As soon as we walked out of the station there was a café…we had to stop there…I think that’s the only place I relished milk so much… The gal at the counter was so sweet…she was really excited to see us…the first thing she asks…INDIA?? And when we say yes…she gushes…I love Bollywood..Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerjee…She tells us that she watches all his movies..they are dubbed in German …except the songs…WOW…
I really wanted to watch the dubbed version…however to go all the way to Austria and watch a Bollywood movie…my aunt would have beaten me up…
Neetu, our travel agent, had booked us in a small but very nice, quaint family run hotel. Hotel Lasserhof, inspite of a very convenient location in the city centre has a very quiet and tranquil environment. After a quick freshen up we decided to visit some of the surrounding alpine towns close to Salzburg…
Zell am See, located on the Lake Zeller See, is a picturesque little town…we took a leisurely stroll along the lakeside promenade … then sitting silently by the lake staring at the snow covered peaks in the background…My aunt just didn’t want to move from there…
But we were hungry….and the pavement cafes in the town centre were very inviting…
After getting something to eat we took a bus to Kaprun…the ride from Zell am See to Kaprun is beautiful… Kaprun is another charming alpine town …walking through the streets just enjoying the scenery …the wooden houses with bright flowers in pots hanging over the balconies…town was more like a garden in mid air…
The next day we planned to do the ‘Sound of Music tour’ … we had a pick up at 9:00 AM from the hotel…Peter, our guide was reallllllyy good…. At the end of the tour I couldn’t stop myself from telling him that he would make a better Maria than Julie Andrews… He spoke non stop from the beginning till the end…and not rubbish…he was very very entertaining….
The wonderful tour takes one through Salzburg and then the picturesque lake district… what breathtaking views of the landscape …and constant commentary by Peter as to which scene of the film was shot where… he would also pointed out the historical and architectural landmarks in the city … all this interspersed with his jokes….
The sites that we visited were the Leopoldskron Castle, the Trapp family home … the Leopoldskron Lake in the front of the castle is where the children fell whilst boating… The Hellbrunn Castle where the glass pavillion or gazebo was reconstructed in the gardens. Nonnberg Abbey is the oldest convent in the German speaking part of Europe. Maria was a novice there. The baron and Maria were married here in 1927. Some of the scenes for the movie were also shot here…
We had a shopping / souvenir buying stop at St.Gilgen and Lake Wolfgang …but I was too busy just appreciating this beautiful village that I had very little time for the shopping….
Tea break at Mondsee…the strudel is something to die for…so said Peter..and he was right… the best in the world…
Finally back to Salzburg to visit the Mirabell Gardens where Maria and the children were seen dancing around the statue of Pegasus, the winged horse, and throughout the gardens singing 'Do-Re-Mi'. Beautiful flowers, statues, fountain, palace combined with nice weather helped us relax…
From there we took a walk across the Salzach River to the so called old part of Salzburg… with its carefully preserved majestic Baroque architecture…
And to end the day…a Mozart concert at the Mirabell Gardens…good stuff…specially Pa-pa-pa-pa-Papagena….
2 comments:
Sounds great! Can you tell me maybe the name of the agency who organised the Sound of Music Tour for you?
Hi...yup it was great..Panorama Tours is what you are looking for...on another note...i tried to visit you blog..and i get "
The Blogger Profile you requested cannot be displayed. Many Blogger users have not yet elected to publicly share their Profile"...
Post a Comment