The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music!

Just imagine that I am singing to all of you in that beautiful voice that I don't have! After my long night of travel I arrived in Salzburg, Austria. Let me tell you that city is all about the Sound of Music because some of it was filmed around there and Mozart because he was born there and lived there until he was 24. I found my hostel, dumped my bags, and headed out for the day.

Instead of exploring Salzburg first, I went to the little town of Werfen about 50 minutes outside of there. The train ride was beautiful and snaked through the hills and small towns along the way as well as showing some beautiful trees too. I went there because the largest accessible ice caves in the world to the public are there and I wanted to see them. I headed up there and you have to hike up about 20 minutes, take a furnicular up (like a cable car hanging from a wire) and then hike up another 20 minutes to the entrance of the caves. It was beautiful to be that high up and be able to look down and see everything. By the time I got to the top, I was hot! That was very short lived though because it is icy cold in the caves and very dark. They take you on a guided tour and explain about how the ice forms, the discovery of the caves, and some of the history. It was extremely dark so they gave us all these lamps with fire in them to light the way. That was very brave of them to trust us with fire I thought! As we walked around in there, there were points that the guide would light this string thing and place it on the ice to light up some of the ice and the sculptures that have naturally formed and they were jsut breathtaking! I was so glad that I decided to do that (even though I was not a big fan of the cold).

The next day I spent exploring the town of Salzburg after I did a bit of shopping. For those of you who do not know yet, I have decided to stay here a month longer until December 12. Sínce I was not planning on staying that long I came completey unprepared for winter. Luckily, I found this discount shop (kinda like Ross) where I purchased a couple of long sleeve tops, a fleece lined jacket, and another zip up fleece, all for very cheap!

After my bit of shopping, Salzburg was beckoning. I headed towards the Schloss Mirabell first to get the "classic Slazburg view." You can see it in Sound of Music if you watch it cause there is a scene filmed there. It is this huge garden with a perfectly manicured lawn with intricate designs in it made of flowers. There is also a rose garden there with tons of benches and trees that is great for just sitting. In the background you can see some of the big roofs and domes of old Salzburg. It was beautiful.

I crossed the river and headed into the old town where I wandered through the streets with their very elaborate signs that hang outside of the shops. It felt like Christmas because it was cold and there are Christmas shops all over the place there. I saw a beautiful old church, a couple of the fountains and monuments in the town, and then I walked up to the fortress high on the hill. There I saw some of the state rooms, a museum they have there, and some other interesting things on disply (like torture chamber stuff which I probably didnot need to see). The weather was cool and crisp. The leaves were a beautiful red, yellow, and gold. There was a bit of a breeze making it the perfect autumn day. The town reminds me a bit of Solvang for those of you who have been there. It was quite cute!