Hot as in sweaty, thirsty, too-hot-to-move Bostonians. When we arrived in Salzburg, temperatures had reached record highs. It was easily over 100F, sunny, and humid.
Upon arrival, we spent most of the daylight hours in our hotel - Motel One - a modern and (thankfully) air-conditioned hotel about a 10 minute walk from the city center. Across the river from the hotel was a laundromat, so being much too hot to walk around the city, we decided to do our laundry. The laundromat, not having A/C, was even hotter than the weather outside. We threw our clothes in the wash and attempted to find a bar, or bottle of water at the very least. Nothing was open, likely due to the heat wave. Chris, who is much more tolerant of extreme temperatures than me, went on a walk to track down some water and eventually came back with a tiny bottle which we crushed in about 5 seconds. Twenty minutes later, our wash was done. We bailed on the dryer and walked back with the wet clothes around our arms and neck, protecting us from the sun while cooling us off a bit. This may have defeated the purpose of washing our clothes, but we didn't care!
That evening it cooled down just enough to make walking tolerable, so we headed into town.
Upon arrival, we spent most of the daylight hours in our hotel - Motel One - a modern and (thankfully) air-conditioned hotel about a 10 minute walk from the city center. Across the river from the hotel was a laundromat, so being much too hot to walk around the city, we decided to do our laundry. The laundromat, not having A/C, was even hotter than the weather outside. We threw our clothes in the wash and attempted to find a bar, or bottle of water at the very least. Nothing was open, likely due to the heat wave. Chris, who is much more tolerant of extreme temperatures than me, went on a walk to track down some water and eventually came back with a tiny bottle which we crushed in about 5 seconds. Twenty minutes later, our wash was done. We bailed on the dryer and walked back with the wet clothes around our arms and neck, protecting us from the sun while cooling us off a bit. This may have defeated the purpose of washing our clothes, but we didn't care!
That evening it cooled down just enough to make walking tolerable, so we headed into town.
Salzburg before sunset
Fraulein Maria Bike Tour
We love bike tours because they allow you to see a lot of the city in a short period of time and you learn a lot along the way. The only bike tour available on our second day in Salzburg was the Fraulein Maria tour which takes you to all the famous places from the movie The Sound of Music. I'm a huge fan of musicals and this one is no exception. I love it! So I was pretty excited about the tour. Chris, who also enjoyed the movie, was hoping for a tour with a little more historical context about the city. Thankfully the heatwave broke and it was quiet pleasant outside. All in all we had a great time. Our guide Steffi even looked a little bit like Liesel (the capitan's eldest daughter)! Here are some pictures from our tour:
We love bike tours because they allow you to see a lot of the city in a short period of time and you learn a lot along the way. The only bike tour available on our second day in Salzburg was the Fraulein Maria tour which takes you to all the famous places from the movie The Sound of Music. I'm a huge fan of musicals and this one is no exception. I love it! So I was pretty excited about the tour. Chris, who also enjoyed the movie, was hoping for a tour with a little more historical context about the city. Thankfully the heatwave broke and it was quiet pleasant outside. All in all we had a great time. Our guide Steffi even looked a little bit like Liesel (the capitan's eldest daughter)! Here are some pictures from our tour:
Our tour group. Two dudes and a bunch of ladies.
Old fashioned car wash: This is a fountain where Salzburg's high society used to drop off their horses to be washed. I guess it's in the movie but I forget when!
Chris waiting in near the horse washing fountain. The paintings on the wall are supposedly of really nice breeds of horses.
The back of the Von Trapp house. This was a private residence when they filmed the movie. Now it belongs to our neighbor, Harvard University.
They used a different house for the scenes that took place in front of the house. The house appears to be much larger in the movie due to some trick photography. It is currently used as a dormitory for classical music students. How appropriate!
This was the plaza where they filmed one of the first Nazi scenes. They hung a giant Nazi flag over the door of this building. In real life, the people in Salzburg had no idea they were filming a movie and completely freaked out. To this day, 90% of people in Salzburg have not watched the movie and some say it's because of this incident!
The fountain from the scene where Maria sings her solo. She had to splash water from the fountain, but was too short to reach the water. So they built her a platform just for the water splashing moment.
Cemetery where the von Trapps hid from the Nazis
St. Peter's Cemetery
Stopping for a quick bit along the way. Pumpkin seed pretzel!
If you haven't figured it out, our guide made us do silly poses at different stops along the way.
This has nothing to do with the movie. Our guide told us that the house in the background is known as the hangman's house (hence, Chris' pose). Apparently all the kids in Salzburg are terrified of this place.
In front of the nunnery where Maria Von Trapped lived. They used the same gates in the movie.
Yet another pose, in front of the famous gazebo that was the setting for the love scenes in the movie. We had to pretend to dance. Everyone did a ballet move, except Chris who showed off his signature spastic moves!
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!
Trick Fountains
The next day we went to Hellbrunn Palace before driving to Vienna. Hellbrunn Palace was built in the early 1600's by Markus Sittikus von Hohenems, the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. Apparently the Archbishop had too much time and money on his hands, and spent said excess time and money devising an elaborate home and gardens with hidden water fountains everywhere. This would allow him to soak his unsuspecting guests during meals, strolls, conversations, etc. Needless to say, we got a bit wet on this tour.
The next day we went to Hellbrunn Palace before driving to Vienna. Hellbrunn Palace was built in the early 1600's by Markus Sittikus von Hohenems, the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. Apparently the Archbishop had too much time and money on his hands, and spent said excess time and money devising an elaborate home and gardens with hidden water fountains everywhere. This would allow him to soak his unsuspecting guests during meals, strolls, conversations, etc. Needless to say, we got a bit wet on this tour.
This is where the Archbishop would soak unsuspecting dinner guests. These kids also fell for his tricks.
This poor woman was squirted by the elk as she exited a building. At least she was prepared with a raincoat!
Drying off outside of Hellbrunn palace.
After drying off at Hellbrunn, we began what turned out to be a painfully long journey to Vienna. Stay tuned for more!
RSS Feed
