April 18 2013

April 18 2013

LAT report

We started out this AM with no hot water in the shower...grrrhhhhh,  but took a cold spit bath and headed for McDonald's for breakfast!  They don't have sausage biscuits but do have hash browns so that is what I had.  Went back to hotel to meet up with tour company for our Sound Of Music tour.  Natasha came at 0900 and had a really nice van that we all fit into very comfortably.  We had arranged this private tour before we left Portland.  She said in the allotted time she could show us around the city if we liked and indeed we did!  She pointed out what different buildings were and there origin and how they came about.  She really reviewed the history of Salzburg and Austria.  The city is divided into old and new and you can tell when you went from one part to the other.  The main goal was to show us the places where the movie was shot.  It was in many places all over the city and some not even in the city.  They kind of took some liberties on the sites.  We saw the Von Trap house, the gazebo, the lake they rowed in, the trees they climbed, the mountain Marie sang on, and even the actual church that  they were married in!  Natasha told us the real story behind the Von Trap's and we saw the convent that Maria went into and left.  But the scenery in the hills and the lakes was the most amazing!  It was a great tour and lasted just over 4 hours and was well worth the charges.  When we got back to the hotel we did a quick freshen up and took off for lunch and more shopping..very nice and fun to do.  More plans to look around tomorrow ...up to the fortress .. We hope.

LMR report

Last full day in Salzburg.  Made the most of it.  One exception , however- got up in our excellent hotel room to,bet ready to face the day and had no hot water!  They called maintenance up.to the room and they agreed there was no hot water!  They offered to give us another room down the hall to shower in but we didn't want to,walk the halls in our PJ's, so we declined.  Took a four hourSound of Music tour.  Had a great guide, Natasha.  She gave us a lot of city history and showed us many sites where the movie was filmed. As is usually the case places that looked right next to,each other during the movie are great distances apart. Little town called Monsee is where the wedding was filmed.  Very pretty, but looked much bigger in the movie. Saw the balcony where the baroness sat, the trees the kids climbed and one of the gazebos where Liesl sang "sixteen going on seventeen".  I tried hard not to sing , since any of you who have heard me sing would appreciate. But I couldn't completely control it!  We returned to the hotel and we have hot water now.  Did some shopping - had lunch and beverages.  Tomorrow  part day in Salzburg,then back to Munich for our last night in Europe on this trip.  Till then--!