Salzburg, Austria

Before starting this, a little background info - and a confession - are required.  First, Salzburg is located in Austria.  Much of The Sound of Music was filmed there, as the story of the Von Trapp family actually took place in that area.  With that info out of the way, comes the confession.  As a young man, I enjoyed performing in musical theater.  I wasn't too bad, either.  I was cast in two separate productions of  The Sound of Music - including a professional show.  Below is the incriminating evidence of my role as Friedrich, one of the Von Trapp boys:

That's me - the tallest in the back - with my sister to the right of me

With all this as background, you'll understand why the trip to Salzburg was so much fun.  Not only is it the birthplace of Mozart, but that whole Sound of Music vibe is alive-and-well with the Austrians.  To that effect, we took a special Sound of Music tour that started with a very special bus:

I've still got it...

The tour stopped at several film locations.  This included the house that was used as the Von Trapp residence:

The cheesy thing was that they played the soundtrack on the bus. However, we had a blast just singing along (sure brought back some memories).  We went to a gorgeous cathedral in the Austrian city of Mondsee, that was used for the big wedding scene in the film. As you can see from the 2nd photo, they are trying to restore some of the cathedral artwork:

Along the tour, we were treated to incredible views of the Austrian Alps, including Lake Fuschl. This picture doesn't do justice to the beautiful Lake Country in the Austrian Alps. Fuschl is one of a series of lakes in the mountains. The only thing I can compare it to, is Lake Tahoe:

The rest of Salzburg was just amazing - I think we could have spent over a week there, without any problem.  The Mirabell Gardens were also used for The Sound of Music. You can see the view, which includes a cathedral, as well as a view of the fortress at the top of the hill. Breathtaking...

G-Man and I are walking across one of the main bridges in the middle of town - the view gives you an idea of the beauty.

In town, the maze of narrow city streets reminds you of old Europe.  

Because my wife is a music educator, we made a special point of visiting the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the Mozart Geburtshaus.

The museum inside was really interesting - a very artistic approach to tell his life story.  In the middle of the tour, G-Man needed his diaper changed...so we made the valiant attempt in a tiny, tiny bathroom. There aren't many baby-changing tables in old Europe ; ) G-Man didn't seem to mind.

While strolling the streets of Salzburg, we found some terrific little shops.  I will never forget this one store - they made nothing but hand-painted eggs. One entire store was devoted to Christmas eggs - this one was dedicated to Easter Eggs. Both pictures just begin to give you an idea of how MANY eggs they've created. There were even Halloween eggs ; )  Click to enlarge, as you won't believe it:

The other stop that I'll never forget, was a little street vendor called Grill Imbiss that served up the most delicious Kasekrainer hot dog.  Another thing you may not know about me, is my life-long devotion to hot dogs.  This was particularly helpful in Germany and Austria, where processed meat and potatoes are the staples of the diet.  The Kasekrainer gives Brooklyn's Nathan's Hot Dogs a real run for its money!  Take a freshly baked french roll, drill a hole in the middle and fill with ketchup (and a little mustard). Then, take a bratwurst infused with delicious cheese, grill to perfection, and then stuff into the roll.  Sounds weird, but it was so good, I made my wife go back for dinner to the same place.

Oh Kasekrainer...I miss you so...

Also on the topic of food...another street vendor was selling the largest pretzels I've seen outside of the traditional German beer halls.  They were huge.  I decide to let G-Man try to gum it a little...and he didn't seem to want to share his pretzel with Dad.  Fortunately, there was enough for the both of us:

To finish off the visit, we went to Mozartplatz - with a large statue of Mozart in the very center of the square.  From there, you could see some awesome European architecture - the fortress above the city, a cathedral...and monastery:

What a fun place!  I'd love to return and also take my wife to Vienna.  If you're visiting Munich, it's a short train ride...make the effort.  You'll be glad you did.