Today we leave Germany and head to Austria. When we awoke we were moored in Passau, Germany but the 3 of us had booked an optional excursion to Salzburg. It was a Sound of Music themed trip but there was also plenty of information about Mozart and the city itself. Again it was bitterly cold.

On the 90 minute bus trip we listened to our guide who was very interesting. She gave a summary of the life of the real von Trapp family (who didn’t climb over the mountains to a Switzerland as from Salzburg that would take you directly into the heart of Nazi Germany. Instead they took a train to Italy and then a boat to the USA).

We passed a lot of rural towns and were amazed at the number and extent of solar panels, both on buildings and in the fields. Clearly it is at least as economically viable as cropping.

The towns had a real mix of buildings but were generally very tidy and often colourful.

There was also a lot of industry. The City of Lintz, for example (where we rejoined the boat at the end of the day) produces 80% of Europe’s steel. You’d never know it. We also learned that the Bayern-Munich football club is really just Bavaria-Munich as Bayern is the German word for Bavaria.

We arrived in Salzburg at 9.30am (it was an early start) and walked through the Mirabelle Palace which was originally built for the mistress and 7 children of one of the early Archbishop Princes.

The garden and banquet hall was used for scenes in the movie. It is just beside the river and over the bridge is the rest of the old city with a fortress on top of the hill. We passed the home of Mozart where he lived as a child. That is right in the centre of the town opposite the main bus stop.

The city is surrounded by mountains, most of which are partly or wholly within Germany. They were shrouded in cloud but you could see the evidence of snow that fell the day before.

In the older part we wandered through this amazing street where each shop has a symbol outside to say what the building was for when originally built. Many of the shops here and in other streets have been owned by the same family since the 1600s – no pressure on each generation!. A bit incongruous to have a McDonalds in one of them but I guess they can afford the rent. Along that street is also the house where Mozart was born. His parents had a floor above the shop of a friend but they had to move out as their own family grew.

We went into the cathedral and the cemetery, (which was very pretty) then found a cafe for lunch.

Interesting decoration inside this crypt

You could order from the menu by telling the waiter or order a pastry or cake from the cabinet by telling one of the young women. A bit of a strange system but we got food and and it was delicious, as was the coffee.

We shared apple strudel which was delicious with the coffee.

After lunch we decided to climb up the hill to the Abbey (the one from the musical) and maybe up to the fortress. There were great views from the road that winds up the hill. There are still about 7 nuns in the Abbey, but unlike Benedictine monks, who tend to be very entrepreneurial and lead outgoing lives, Benedictine nuns live behind closed walls in complete silence. I wonder what man made up that rule! Just where women should be of course: inside with their mouths shut!

The weather was looking ominous so we decided to head back down the hill and then it started snowing on us.

It was snowing heavily enough that the flakes were still on my jacket 10 minutes later. It was a good excuse to head to the nearest shoe shop where I purchased a pair of blue suede heels and some black patent court shoes. The latter were Hogls and were half the price we’d pay in NZ so I was happy enough.

Then it was back to our meeting place (the tours always finish with a clear instruction about the location and time to meet when it is time to board the bus.) We then drove about half an hour to Monsee which is like a mini Lake Wanaka with mountains all around. That was to visit the church where the wedding scene was filmed.

It was very baroque and ornate and quite different from the chapel in the Abbey where the von Trapps actually got married, which was dark and unadorned except for a few paintings.

We had a walk up to the church and then down and around the Lake. It was still very cold but not actually snowing on us.

The journey took us through the village that Hitler was born in. The Austrian government wants to demolish the house but it’s in private ownership and the owners want €3M. I’m surprised they can’t think up some public work that would require it to be taken and flattened.

The trip back took us to Lintz which is still in Austria. We were moored right in the middle of town and had a quick walk into the centre where we found a cute bar and had beers. The owner was Greek but the beer was Austrian and his customers were all locals who wanted to know where we were from and whether they could emigrate there. One was a science teacher so he would probably have a pretty good chance.

Dinner on board was of course excellent and we had a lovely few hours chatting with Carole and Rita. We couldn’t believe it when they told us that Carole (the blond one) is 80 and Rita is 79. They are so interesting and funny. Carole has just written a play that is doing well in their city in Florida and she has a business providing entertainment to senior citizens through a website. Not sure of the details but pretty enterprising for an 80 year old. Rita was a language teacher and is enjoying being able to practise reading and writing German. Rita’s husband died 2 years ago after an illness and Carole’s died some time before nevertheless Carole has a ‘significant other’ back home and both are still able and willing to dance and have fun. The 5 of us got our own little disco with Miro (onboard musician) and then some Eric Clapton. I took a video of Rita and Carole dancing the other night.

I’ll be mighty glad if I can do as well as them at 70 let alone 80!