Ok, so we finally found some time within the past two weeks to update this... as you saw in the previous post, we found a place to live, but sorting out other details has been let's say a bit of a challenge (ie. it taking 3 weeks to set up a bank account and turn on a phone line at home). BUT...we did get to relax during a recent trip to Munich and Salzburg two weekends ago to celebrate Conrad's bday. We flew into Salzburg that Saturday morning and then drove two hours to Munich to hit up the last weekend of Oktoberfest there--we had a great time just hanging out downtown and then exploring the different beer gardens nearby for the rest of the day--I even managed to get swarmed by some friendly Germans. :)
We then drove back to the Salzburg area (to be more specific, to a small mountain village named Hinterthal) and spent the next two days there. The fresh mountain air was so refreshing and we really enjoyed our stay at the retreat there. On Sunday, we went to a castle, which is right up Conrad's alley so we nearly spent all day there. The name of it was Hohenwerfen Castle and it was most recently (well only a few hundred years back anyway) used as a falconry hunting ground (and before that, it was used as a fortress to protect Catholic bishops in the area from invading Protestants). Here are some views from our hotel and of the castle itself:
We watched a fighting reenactment as well as their bird show, Conrad got to try on a bit of knight's armor and play with some weapons, we enjoyed a great lunch (nothing better than tons of schnitzel and spaetzle!), and we then went on a stunning tour of the castle:
We then drove back to our hotel and decided to go on a group torch-lit hike led by one of their guides...it was a nice way to work off all the spaetzle and beer from earlier in the day!
Then finally on Monday (Conrad's birthday), we spent the entire day in downtown Salzburg. As soon as we arrived around lunchtime, we were starved so we grabbed some brats (and cheese of course!). I'm not sure which food we enjoyed best during our stay--spaetzle or brats?!
We then cruised around downtown exploring the main shopping street Getreidegasse (including Mozart's birthplace/Geburtshaus), followed by a tour that took us around the greater downtown area to further view the beautiful scenery (like at the Mirabellgarten or the Altstadt, the entire view of downtown with the fortress guarding over it) and architecture (like Leopold's Castle, which is unfortunately owned by Harvard now--boo!) that surrounded the city. Some of you may find a few of these pictures to remind you of a classic movie--The Sound of Music!
We then ended the day getting Conrad a special birthday cake--a Sacher torte, an original-type from the Hotel Sacher, and heading off to dinner at the oldest existing wine bar in Salzburg. Unfortunately we don't have pix from either of those, but we'll leave you with one we took on our way to both of those places--sure you'll enjoy it. :) Auf Wiedersehen! More to come soon...
