Salzburg to Munich

Steve woke up extremely early, and decided to make a solo trip to hear the nuns singing matins in the abbey at 6:45 am. The nuns were not visible - they were on an upper floor, behind a wall with slatted openings - but he could hear the singing. He took some lovely videos so we could hear it too --

I too woke up early -- not quite as early -- and borrowed a bike from the hotel to go exploring. I rode around the lake and then headed into the central city. There were many schoolchildren biking to school, people biking to work, and tourists. I loved biking around and seeing it all and enjoying the morning light.

For breakfast, we enjoyed a spectacular buffet in the marble ballroom of the Schloss itself (we are staying in a hotel next to the castle). Steve and I enjoyed our muesli and eggs and fruit and yogurt and coffee and pastries on the balcony overlooking the lake. The table was set with glasses and decanters of crystal glass - so pretty. (The kids breakfasted later than us.)

Next stop: Hellbrunner Park in Salzburg where the Sound of Music gazebo has been relocated. It was locked, sadly, so we couldn't recreate the dancing scenes between Liesl and Rolf in the thunderstorm. But we enjoyed wandering around and the wonderful playground. Liesl has decided that German parks and play areas are far superior to American ones -- more fun things to climb and swing.

We surprised Sebastian with a visit to Hanger 7, where the Red Bull team's Formula 1 cars and planes are located and available for public display. (We told him we were visiting an art museum.)

 

And then we hit the road for the drive to Munich -- about 90 minutes on the autobahn. It was nice to see the countryside, with the Alps off in the distance, and to see the many churches with their distinctive bulbous spires. The other side of the highway was suffering a traffic jam because of an accident that closed the road, and we watched in sick fascination as the backup stretched for miles and miles and miles. No one was even moving!

After we arrived in Munich there were some logistics: checking in to the Hotel Augustin, whch is technically a hostel but definitely the nicest hostel I've ever seen; returning our rental car (the Germans and French take the whole car rental business very seriously in terms of checking the car for damages and talking through all parts of the car with you). We wanted to see the Glockenspiel perform on the hour, which meant a forced march as fast as we could for about 2 miles to the old town. The kids were troopers.

We enjoyed the music and show of the Glockenspiel, especially since Liesl has had a clock fascination for this entire trip. I was surprised by the show -- one knight knocks the other over!! Best part. We headed off an early dinner at a beer garden because we were absolutely starving, having missed lunch.

Dinner at a beer garden: pork and potatoes in many forms: schnitzel, pork knuckle, roast; potato as pancakes, cubed, salad, mashed. Excellent beer.

More wandering of the old town once we were refreshed. We couldn't take photos in the Frauenkirche cathedral because there was a mass being celebrated when we were there, but the church was beautiful -- somewhat plain on the outside, but stunning on the inside.

Back to the hostel -- happy to have seen a small bit of Munich, and wishing we could have a second night. There was a lovely park outside our doors and families hanging out and picnicking, and there was more we would have liked to see in the city. But tomorrow we're on to Berlin.