The hills were alive

I finally made it to Salzburg!  It took a lot of persistence (I am now officially the self-appointed best-train-ticket-buyer-ever), but was certainly worth the effort of getting there.  Since I watched the Sound of Music for the 123548392420th time and realized that I needed to get to this magical place where people sing and dance and fall in love, I have wanted to go to Salzburg. It was as beautiful as I imagined and more!

Rachel and I dragged ourselves off the train and into Salzburg early Saturday morning after very little, uncomfortable sleep on the night train.  We dropped our stuff off at our hotel (notice the missing 's' that you might find in a word like 'hostel'; thank god for off-season prices) and headed toward the old city.  In my mind, Salzburg was two things: 1) a beautiful and interesting city with sights 2) the place where the Sound of Music was filmed.  Therefore, my photos are organized that way. Let's start with Salzburg-the-beautiful-and-interesting-city:


Salzburg is where Mozart was born and lived when he wasn't touring about Europe impressing people with his talent.  Mozart is a name I've know as long as I could remember.  However, I would be lying if I said I knew anything about him before this trip.  He actually had a very interesting family and an interesting personality as displayed by the relics of his birthplace and residence.

Mozart's Birthplace

Mozart's Residence

(and Rachel!)

Mozart's family grave

On our day of Mozart, Rachel and I were also lucky enough to find out about a concert at Franziskanerkirche  (yes, that's really what it's called) Saturday night.  Based on my German translation skills, I think we saw a Salzburg Philharmonic (Junge Philharmonie Salzburg) , a Salzburg Choir (Chor der Salzburger Kulturvereinigung), the church's choir, and a Mozart choir all perform Mozart's "Requiem."  It was absolutely beautiful and such a perfect way to end the day.

the concert

(from the front row!)

Some of the sights:

view of the old city from one of the bridges

Salzburg Dom (cathedral)

Festung Hohensalzburg

from the top of the castle

view of Salzburg

Salzburg Alter Marketplaz decked out for Christmas

Salzburg at night

Okay, now for Salzburg #2: the Sound of Music city.  I refused to pay 40 euro to get on the bus and take the tour when I had two capable feet to carry me around the city.  Here are the places I found:

Nonnberg Abbey

(where the real Maria VonTrapp was an almost-nun)

"I Have Confidence" fountain

(unfortunately surrounded by a xmas tree tent)

Do Re Mi steps

the corner of the venue where the VonTrapp family sings the final performance

me at St. Peter's Cemetery

(where the family hides from the Nazis until they escape to the Alps)

It was all a dream come true to be there.  Now I can't wait to go home for Christmas and watch the movie again with a renewed love and understanding.

Now that I am back in Paris, my two months of train travel has officially come to an end. I can't believe it!  My 15 travel days of the Eurail Pass took me to Antibes, Nice, Tours, Bordeaux, Biarritz, Lyon, Auxerre, and Mont Saint Michel in France; Berlin, Stuttgart, and a little bit of Munich in Germany; Rome in Italy; and Salzburg in Austria. Wow.

My COMPLETED Eurail Pass!

But don't worry - the fun doesn't stop here. I am jet-setting off to Madrid this weekend and Prague the weekend after.  Then, two weeks later, the most exciting destination of all: Buffalo, NY!