2019 Germany – Day Fourteen – The Hills Are Alive

Monday, 23 September

After thirteen days without rain, it finally happened. Dolora and I woke up to a heavy overcast morning. We headed down to the breakfast and ate our fill. Headed back to the room and the rain started, steady and cool. We took advantage of the opportunity to catch up on some email and the internet. About noon, the rain slowed and we went back to the old part of Salzburg. We had a “Sound of Music” tour scheduled for 2 pm so we had some lunch and took a walk to make sure we knew where the tour started. We visited one of the churches that we missed yesterday since they were having mass.

Since I have never see the complete Sound of Music (SOM )movie, some of the following is speculation. We started the SOM tour with a view of the convent used in the movie for indoor scenes. Next was the hotel where Julie Andrews and the cast stayed which is only steps from our hotel. There was a stop in the lake country where some opening? scenes were shot. A visit to the Von Trap house used in the movie as well as a gazebo. Dolora is my SOM expert and I promised to watch the movie start to finish after the tour. We were dropped off near our hotel. It turns out that the Mirabell Gardens, the park near our hotel that we visited last night, was also the site of several scenes (and Dolora didn’t recognize those!).

Having survived the SOM tour, I wanted to see the Dwarf Park which is connected to Mirabell Gardens. It is supposed to be the oldest dwarf park in Europe but really, how many dwarf parks can there be? There were probably about two dozen dwarf statues that I thought were more like gnomes. I enjoyed the dwarf park more than the gardens.

After a brief visit to the hotel, it was time for dinner. Our first choice was Zum Fidelen Affen, The Funk Monkey, but there was a half hour wait. We passed L’Osteria, a highly rated Italian restaurant, on the way. So we headed back there. Caesar Salad and Tomato Soup for Dolora and a green salad with olives and seafood pasta for me. Another good dinner.

Tomorrow begins our return to the states. We will take the train back to Kaufbeuren. We will say our goodbyes to Nicole and Frank there. Tuesday morning, Anna will drive us to the Munich airport. Two weeks has gone by remarkably fast. We have enjoyed wonderful hospitality, good food and beer with incredible weather. It will be difficult for another vacation to be better than this.