireland, England, Washington, plus all the native folks in the countries and so many more! Although I will never see any of these people again, it has been a very memorable aspect of the trip.
I had not thought about it at all prior to today, but the tour constantly reminded me of how I got into singing, I guess about 12 years ago. A pair of lederhosen, a little goat herder, the SOM, and the rest is history! What a road it has taken me down...
A note to anyone who ever goes to Salzburg and does the SOM tour: take a mini bus tour, NOT the mega bus tour. I paid only 5 extra €, and I can only imagine how much better my experience was. We had 8 people to 1 guide verses 50 to 1. Plus, we had the sights to ourselves and extra things like the luge.
Other than that, Salzburg will go down as beautiful but a bit bland to me. I headed off to Hallstatt. Even with a botched train connection, the trip was exceptionally beautiful. It is a scene I have described before; the Alps, rushing rivers, glacier fed lakes, picturesque towns, etc. However, when I got my first glimpse of Hallstatt, my mouth about hit the floor. Hallstatt sits embedded in the side of a cliff as it drops directly down into Lake Hallstatt. The town is about as quaint as can be, coupled with this "out of this world" setting. Hallstatt immediately jumped to my list of favorite places on the tour, with the likes of Vernazza, Gimmelwald, Bruges, Bacharach, and Munich.
Getting to Hallstatt is half the fun. It has a "train station", which is merely a place the train stops on the opposite side of the lake. There is no platform or anything, you just jump out! From there a small boat is waiting to ferry you across the serene alpine lake with the mountains surrounding you in all directions. There sits Hallstatt waiting, a mere dot in the distance with its storybook buildings running fight down to the water's edge. Upon landing, the town is top notch to boot and as cute as can be. No doubt about it, I now see why Rick Steve's says people fall in live with Hallstatt even with a quick visit. Better yet, the town is currently empty of tourists!
Hallstatt is another place dripping with history--I guess you could say it is salted over with it. The town was tremendously important for millennia since like 800BC because of he amount of salt produced in the vast salt mines.
Tonight I am in the town Hostel, where i have a room to myself as the place is basically empty! (This is a big deal...no roommates!) For the whopping total of 30€, I paid for my one night lodging, plus a large pizza, chocolate cake, and a beer. You can't beat that!!! Yet another reason why so many of my favorite places on the trip have been the small towns: cheap prices, less tourists, the cutest towns, and the nicest people!
Tonight I took a great hike up the mountain that Hallstatt is embedded in. It as a spectacular hike up to the salt mine, and it was loaded with steep switchbacks. This is the type of place I could spend a week just hiking and taking it in.
Lots of pictures from today! Beginning tomorrow is the most adventurous and unique leg of the trip: Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic! I am very excited...when else will I get to do something like this!?!?
Last and definitely not least, happy Memorial Day. Thank you to all of you veterans and those currently serving. Special shout out to Marie King! One of the most meaningful things on this trip still remains my visit to the American WWII cemetery in Luxembourg.
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehn and goodbye!
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