Austria

Woke early and went on Bob's 4 hour "Sound of Music tour" around Salzburg and the lake country. Saw the back of the Von Trappe house they filmed at, wall above the city and the gazebo that Rolf and Leisel danced "I am 16". Even stopped for a ride on a single person sled luge down a slope. Did a walking tour on our own through the city and ate Chinese food for dinner. Salzburg is a town of many churches (47 of them) and the bells ring every 15 minutes all day and night. Gary was upset when he couldn't find his ear plugs.

Austria in October 2002
Salzburg and Hallstatt
Woke early and went on Bob's 4 hour "Sound of Music tour" around Salzburg and the lake country. Saw the back of the Von Trappe house they filmed at, wall above the city and the gazebo that Rolf and Leisel danced "I am 16". Even stopped for a ride on a single person sled luge down a slope. Did a walking tour on our own through the city and ate Chinese food for dinner. Salzburg is a town of many churches (47 of them) and the bells ring every 15 minutes all day and night. Gary was upset when he couldn't find his ear plugs.
Salzburg
	Mozart Plaza	Plaza with Castle in background
		Gazebo that Rolf and Leisel danced "I am 16"
	The Mirabell Gardens, which were designed and first planted out in the 18th Century, are the locations where Maria and the von Trapp children danced around the statue of Pegasus, the winged horse, and throughout the rest of the gardens, as they sang the memorable "Do-Re-Mi" song.	"Wedding Church" in Mondsee, where Maria and Georg Von Trapp were married.

Hallstatt
Hallstatt is a mountain village on a lake with tons of hiking and biking trails. We stayed 3 nights and would still be there, if we had more days. The town originated from Salt Mines that dates back the pre-bronze age. They refer to salt as being white gold. Salt was used to preserve food. There was also a Catholic church that used to dig up the dead and stack the bones in a building marking each skull with the family name, due to the fact that they did not have room in the cemetery. This decreased after the Catholic Church accepted cremation. Went to a great history museum, fantastic multimedia displays showing the history of the area. Big museum for a little village, but UNESCO made this a world heritage site and the museum went in a couple of years ago. This area is so significant in history that there is a period of time called the Halstatt Era.
	Halstatt Lake	Gary in Halstatt
	Hiking steps up to ridge road	One of many salt mines above Hallstatt
	One of many wood piles above Hallstatt
	Market Square	Cemetary in Cathloic Church


Berlin - Potsdam \| Leipzig - Schwarzbach \| Salzburg - Hallstatt \| Rothenburg - Koln \| Bath - Stonehenge - Oxford

Salzburg and Hallstatt