Salzburg and the Sound of Music

Right now we are on the train to Austria. I was ecstatic to see that the seats are set up in little sections along a corridor, just like when Harry Potter and his friends travel to Hogwarts (minus the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans). We also confirmed my suspisions about how whatever you flush down the toilet goes directly onto the tracks. The entire train trip is going to be over 6 hours long. Yikes!

We finally arrived in Salzburg. Our first order of business was to find some food. Once we ate and took a power nap, we headed off for the marionette theater. The show they did tonight was "The Sound of Music" and it was delightful. I was amazed throughout the entire performance. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

(We couldn't take pictures during the performance,

 but I found online that someone else did)

Today I learner that Europeans are pretty smart about conserving water with their toilets. There are two different flush buttons. One for #1 and the other for #2. Ingenious.

To finish off the day, we stopped in a restaurant for dessert. It turned out to be Greek, and it was delicious. Plus there were a bunch of very entertaining men in there having some sort of celebration. Now I am super excited to go to sleep.


Things that made today great (Wednesday) :
1. We finally got a good night's sleep. Yay for my body getting used to Europe time and a quiet room!

2. Sound of Music tour
  a. They picked us up at our hostel so we didn't have to find it
  b. Our guide repeated his phrases so many times it was comical
  c. All the sites from the movie (Von Trapp house and lake, convent, wedding chapel, glass gazebo,     Mozart's foot bridge, hohen salzburg fortress, and the mirabell gardens they dance around in, and the lakes from the movie beginning

  d. Apple Struedel and ice cream in Mondsee

  e. Finding out that when the Austrian president went to Washington DC, they played "Edel Weiss" for him because the movie led them to believe it was an Austrian song, but he had never heard of it before because Rogers and Hammerstein wrote that song. :)

3. I found water that only cost €0.63. Water is such a rip off everywhere we go-especially in restaurants.  One of the phrases we've learned in German is "Is the water free?" Nope. Never.
 
4. Watching a bee pollinating the flowers in Mirabell Gardens

Another thing you should know about The Sound of Music movie: If the Von Trapps had actually climbed over the mountain they did in the movie, they would have ended up in Germany.  More specifically, right at the Eagle's Nest (Hitler's headquarters).  The real Von Trapp family took a train out of there.