Austria to Czech Republic

Today was a driving day. The goal was to reach Chrudim, Czech Republic - home of the Marionette Museum. Of course, we did not make it that far.  We were on the highway,  but both of us were nearly falling asleep so I told Lonnie to drive the back roads.  I mean the last thing I want is for Lonnie to fall asleep behind the wheel on a road that everyone is doing over 100mph on.

We stopped for lunch at Znojmo, Czech Republic.  We were looking for some tall metal soldiers (possibly water towers), that we had seen before. We never found them, but we found a brand new mall that had a KFC for lunch.  Across the parking lot from the mall was another set of shops with different themes-Dragon Castle, Chinese, Dr. Doolittle's, and Kid Town. We drove around and took pictures, then headed on toward Chrudim.

We drove as far as Havlickuv Brod where we looked for a hotel. We saw a sign for Orange Wings Hotel. The sign looked good, so we followed it to the most bizarre hotel we have seen in our travels. First, let me say that we did not stay there. Now, back to the hotel. We could tell that we were in an industrial area, but that was not a concern because we have stayed in a couple of great hotels in industrial areas (and will do so on our last night here this trip). Somehow this time felt a little different.  And, then,  we saw the hotel. We were so shocked by the way it looked that we didn't even take pictures! The entire hotel was encased in super, heavy duty chain link fencing. It looked like a prison. You could see the doors to the rooms, with a 3' metal walkway,  all behind the fencing. There was even fencing covering the top of the building - like a huge fence box with a hotel inside it. Lonnie said he didn't think even Federal Prisons had any more security than the hotel. He said to clarify that the reason he knows about Federal Prison security is from going in there with the church to hold services there.  We did not see anyone in reception so we drove on. I took out my trusty phone, pulled up TripAdvisor on it and found a great little hotel in town. Afterwards I read some of the reviews about the prison hotel. They were hilarious to read,  and I was so thankful we didn't end up there.  Apparently there is no reception,  you just pay a machine and check yourself in. The rooms have no windows, but may have a small skylight.  One man posted three reasons to stay there: 1.p You just got out of prison after 20 years and you miss it; 2. You want to break up with your girlfriend,  so you offer to take her on a trip to Europe,  then stay there, guaranteeing she will dump you,  3. and I'm not telling the last one.

After checking into our good hotel, we walked into the city to eat,  wandered around a bit, then went back to the hotel to sleep.

Salzburg, Austria to Krems, Austria

Happy Mother's Day.

Today we went down to have breakfast before leaving Salzburg. We got our plates, filled them,  and started to go back to our seats only to find two ladies sitting there.  We know this is a common practice in Europe, and there weren't any other open tables,  so we reclaimed our seats. We ended up having a very nice conversation with them,  even though their English was limited. One was from Basel and the other was from Northern Germany.  We asked how long it took to get there from Northern Germany and the  girl said 4 hours.  That seemed like a short amount of time, so we asked how fast she drove.  Her answer was that the speedometer only went up to 200 and wouldn't let her go any faster.  That's  120 miles per hour.  It would take us longer. 

We left Salzburg and began our journey toward the Erzebirge Region of Germany. We get side-tracked so easily. I saw a sign for Mondsee and just had to go there.  They used the church there for the wedding scene in the Sound of Music. The little town is very colorful, and the lake is very nice. Just as we got there,  the wind began to blow and howl like a tornado (do they even have tornadoes here?). We jumped out of the car and took several pictures then traveled on.

A little later I saw a sign that said "Melk". I told Lonnie that I remembered reading something about Melk, but I couldn't remember what.  We took the exit and found an exquisite cathedral on a hill. It is supposed to be unbelievably beautiful on the inside so we need to file that one away for future reference. 

Since we spent so much time on our little side trips, we didn't make it very far, so we stayed in a little town called Krems, Austria.  They had a restaurant that we ate at,  then calleg it a night.

Salzburg

It has rained all day again today.  Yesterday it rained all day but the temperature was mild. Today it felt really cold.

We got up, ate breakfast,  then headed out. I 

 had seen a sign for a flea market in Wals and thought it said it was today,  so we drove around to see. It is actually tomorrow,  but it is close by so we didn't spend any time at all looking for it.  Then, once again, we had to go to the mall so that Lonnie could buy more computer stuff.

We got to Salzburg only to find we had missed the alpenhorn. Actually, I am not sure they brought them since it was raining so hard. We went to lunch in a nearby pizzeria.  After we ate, we went to the Panorama Museum that I didn't get to go to yesterday.  They have a special exhibit right now about the von Trapp family. It tells the real story. They have things on display that belong to the family, as well as things from the books and movies. It was all very interesting. 

After the museum, we listened to the bands for a few more minutes, walked around Salzburg,  did some shopping and left.

We drove by the original hime that the von Trapps lived in,  but they have a very tall hedge around the place so you cannot see anything.

Next we drove past Helbrunn. I had hoped to have a picnic there,  because we normally do, but it has been too rainy.  We didn't even get  out of the car because we were both cold. It is a beautiful place.

We once again ate at our favorite place in Wals, went back to the hotel and got ready to leave,  then went to bed.

Salzburg

Today we got to Salzburg after noon. Since we came out of the parking garage at the entrance to the Toy museum, I decided to start our day there. They had changed some of their exhibits. It was fun.

Next we had to find someplace to eat.  Since it was already late and everything that I wanted to see

 closed at  4:30, I did not want to do a 2 hour lunch. The only option close by was . . .you guessed it . . .McDonalds.

The McDonalds over here serve some great salads.  The seats were very comfortable.  One could sit there all day - and I think some were. The only thing I questioned was the fact that the play area consisted of large blocks, which the kids threw and knocked over continously.  It was very loud.

Following lunch, we went to Mozart's Gebursthaus (the house where Mozart was born). It was an interesting museum. Then,  we went to the Residenz (or palace). There they gave us a player to listen to as we went through it. I wish more places would do that. The commentaries about each room were short and informative.  We were going to go to the Panorama museum but by then it was 4:30 so it was closed.

Not bad, though. Three museums and lunch in four hours. The highlight of the day was yet to come! We had gotten tickets to the Marionette Theater to see The Sound of Music. We weren't sure if it would be in German or English,  but I told the lady at the information booth that it wouldn't matter.  I mean, if I can sit through Iron Man 3 without knowing what they were saying,  I could surely do the Sound of Music that I know by heart.  It turned out to be in English.  I loved it!  It is amazing how they can give wooden dolls different personalities.

And, at the end of the performance,  they showed us how the puppeteers did the show. They did the scene in the movie where the von Trapps are doing a marionette show ...so, they had marionettes doing a marionette show. It was great!

We swung through McDonalds on the way back to the hotel since we knew everything else would be closed. Good thing they have good salads. The only problem is that I'm addicted to Coca Cola again :-(

Salzburg - Seebrucke - Salzkammergut Area

Today was nearly a disastrous day. I got up and ate breakfast in the hotel.  Lonnie decided not to eat breakfast since he keeps getting sick. Also,  he said that they don't have any choices. I will let you decide.  The choices are: boiled eggs (soft), scrambled eggs, several types of lunch meat,  several kinds of cheese,  4 kinds of cereal,  3 or 4 kinds of yogurt, various breads, fruit,  milk, juices, and my personal favorite,  hot chocolate. (actually, hot chocolate is not on the buffet, but they fix it for me anyway).  I know there are a few more things, but since I don't eat them I can't remember.  Oh, they also have tomatoes and cucumbers.  Anyway, the truth of the matter is, Lonnie does not like breakfast unless it is Burger King.

We changed hotel rooms because we couldn't get internet in our other room.  Then we drove into Salzburg and took the funicular up to Hohensalzburg Fortress on top of the mountain, with plans to walk back down the mountain.  They had a special 100 year Marionette exhibit so I had to see that.  As I stepped inside the castle room, I didn't notice how uneven the floor was, and twisted my left foot.  It hurt a lot, but I was still able to walk on it. (I am writing this on Friday night and it still hurts, but I walked - or limped - all over Salzburg today on it.)

Even though it hurt a lot, we still walked down the mountain so that I could see Nonnberg Abbey again.  They have changed the way that you go out of the castle,  and it was really steep.

After touring the fortress, we drove around the Salzkammergut area. I wanted to go to Hitler's Eagle's Nest (or we would have stayed in Salzburg for the day), but when we got there it was closed due to snow.

Since we were already out of town,  we continued on around the area. We drove to Chiemsee, but it was too late to take the ferry to the island to see the castle. We also went through Seebrucke where we saw a Minigolf sign. What I saw there gave a whole new meaning to Minigolf.  The lanes,  or whatever they are called were up on tables, and you used a pool cue instead of a golf club. Otherwise,  everything looked the same as a regular putt-putt golf, except miniaturized. Interesting.

The other interesting thing we saw in Seebrucke. . .guys in their twenties walking around with their swim trunks around their thighs instead of where they were supposed to be worn.  We only saw them from "behind". . .

We got back to the hotel late, but couldn't eat there because they were expecting a large group.  That reminded us that we hadn't eaten at our favorite place in Wals yet. What had we been thinking?  The food at our favorite place is much better than what is served at our hotel, and we could have been eating there every night.

When we got back to the hotel,  the group had arrived.  They were from Bosnia, and carried on most of the night. .  So, not much sleep . . .

Salzburg, Austria (My favorite place)

As I sit here on the balcony of our hotel room,  surrounded by beautiful snow-capped mountains and lush greenery, I have to reflect on all that God has done for me. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here, but I am also so thankful for my family and friends, and wish that all of you could be here,  too. God has created such beautiful things and I pray that all of us will be aware of that beauty in our everyday lives. For instance, as one example, have you ever considered just the multitude of different leaves that God has created - the different colors, shapes,  textures, etc.  It is incredible.  Yet, so often,  we never notice all of the things around us that God has created.  Beauty is everywhere. And I thank God for allowing me to see so many different kinds of beauty in the past three weeks. 

I think Lonnie is getting ready to go now,  so it's off to another adventure in my favorite place - Sound of Music country!

Okay, so it wasn't the adventure I was dreaming of. Lonnie decided we needed more computer stuff so we went to the shopping center in Wals. Since it was after noon, we had to stop and have lunch. Then we found that the mall we were at did not have computer stuff, so we had to go to a different mall. Then, we always see a movie in Wals, and since Iron Man 3 had just come out, we went to get tickets for the evening show. They were sold out for the night but had tickets available for the afternoon showing. Of course, it was in German so I understood very little of it. 

We finally made it to Salzburg around 7PM, and, of course, everything was closed for the night. We were walking the streets when we heard beautiful singing.  This week is the big choral festival and competition. Those competing had on their outfits for the regions they are from.  Another group was practicing for the competition as we rounded another corner.  How wonderful to have such beautiful music in the city of music!

As we were getting ready to leave,  we noticed that a stage had been set up. We walked over to see what it was for, and found out that there is a brass band competition this weekend.  On Saturday they will have alpenhorns. Of course I can't miss that,  so now we are staying until Sunday.

Hoping tomorrow will be a more scenic day.

Bled to Salzburg

Today we had planned to walk around Lake Bled and take a boat to the island in the center of the lake, where people go to get married and the groom carries the bride up  long, steep stairs. Instead I got sidetracked by a couple of museums in another town near by. 

It has always amazed and horrified me how such beauty and such evil could exist side by side. I knew that Croatia had been in a war, and we saw physical signs of it, yet the people were so kind and helpful, and their country has such great beauty created by God. I hadn't really given that much thought to Slovenia. 

What happens when you don't agree with the government in power. Today we went to the Museum of Hostages in Begunje na Gorenjskem, Slovenia.  I am not sure what I was expecting.  I have been to concentration camps,  and probably expected something like those.  The museum actually consisted of prison cells. As you walked through the room of cells,  they  played the names of those who had been killed. Their purpose as stated on their brochure, said "Visitor to the museum stop for a while and think about human violence, caused by different ideologies.  Sadly, there is still a lot of it in the world today. .."  The Nazis took a beautiful building and turned it into a prison and torture center for those in the town who disagreed with them.  80% of the people were under 40, with half of the prisoners being under 30.  These were not Jews. They were simply townspeople who did not agree with the Nazi Government.  For disagreeing,  they were tortured and killed. A burial area is nearby. The town is beautiful and the people are very kind and helpful,  but they have had to endure a lot. 

Now the Villa that housed this prison is a psychiatric hospital.  I wonder how many,  if any,  of the patients were prisoners or,  children of prisoners, who suffered in that very place. It is so sad. And all because they did not agree with the government in power.  I pray that our nation will wake up quickly before we lose our freedoms as these people did. 

Next we went to the town of Radovljica. I just wanted to swing by a 2nd hand store I had heard about,  but it was closed.  We walked through the town and found a German military bunker that had been turned into a chapel dedicated to a nun the Nazis  had killed.

As we were walking through town, we came upon the "Bee Museum".  Slovenia is apparently well known for its bees and honey.  The museum showed how beekeeping started. In this part of the world,  they painted or carved the panels on the beehives. The museum had some of the really old ones on display. They also had beehives that were shaped like people,  animals and houses.  Interesting place.

We finally made it back to Lake Bled, where we had lunch,  then drove around the lake. 

Then we began our journey to Salzburg, which should have been a relatively quick and easy process. Unfortunately,  they were working on the tunnel.  . .so. ..we took the up and over the mountain road. How do we always end up on steep, narrow mountain roads?

We made it to Salzburg late, but thankfully the hotel restaurant was still open.