Salzburg - Mozart and The Sound of Music

What a day! Headed out at 8:30am for Salzburg. Beautiful drive into the hills on the way to Salzburg. Shortly outside of Linz we began to see snow and the view was beautiful -- truly a Christmas scene -- evergreens and the ground covered in snow. First stop was at Mondsee, a lake near Salzburg which was the site of the abbey and church used in The Sound of Music. The priest saved this decaying church by charging each tourist 1Euro and used the money to restore the building to its original beauty.

From there it was a short drive to Salzburg. one of the most beautiful cities not only in Austria but also in the world. Following a tour which included the Mirabell Gardens, Mozart's house (Salzburg was his birthplace) and the Bishop's residence, we were on our own. For 2 hours we ate bratwurst, drank Gluhwein (another mug!) and explored the city's Christmas Markets and shops on our own. A perfect ending to this day was hot chocolate and Sacher Torte(famous in Salzburg) in a lovely coffee shop in one of the squares in the Old Town.

We returned to our ship which had sailed to Passau, Germany, in our absence and was docked in the center of the city. This relatively small city of only 50,000 inhabitants is located at the junction of 3 rivers, theDanue, the Inn (Innsbruck), and the Llz. The main part of town is somewhat squeezed between the Danube and the Inn. Fifteen minutes after reaching the boat, we headed into town to explore the historic areas -- and the Christmas Markets. Just as we purchased our Gluhwein (if you're counting, this is mug#6, )big snow flakes started to fall. It was just like something out of a movie to be walking through this beautifully decorated town square with it's brightly lit stalls, sipping hot Gluhwein and watching the flakes fall. I even found a booth selling Feursangen. For those not familiar with this German specialty, it's a traditional Christmas drink which friends sip around the fire and tell tales. I have a Feursangen bowl from our days in Germany 35 years ago and hope to find a new one eventually.

We were in for a special treat after dinner (delicious as usual) as the ship's crew sang Christmas carols in German, Hungarian and then English with our assistance. THEN, Santa arrived with special gifts for any of us who sat on his lap for a photo -- got some great pictures (maybe even a little blackmail). A very fun eveinging drew to a close as we gathered around the piano to continue singing carols and the ship sailed toward Regensburg, Germany -- our next destination.

Linda