Austria- These are a few of my favorite things!

Interesting fact: The Sound of Music was filmed in Salzburg, Austria. (Thank you to my sweet mother in law who made sure James and I saw the movie before we visited the city!) 

These are a few of my favorite things in Salzburg:

1. The fabulous views of Austria:

Incredible.

2. The Salzach River:

We took a boat cruise on the river at sunset.

We enjoyed our morning coffee and afternoon lunch along the river.

3. Neat Fountains:

These were trick fountains inside of a palace. The Archbishop who lived there would trick his guests by turning on the fountains to spray on them when they weren't expecting it.

 He would turn on the fountain and water would shoot out of the seat of these chairs during a meal.

While we were going on this tour, the tour guide would turn on the fountains and surprised many guests by soaking them with water even if they clearly did not want to get wet. Many of them even had cameras in their hands. Yikes! Thankfully, I was quick to avoid her traps, and my camera survived.

Fountains decorating the city center

4. Learning more about Mozart:

This was the home in which Mozart lived through most of his childhood. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed, but it was really interesting to see the instruments on which he played and some of his original compositions.

5. Delicious Austrian treats:

Pretzels, of course!

Who doesn't want their wedding decorations to include freshly baked pretzels hanging by pink silk ribbon to frame the entrance into the wedding reception?

The famous Sacher chocolate torte

The yummy Mozartkugel by master confectioner, Paul Furst

Authentic apple strudel was the perfect way to end a pleasant evening.

6. Lovely restaurants:

Umbrellas lined these quaint restaurants along the main streets of the city center.

7. The uniqueness of different churches:

St. Peter's cemetery is the oldest Christian graveyard in Salzburg. This is, indeed, the place where the Von Trapp family hid in The Sound of Music.

God's perfect peace

 8. Extravagant palaces:

These are the perfectly manicured Mirabell gardens that surround the beautiful palace.

Inside the Mirabell Palace

9.  Unique train rides:

Our wonderfully tiny bedroom on our over night train trip to Italy  

This has to be the smallest room in which I have ever stayed. We had to step over each other to be able to move. Alas, it was a really fun experience! I definitely recommend it!

Salzburg, Austria- On top of the Alps!

After our stay in Munich, we took a short train ride over to Salzburg in Austria. Our time in Austria was lovely. From the train station, we took a quick walk to our hotel and began to seek advice about what to do in Salzburg. With the help of the friendly hotel staff, we got the Salzburg 24 hour pass. (If anyone goes to Salzburg, I highly recommend it.) We started day with an amazing view of Salzburg and Germany from the Alps. But how shall we get to the top of the mountains?

 By taking a cable car, of course!

 We had a fabulous view from inside the cable car as we slowly wobbled high up into the Alps.

 We absolutely loved the amazingly fresh air.

We figured that the rest of our day would not likely get any better than this so we decided to hike a while and really breathe in how beautiful the Lord's creation is.

We spotted the summit and went for it.

You can barely see the tiny cross on the summit in the background.

We made it! It was quite the rewarding hike.

After our hiking, we stopped to enjoy lunch at a little restaurant with this incredible view.

I tried to get a better picture of the view, but it just looked like I was creeping on this family's lunch. So I took a photo break to try this delicious sparkling apple Austrian drink. 

 It was very refreshing after our adventurous morning.

This day in Salzburg was definitely one of our favorite days of the vacation.

We are now at the end of the pictures I have uploaded to my computer. After I uploaded through our first day in Salzburg, my computer ran out of space. What? I had no idea I had taken so many pictures.... Just kidding. James said that my mom would be really proud of the vast quantity of photos I have of our holiday. (I'll begin throwing in British words here and there.) Anyway, I am in the process of adjusting the space on my computer so that I can continue sharing with you all. More to come very soon.

German Castles

Germany Day Two

 On our second day in Germany, we traveled to visit Germany's most famous castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein, and Schloss Hohenschwangau. 

We started the morning with a few delicious German pastries. We ate while we rode the train to a spot just outside of Munich.

Palace number one. (It was less impressive in appearance; however, it has quite an impressive name: Schloss Hohenschwangau.)

Our view of the German Alps.

Lunch break. Bratwurst. 

This is how we felt having to eat so much German food. It was only our second day. So much sausage.

And then we saw the castle.

 The Disney castle to be more specific. (It's the one Disney used as inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle.)

Our beautiful view of Germany from the Alps. A lovely way to end our stay in Germany. 

Next stop: Austria.