Germany Day 16 – The hills are alive….

with the sound of music… as we headed out on our Sound of Music tour. First stop was Leopoldskron Palace, which they used for many of the exteriors and was the lake the kids swam in.

Such a gorgeous spot and we had our first Goldie spotting of the day.

We then went to visit Hellbrunn Palace, where the gazebo is now housed. Remember “16 going on 17”?

Beautiful gardens here.

While I was photographing the flowers I looked up and saw a Golden, whom I was allowed to pat…

and whom promptly rolled over for a tummy rub, still holding her ball in her mouth. I was so happy :-).

Unfortunately we had to leave and head off in the coach. Another golden was spotted. The Goldies here are very light and quite small.

Next stop Wolfgang Lake. Mozarts Mum was born nearby and it’s believed she named him after the lake.

Such a pretty place. As you can imagine I took quite a bit of video.

We then drove to the absolutely gorgeous town on Mondseer. I would have loved to been able to stop and take photos along with the way here.

The kids had fun prancing across the field.

We then went to visit the church where the wedding was filmed.

Time for some apple strudel, which was truely one of the best I’ve ever had. Unfortunately the photo I took of it is on my phone (but you might have already seen in on instagram, facebook or twitter).

We then frolicked back through the field. But I realized too late I felt really bad about squashing the flowers, though I did try to avoid them.

Loved this place so much and really wanted to spend more time here. It was lovely seeing all the families out walking or biking.

We then headed back to Salzburg in the bus and were dropped off at the Mirabell Gardens where 5 scenes from Do- Re- Mi were filmed.

More pretty flowers.

And a really great statue guy.

Yet another golden was spotted (so many dogs out today)

We then caught the funicular up to see Hohensalzurg Fortress (not a castle after all).

We did the audio tour but were once again disappointment. It seemed badly done and we didn’t learn much (though I’m thinking not much happened here). There were lovely views from the top though.

Once again we’d missed having lunch at lunchtime. It was 3pm and we wanted to get something to eat. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to eat at this gorgeous cafe.

Back down the funicular Kevin found a German sausage to have (nothing vegetarian). The photo I took of the sausage looked too disgusting to put on here, so you get an action shot of Kevin eating it instead.

When the group all met up again we walked to Mozart’s birthday, which has been turned into a museum.

We were able to explore on our own but we were pretty tired and had very sore feet so weren’t much interested in reading all the plaques. Would have been a lot better with a guide to point out things.

Afterwards I discovered that at the bottom was a SPAR (supermarket) packed full of lots of healthy foods.

We bought some bananas, and I got a lentil salad (for a very late lunch at 4pm).

It was rather yummy and I felt good about giving my body something nourishing.

We had some free time and would have loved to go shopping but nearly all of the stores were closed. Instead we had some fun….

and I made another friend….

Then it was back to the hostel….

where I enjoyed not one, but two lovely cups of tea while working on my blog (in the lobby where you can get free wifi as we don’t have any internet access while in Austria).

Then it was time for dinner. Not quite sure what they were – I think potato with spinach and cheese, then fried. They were rather yummy and it made a nice change. This hostel has definitely had the best vegetarian options.

After dinner we hung out with the teachers for a bit then headed up to bed. I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep tonight. Too many aches and pains. Really wish I could have a nice hot bath….

Tomorrow : Back to Germany to visit Neuschwanstein Castle and on to Munich