First Lone Scouts activity - hike/walk

The boys and  I are working, albeit slowly, on scouts via the lone scout program.  We took a stroll around our property here and found some really cool stuff.  Thanks to Grandpa for motivating us!

The Net, Deep Thinker and I were hot and sweaty but we had fun.

a moth in the hand is worth...?

There's not a bug in the world this kid can't catch!

We figured this could be a bird nest.  What do you think?

Salzburg's hills are alive part 2

The next morning we set off early to Mirabell Gardens – or at least the sidewalk in front of it – to rendezvous with our guide for Fraulein Maria’s Bike Tour! We had heard from more than one friend that this was one of the highlights of their time in Europe, but I was a little nervous about how well our group would do. The Linguist and J. took turns pulling a bike trailer (or the princess carriage) that Rosa rode in and struggling to keep the tandem bike with Deep Thinker on the back upright. The rest of us just had our individual bikes to control. Not having ridden a bike regularly for a long time (see the crazy Ferrara bike ride post here), I was a little nervous!

Our humble little group of 10

Franzisca was our guide as we rode through the area, stopping regularly to look at different sites from the Sound of Music. We learned that most people from Salzburg have never even seen the movie! And in true Hollywood fashion, it was cut and pasted from different areas and put together to create the Salzburg we know from the movie.

We ate bread at the oldest bakery in the world while we looked at the real version of the cemetery that the family hides in while making their escape to the mountains. The one in the movie is a Hollywood set, designed to look like the one in Salzburg that was still in use, and therefore, unavailable. It was really beautiful and we could’ve spent another half hour wandering around there looking. 

We also stopped to look at the outside of the stone amphitheater where the music festival is held in the movie. Originally, it was a stable for horses. The arch where Franz stands is next to it, as well.

As you can see, it appears a lot shorter in the movie

And we stopped to splash in the fountain with the horses. It sits next to the building that houses the Nazis later in the movie. Franzisca told us that when they filmed the movie (just 10 years after the end of WWII), the Nazi flag on the outside of the building caused a kind of panic among the citizens of Salzburg. It made me think of War of the Worlds. I can’t even imagine the shock of seeing that flag up there and then seeing Nazi soldiers wandering the streets in uniform again as part of the filming. It must have inspired horror.

Entrance to Maria's abbey

Interior windows in this abbey were
quite unique though not seen in the movie

Super cool wood work in Maria's abbey...
also not seen in the movie!

From there we went up to the top of a step hill near the fortress where Maria’s abbey is located. We got to go in, but found that the interior of the church isn’t the one used in the movie – just the courtyard and the iron gates. The bell the children ring when they come to see Maria is no longer there since the nuns (who still live there) tired of listening to the tourists ring it! But it is the church where the real Maria began her noviciate. She was an orphan raised by an atheist uncle, but coming into town one day, came upon a church service and was converted to God. After coming to the convent, she had difficulty staying indoors all day and they sent her as a governess to the Von Trapp family because she was often unwell in the dark confines of the abbey.

Incidentally, Salzburg is home to 49 churches! The one Lutheran church stands across the river from all of the Catholic churches.

The "other" church on the other side of the river

The character of Uncle Max was based on the family priest who ended up guiding them as they toured the world giving concerts after their escape. The Baroness was modeled on a princess, who was a cousin to the captain’s first wife. Apparently, Maria’s journal tells how she was not in love with the captain when he asked her to marry him, but accepted his proposal because he asked her not only to be his wife, but to be the mother of his children. She accepted because she loved the children and probably would have refused if he had proposed differently! She did eventually fall in love with him and loved him better than any other person in her life. They lived together in Salzburg for 10 years before leaving Austria through Italy on a train. The mountain they climb over in the movie, would actually have landed them in Germany!  

From here we had a fun (and really steep) descent off the hill and down through green fields where the executioners house was located (this was not in the movie!). Apparently they kept the town executioner isolated from the rest of the townspeople so he wouldn’t have a conflict of interest with his job! We also saw this really cool new copper roof and speculated on the cost…

Harvard now owns and runs a study abroad program
housing its students at this "rough" location

We rode through a park that sits on a lake and saw the back half of the Von Trapp house from the movie (lake scene and scene with pink lemonade on the veranda). Turns out that the front and back of the house are two different homes miles apart! The back is currently owned by Harvard University and is used as some sort of study abroad center. The only room in the house we know from the movie that actually exists is here. It’s the ballroom Maria wanders into on her first day.

Songbird and I really enjoyed the cool, tasty milk

Next we wound down out into the country, stopping at a farm to get fresh milk (although the microbiologists in our group passed on that one!) and again for ice cream at Hellbrunn Palace that’s known for its trick fountains that use only gravity. (We’ll have to see this next time!) After our ice cream stop we saw the famous gazebo that was actually Hollywood-built and was later gifted to the owners of the back of the house (see paragraph above), but it was then moved to the area beside Hellbrunn Palace because they were having so many tourists trying to sneak in to see it that it was annoying the owners of the house. Sadly, the doors are kept locked now because a tourist broke her ankle trying to re-enact Liesel’s dancing scene. We had some discussion here because the gazebo looks so much smaller than the one inside the movie…

According to the plaque on the wall, this is the original gazebo
from the movie...I'm still not convinced.

From there we rode back along the tree-lined road you see when Maria arrives at the front of the house. Incidentally, not the same tree-lined drive where the kids are hanging in the trees – that was filmed out in the Austrian countryside. We crossed the bridge she comes across with the children and ended up in Mirabell Gardens at the famous do-re-mi steps.

In addition to stopping to learn more about the history of the area and location of things from the movie, we also stopped to sing songs from the Sound of Music. We whirled in circles in a green field and sang “the hills are alive with the sound of music” and pedaled our bikes along the lake singing “My Favorite Things” (until Pianogurl and The Net had a minor accident that slowed us down for awhile). Meg re-enacted the scene where Maria sings “I have confidence” while coming down the lane to the house. My favorite was do-re-mi on the steps of Mirabell Gardens. One tourist asked why we weren’t in costume…

Do-re-mi...family style

All in all, it was so much more than what we anticipated when we booked the tour! Our guide had a lot of knowledge about the Salzburg area, as well as scenes from the movie and information about the real life of the Von Trapp Family. The day was beautiful and the Salzburg area is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been on earth!

Salzburg's hills are alive part 1

A Few of our Favorite Things!

We arrived in Salzburg early and checked into our hotel. The rooms were charming – attic spaces with pretty wood floors. The bathtubs were tucked under the slanting angles of the roof in each bathroom, making the spaces light and warm. Window air units had also been installed, much to our relief! As a general rule, Europeans don’t do air conditioning. One Italian friend claims it makes her sick, and therefore is unhealthy. They don’t usually do ice in the water for the same reason!

Unfortunately, our rooms only had space for 5 to sleep. Upon inquiring, we were told that it is assumed children under 10 just sleep with the adults – even though the reservation clearly showed sleeping space for 7. The manager/owner didn’t handle the situation very well, but we did end up with a large pak-n-play for Rosa. (Thankfully, she was thrilled to sleep in a “baby bed.”) He told us we could drag an extra mattress out of an upstairs closet for Deep Thinker. Our friends kindly shared a blanket with us. If not for the poor way this blunder was handled, I would recommend this hotel whole-heartedly, but as it was, I think we’ll look for a new location when we visit next time.

Our next stress was procuring tickets for our Mozart evening. The tickets had been purchased several weeks prior, but for some reason, would not come through as an e-mail attachment. We were told that without actual printed tickets, we wouldn’t be able to go on the tour. Thank goodness for a kind young man who knew his business and worked the system for us! We boarded the boat for our river cruise and enjoyed a leisurely hour working our way up the Salzach River.

View of the Austrian Alps from the restaurant in Salzburg's fortress

Beautiful old town Salzburg

Salzburg, which means “salt fortress,” sits around the banks of the Salzach River. The old town architecture is mainly baroque (according to Wikipedia…I don’t have enough knowledge to identify much more than Gothic architecture at this point!) and although a lot of the town (46%) was destroyed in bombings during WWII, a lot of the historic center was left untouched. Some of the most beautiful mountains I’ve ever seen rise up to the South of it. (See the Linguist’s untouched photos of the Alps near Salzburg below). There’s a huge fortress called Festung Hohensalzburg that overlooks the city. Built in 1077, it was used to shelter the citizens during desperate times. We later learned that the fort was never taken. In fact, during one siege, the desperate citizens had only one bull left for food and in an attempt to trick their enemies, they paraded it on top of the wall each morning, painted a different color. After a few days of this, their enemies gave up and went home, figuring they had so much food a siege would never be effective! Salzburg-ians(?) are often referred to as “bull painters” for this reason.

The city was ruled by the Archbishop of Salzburg and we saw numerous residences built for different religious leaders who lived in the area. They looked like small palaces! We were particularly enchanted with the copper rooftops on many of the churches and homes.

Following our river expedition, we walked through a lot of the Old Town area on our way to the funicular. I’d describe this as a cross between a train, an elevator and a ski lift. After showing your ticket, you pass through a turnstile and crowd into small elevators with rails and handholds coming from the ceiling. We were packed in with a ton of Asian tourists who were headed up the mountain, as well. The track ahead is so steep that it looks almost impassable, but the cars adjust to keep you standing mostly upright (at least after the initial jerk!)

There wasn't really space to breathe let alone take a photo...
this shot is going back down

Our restaurant was at the top of the mountain and is the source of the incredible pictures the Linguist took (see first shot above). We started with breads and two different cream cheese spreads – one that had dill in it and another that was more tomato based. This was followed by tomato soup with croutons, then a main dish that was either spinach-stuffed chicken, vegetable strudel or salmon. I didn’t taste the salmon, but both the chicken and the strudel were delicious! Both had a creamy mushroom sauce that was wonderful. We finished up with the dessert plate pictured below.

Lovely presentation, no?

I was a little nervous about how the kids would do with a meal that took an hour and a half, but there was enough to see outside and the food was interesting and tasty enough that they were all well entertained.

After dinner, we headed into the fortress for our Mozart concert. I think the correct term is a chamber stringed orchestra? It was comprised of about 12 string players, and they were joined for one number by a pianist. Of course the room was nearly full when we got there and were escorted to our front side row seats. We were quite the object of attention since we had the only young children in the room. Many of the glares were undisguised, and C. and I had a good laugh about that! I’m not sure where some people think grownups come from, but they look at children as though they are aliens from a different planet!

The concert was fantastic! The kids loved it and were so well behaved (whew!) Three different women came over to tell me how well behaved they were and to compliment us for exposing our children to culture! It’s always nice to get those compliments after being glared into a room.

The Mozart concert in the fortress provides a lovely view of Salzburg

Rosa was especially excited when they played Beethoven's fifth symphony.  We have a CD called Beethoven’s wig that sets funny lyrics to classical pieces. This particular one is sung in two parts by Mozart, who wants to play his violin late at night, and his wife, who would really like to get some sleep. Apparently this was truly a source of contention between the couple – which just makes the song funnier! Rosa listened carefully and afterward told me that it was “The Music of the Night” repeated 3 times. I didn’t realize she was listening that closely.

We enjoyed the interplay between the musicians that we could see with such close seats. We could see the violists laughing with their eyes at the drama with which the cellist attacked his instrument. We also audibly heard the bass player snort when the first violinist made a minute mistake in a solo run. In reply, the violinist locked eyes and played the next repeat kind of as an in-your-face at the bass player. These were all really subtle things that we could never have noticed from further back, but it was fun for us to see how much fun they were having at a concert that for them I’m sure is just routine. When the piano player walked in for her piece, we immediately noticed her loud tread.  It sounded like she was stomping in to attract attention. She left the concert at intermission the same way…not sure if it was the shoes or if she just likes to make the grand entrances and exits. Either way, her playing was superb!

The Linguist and I have determined that we need to attend more concerts in the future…I’m sure they must have concerts like that at our smaller theater in Ferrara. Whether I can drag him to the opera again is another matter entirely…

Two days in Vienna...not enough part 2

  As previously mentioned, we didn't have tons of time in Vienna so we had to pick and choose.  The Imperial Treasury, one of Beethoven's 39 (literally) apartments and the apple strudel demonstration were just right for our group.  

  From history class you hear of the riches of aristocracy often tied to the Holy Roman Empire.  Well After visiting the Schatzkammer, German for the Imperial Treasury, my appreciation for things my history teachers probably said (but I wasn't listening) has grown immensely.  This place had some pretty amazing jewels (pun intended).  The photos will walk you through a few highlights...I must admit that I'm relatively skeptical of some of European museums, churches, historical sites, etc due to claims of authenticity when what you see looks quite the contrary.  For example, this museum has a tooth that supposedly belonged to John the Baptist (the picture didn't come out well).  In the same display, it has a beautifully ornate small box in which lies a piece of wood reportedly from the manger in which Jesus Christ was born.  Really??  I have a hard time believing these two articles are authentic.  However, the pictures below try to capture some truly unique treasures.        

This gold "Potence (chain of arms) of the herald of the order of the golden fleece" dates to 1517 was worn by knights.  I bet it weighs 10 pounds. The Order of the Golden Fleece was one of the most prestigious orders in the Middle Ages and still exists today, alongside the Order of the Garter. The current head of the Order is Karl Habsburg-Lothringen. It was founded by Duke Philip the Good and Princess Isabella of Portugal in 1430. The Legend of the Golden Fleece goes back to antiquity, a well-known Greek myth, according to which Jason and the Argonauts stole the Golden Fleece from Colchis.  How's that for crazy.

No kidding...this is an 8-foot-tall narwhal tusk that was thought to belong to a unicorn.  It was valued more than gold because many believed it had healing powers!

The "Sabre of Charlemagne," from Eastern Europe dates from 900-950.  It was made of steel copper. The hilt has wood, fish skin, gold, silver and precious stones.    

Burgundian Court goblet, 1453/67, is made of rock crystal, gold, enamel, pearls, diamonds and rubies...I told the Journalist this almost 2 foot tall goblet is not in our budget!

This 1571 Spanish gold ewer and basin were used for imperial baptisms...wow!

Super fancy silver tray used during foot washing ceremonies or so Google translate tells me dating from 1670-1675. 

Stephan Bocskay's "Turkish" crown,1605, of gold, precious stones, pearls and silk weighs a little over 4 pounds.  This was a gift from the Ottoman empire to Bocskay, prince of Transylvania, who helped expel an enemy to the empire from Transylvania.       

You can't visit Vienna without being approached by a dude in tights, a curly white-haired whig and a dress coat all in Classical musican fashion asking if you want to go to a concert.  Supposedly, these dudes are not really offering you a hook up to a concert, but they will happily take money from unsuspecting, unaware tourists.  We opted for an authentic Beethoven apartment.  It was a nice walk that led us past a few cool churches and an amazing city hall where we later had an Austrian lunch.  I've seen a lot of drawings of Beethoven.  Comparing the images I've seen with his death mask created a new more flat-faced Beethoven.  What do you think?

Beethoven's death mask...his face is much wider than I thought it was.  There is some disagreement as to how exactly he died...isn't that always the case?

For me, this sculpture matches with the above death mask.  The death mask from the wiki link above leaves me with questions.

Pianogurl in Beethoven's Wohnung Heiligenstadt apartment in Vienna

Pausing for lunch, we enjoyed some local Austrian cuisine.

One of the other highly recommended things we visited was the famed apple strudel demonstration at Schonbrunn (see our first Vienna post for more on this amazing complex).  I like apple strudel and had no clue it had Austrian origins.  The show was about 45 minutes or so.  The gal gave the presentation in English and German as we sat around small round tables eating our strudel.  Her showmanship was great, her wit delightful and her talent for ensuring the strudel dough was impeccable was awesome.  To boot, you get the recipe, she tells you how to make it while showing you at the same time. Throwing the dough to increase its size is just one part of the show...perhaps part of the coolest for me.  The kids really enjoyed her show and were very impressed with her baking talents.  For us, this was a delightful, fascinating break from the heat that we'd recommend to anyone going to Vienna.  

It's pizza crust, it's pie crust ...no it's Apple Strudel dough.

Here we find the "guts" of Austria's famous Apple strudel at Schonbrunn's strudelshow. 

Later in the day as we walked through the market, we found this interesting poster plastered on the wall.  For me, the contrast between Strudelshow and fish model is a bit jarring! You can still throw a fish in the air!

What the heck?

Two days in Vienna...not enough! Part 1

So after the opera (see our opera pants post), Siena, Florence and Venice, our friends C and J had to go to Austria where J had a professional event to attend.  We opted to go up as well because we wanted to spend more time together and we really also wanted to see some of Austria.  Might I say the trip was great!  We broke up the trip into two parts -- Vienna & Salzburg.  In Vienna, we first visited Stephansplatz square's church.  This impressive Gothic structure reflects some great contrasts as does the surrounding modern architecture.    

Stephenplatz's spires scream gothic

Stephenplatz's contrast are unique...20th-century tiles contrast with its Gothic spires.

Note the modernistic building the ancient Stephansplatz priest now stares at in wonder.

The Net and Deep Thinker pose in the square by the church

Another amazing site to visit is the Schoenbrunn palace.  There are many options for visiting this place...we opted for a ticket that allowed us entrance to the palace, the glorietta (below), the prince's garden, the labyrinth and an apple strudel demonstration.  The tour of the palace itself was quite interesting.  You're provided a small hand-held device that talks you through each room of the palace in brief two to four minute segments.  There was even one room where Mozart played his first concert for the Queen.  Super cool!  Rosa was even able to use the hand-held tour guide and listen.  She did great!

The Glorietta offers stunning views of Vienna

One side of the Prince's garden walkway.

The net had lots of fun with the distortion mirrors that squash you
or make it look like your legs are seven feet long.

The Net's supported our visit to Schonbrunn...
on a side note, we ran up the hill to see the view from the glorietta which was totally worth the sweat.
We were hurrying to make our apple strudel demonstration.

The Net and Deep Thinker tried to imagine having
a driveway this big in front of the house

Pianogurl enjoyed the labyrinth and the views it offered 

Deep Thinker thought this bird swing was pretty cool too.
You really had to move up and down to get the wings going.

Very near Schonbrunn, is the world's oldest zoo, Tiergarten Schonbrunn.  We saw many beautiful animals but the maze of ant displays was unforgettable.  They had ants in mounds, among trees cutting leaves, carrying leaves back to the mound, and lots more encased in plastic so you could see the whole shabang.  The boys were in awe and the girls despite visual disgust were too.

Rosa liked the ostrich bone structure.

Here are some of the ants doing their work...
there were numerous displays like this one spread through out the aquarium area. 

This Southern Red Bishop was patient and allowed me a few close up shots

This red panda was totally sacked out!!
I need a tree like this one.

I'm pretty sure this Panda is smiling...what do you think?

Here's a quick shot of us on Kohlmarket road which leads up to
another massive museum complex...see next post