Day 4: 30 June 2010

Had to make up for lost time so we slept only 3 hrs. last night.  After much debate, we decided to go full speed ahead to all of the places in the Salzburg area we still wanted to visit before traveling south to Italy.  Walked to town this morning and caught part of a German Mass in the Cathedral.  Afterwards, we raced across the river to take a quick picture at the birthplace of Joseph Mohr, composer of “Silent Night.” Grabbed a few souvenirs & breakfast, then hit the road

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One good thing about our late start yesterday was that our Salzburg Card was still valid for part of today.  We were able to squeeze in Hellbrunn Castle to tour the prince-archbishop’s gardens with trick water fountains and two more SOM scene.  The gardens and fountains were built so the archbishop could entertain and impress his guests by spraying them with hidden water fountains. They were everywhere…side walks, inside thresholds, seats…you name it, and they were there. The fountains themselves were cool, but it is not cool when you are walking around with your camera.  A highlight of the castle garden was the gazebo from the SOM.  It was not originally here, and we couldn’t go inside, but it was cool to picture Liesel singing and jumping from bench to bench!  Finally decided to try the famous Mirabell Mozartkugeln before leaving Salzburg.  We both agreed that these chocolate balls were surprisingly very good even with pistachio and nougat inside!

Our last SOM site was Leopoldskron Palace on a small pond outside the town.  This is the scene where the children fall out of the boat into the water and Captain Von Trapp is falling for the baroness on the back balcony of the palace.  The pond was a bit murky partly from geese poop, but the path around it was nice.  We’re still not sure if this is also where the children were playing in the trees as the Captain drove by.  Wanted to drive out to Mondsee to see the “Wedding Church” from the SOM, but it was way out of the way and we didn’t have time.  Looks like we already have one reason to come back to Austria!

On our way out of Salzburg we stopped at Berchtesgaden (Germany) to see Hitler’s mountain retreat (Eagle’s Nest) and bunkers.  To get there, we had to drive up a windy road past cute chalets and through the woods.  The road brought us to a parking area where you get a bus ticket for a 15min. ride to the top on a narrow, windy road with huge cliffs, sharp drop offs, and green valleys below.  Once we got off the bus we had to walk through a deep tunnel in the mountain to an elevator which brought us to the nest, or Kehlsteinhausn at 1,834m.  It was cloudy today, so we couldn’t see all the peaks in the distance.  In fact, as we walked up to a large cross at one lookout, clouds and fog covered the area and the crack of thunder boomed nearby.  It was a bit scary w/ so little shelter at the top.  The chalet itself is actually a restaurant today with Hitler’s 1938 fireplace still there. An interesting take and good views at the top, but not much in English.

Before leaving Berchtesgaden, we stopped at the Nazi Documentation Center and walked through the Hitler’s vast network of bunkers created inside the mountains for meetings, archives, and living quarters.  After the Allies’ victory, most of the items in the bunkers were taken away or destroyed.  Regardless, the tunnels were impressive.  We had heard that you could once view Hitler’s apartment in here, but only a fraction of the bunkers are open and this was not there.  Decided to skip the exhibits in the Documentation Center b/c they were all in German.  If we had more time to take the 75+ stop audiotour, we could have definitely spent a good part of the day learning about Hitler and Nazi Germany here.  Maybe another time…esp. since students and teachers get in free.

Afterwards we hit the road to Lisa & Benson’s.  Wanted to take the Grossglockner Pass or Brenner Pass down from Austria, but didn’t have time.  As it was, the autostrada took nearly 6 hrs. w/ some traffic and a few rest area stops.  From Bertesgaden, we passed by small towns and steeples sitting on the sides of the mountains. The drive around Innsbruck was stunning!  Tall snow-covered peaks, winding roads, and tons of truckers.  In Italy, the road wound downhill into the valleys, and we passed small towns, castles, and lots of vineyards with grapevines on every inch of land possible!  Once we hit the A4 in Verona, the drive turned much flatter and became a mix of vineyards, cornfields, and industrial plants.

Finally arrived in Montegalda at Lisas & Benson’s much later than we would have liked.  Montegalda is a very small town with small roads and tall cornfields and grapevines all along the road.  Lisa and Benson’s apartment was a palace esp. compared to the Snooze. We had our own room and bathroom, and they had dinner waiting for us courtesy of Chef Hart.  Spent a while catching up for really the first time in a month.