Austria! It's like traveling to Indiana from Chicago

OK, I agree, Austria is NOTHING like Indiana. BUT, what is so cool is that you can travel to Salzburg in just 2 hours...it's like going to South Bend. OK, enough with the comparison, right? 


So, my parents were here this past week to get me settled into my new home. Unfortunately, my flat wasn't quite ready for me to move in, so instead we went to Austria for the day. Sounds so simple right..."oh, we just jetted off to Austria for the afternoon." But it really is! Seriously, Katie, get over it...yes, Europe is easy to get around...we get it!


OK, so here are some pictures from our adventures. I'll post all of them on my Facebook page, but here are some of my favorites.


This picture is cool for two reasons. 1) I have never seen a statue of a unicorn. And for all you who know me well, I often reference unicorns. 2) These are the steps that the Von Trapp family sang "Doe a deer..." in the movie The Sound of Music. More on that later...

So...yeah, I have no idea what this photo is...what it means...what the hell...BUT, it totally caught my whole family and our tour guide, Craig (super awesome Brit), off guard. He actually stopped what he was saying about  Mozart to turn all of our attention to this poster.  

I hope Maria and Nino don't mind, but this is pretty cool. There's a bridge over the river that connects New Salzburg to Old Salzburg. Lovers from all over the world come to this bridge to proclaim their love and commitment. They engrave (or in this case marker) a padlock to the fence and then throw the key over together. Sweet, huh? There were a few combination locks on the bridge, which I thought was pretty funny. Not quite there on the commitment, huh?

The main street in the old town was absolutely beautiful. While the shops have changed to more trendy and popular brands as opposed to mom and pops, the signs still have to follow the old tradition. Really beautiful and quaint. You'll see another view just below.

As I mentioned before, our tour guide was super awesome. So super awesome that he introduced us to a super secret sausage shop. OK, wasn't secret, but it was possibly the best sausage I've ever eaten in my life. Thank you, Craig. 

All you smarty pants out there know that Salzburg is Mozart's home town. Here's his house...that's all I've got on that.

Doesn't this look like a nice way to spend an afternoon. Pretty much perfection for me.

Salzburg is the "City of Music," and this guy proves it. A harpist street musician. That totally beats the woman who plays the finger cymbals at the red line station in Chicago. In all seriousness, the musicians in Salzburg have to pay the city 14 Euros a day to perform...it's a tough life for a musician even in the "City of Music."

Atop Salzburg's surrounding mountain tops is the fortress built to protect the city. No, it's not a castle. A castle is often found within the town, surrounded by a moat. A fortress sits atop the city. You all are more than welcome to use that as a conversation starter at your next cocktail party.

OK, as promised...more on The Sound of Music. So, the movie, which is actually based on a true story, was filmed in Salzburg. So as you can imagine, the town is a little obsessed. There is even a tour where you sing all the songs in the location in which they were filmed. If anyone has ever heard my mom or dad sing...they would know immediately that we did not do that tour. Sorry mom and dad. We did, however, visit Julie Andrews in one of the shops. So, what's interesting is how real Julie looks and how little time anyone spent making the kids look realistic. One of the kids was wearing Berkinstocks. I'm not lying. Also, check out the youngest child (far right). Yikes!

So, that's a little view into our trip to Salzburg. This is probably the longest blog ever because of all the pictures, but hopefully you enjoyed it. Until next time..."So long, farewell..." Sorry, couldn't help it.