Days 1 and 2

What a long 30 hours this has been!  We had three great flights, including seats in the exit row for our Newark to Frankfurt trip.  What a different experience that was when you actually have leg room to stretch out!  My favorite part of the flight was the snack on the trip from Frankfurt to Salzburg:

I LOVE hazelnut Manner wafers (especially when accompanied by a glass of water, right Ariana?)

We followed our flights with more adventures in transportation as we found our way from the Salzburg airport to our hotel via the local bus and trolley system.  After some tense moments where we weren't sure we were on the correct bus, all was well.  We even had a field trip of 20+ third or fourth grade students with us on the bus for most of the trip.  It was like we were still in school!

Once we checked in to our hotel we ventured to the Mozart Residence where Mozart penned the bassoon concerto on June 4, 1774 at the age of 18.  On exhibit currently are several paintings of Mozart at different ages.  It was quite interesting to be in his home and know that he and his family spent time there all of those years ago.  

After some top secret souvenir shopping, we made our way to the Fortress Hohensalzburg.  The ride on the funicular railway offered spectacular views even though it was quite rainy today.  The fortress was filled with interesting artifacts, include a number of period instruments which would have been played.  

We ended our evening with a tasty meal of McDonald's.  (We opted for this because we were so worn out and ready to get to our room that even McDonald's seemed like an adventure!)  I had a quite tasty Italian salad with spinach, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella...not your typical McDonald's fare...and a quite delectable cherry vanilla pie for dessert.  For the more experienced and elder crowd, this was the old style fried pie, not the baked version...well worth the extra calories from the frying I think.

Marionettes from the Salzburg Marionette theater

Mozart Residence

Horse fountain from Sound of Music

Incredible hot chocolate from the Manner Cafe

The fortress from below

Just a little something for Connor

Michael Haydn was Mozart's friend, fellow composer, and younger brother to Franz Joseph Haydn

I couldn't stop singing Feniculi, Funicula when we were going up the mountain!

Views from the Fortress

Sound of Music fans, the black roof building at the front of this photo is in the cemetery from the scene where the family is hiding prior to escaping Austria.

They take their exit turnstiles very seriously at the Fortress!

In the cemetery from Sound of Music scene mentioned above

There really are Weiner dogs here, even though we are in Salzburg, not Wein.