Passau to Linz. This day we arrived in Passau, and the ship would sail during the day to Linz. We chose the “Tour of Salzburg” excursion – an all-day trip that left at 8:00am, and returned to the ship at 6:00pm, so we really didn’t see anything of either Passau or Linz. (Maybe next time.) But our excursion to Salzburg, on a beautiful sunny day, was very memorable.
Our first stop was Hellbrunn Palace so we could visit the gazebo used in the Sound of Music. Salzburg is all about the Sound of Music. And Mozart (he was born there and lived there for a while). But the real tour began once we got into the town of Salzburg itself. From there it was a walking tour that included Schloss Mirabell Gardens (with it’s own royal history, before they filmed the song Do-Re-Mi for the movie), and walk-bys of the hotels where the two leads stayed. But then we got into the more traditional part of Salzburg, with it’s unique and very pretty shopping and residential streets, enjoyed a pre-arranged lunch, and some free time to explore on our own. As always, the guide was very informative and entertaining. As dusk settled in, we made our way back to the bus for the ride to Linz, arriving shortly after the ship itself arrived. Most people took one of the two excursions (the other one was to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic), and everyone seemed happy with their choice for the day.
Our coach for the day. Scenic° would move the coach from town to town while we sailed, so we usually had the same driver.
Hellbrunn Palace – built in the early 1600’s was a day residence in summer. It has no bedrooms, so every day they would head back to Salzburg for the evening.
And the reason we went to Hellbrunn – the original gazebo used for “I am 16 going on 17” from the Sound of Music. Well…that, and there were public washrooms. This isn't even the original site for the gazebo, it had been moved here many years ago.
The smaller building in the center is the hotel where Julie Andrews stayed during filming, refusing to stay in the same hotel as Christopher Plummer.
The park by Schloss Mirabell, where the gang sang “Do-Re-Mi”. Different time of year, different lighting, and no matter how much I threatened, I just couldn’t get those old folks to dance around. But rest assured, my sky is faked out too.
Looking toward the old town on the left.
The shopping streets of the old town, with their unique iron merchant signs. Even McDonalds had a nice (understated) iron sign.
The yellow building on the left is where Mozart was born. More interesting, was the SPAR supermarket on the ground floor.
Cute little kids sitting on a cinnamon stick swing. We were there before the Christmas Markets had really begun, but we found a few stalls here and there.
Horse drawn carriage rides are a big deal in Salzburg.
These stones are part of the “Stolperstein” (Stumbling Stones) art project. “It aims at commemorating individual persons at the last place of residency – or work – freely chosen, before he or she fell victim to Nazi terror. As of 31 Jan 2017 over 56,000 stolperstein have been laid in 22 European countries.” We found many of them around Salzburg.
Our dining hall for lunch - very elegant. Lunch was schnitzel. Again.
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Danube River Cruise - Oct 2017