Neuschwanstein Castle
We needed a castle for our fairytale, and this was a perfect one! We had all been joking about looking for Mickey Mouse as this seemed picture perfect - just like Disney. (This castle was the inspiration for Disney castles.) Today was Donna's birthday and we decided that she didn't need to walk the road up to the castle, so we took the bus. We thought it would be the safer choice. Instead we found ourselves on a Disney thrill ride, as the bus whipped and turned up the small road to the top of the hill. We were in fits of laughter as we hung on hoping that we wouldn't end up in strangers' laps before the bus came to a stop. We enjoyed the view and took photos from Mary's bridge before making our way to the courtyard to wait with our group. The tour wasn't very long, but we got a look at several parts of the castle, and dreamed what it would be like to live there. We decided to WALK down the hill back to our tour bus.
Salzburg
St. Peter's Cemetery
While fairy tales usually have sunny skies, Salzburg greeted us with a rainy evening. We didn't get to see much until the next morning when, thankfully, the weather was following the fairytale script. Our day in Salzburg was one of our busiest. Our morning was filled with a fun walking tour that took us through the many squares around the old town. We strolled the streets just like Mozart would have. One of our favorite parts of the tour was St. Peter's cemetery.
After our walking tour finished, we enjoyed a quick lunch before heading off on our Sound of Music Tour.
For the evening, Tara had helped to arrange several choices, there were musical concerts or a performance of "The Magic Flute" at the marionette puppet theater. We chose to see the puppet theater. It was mesmerizing to watch the puppets, and it was easy to forget they weren't live actors!
After our walking tour finished, we enjoyed a quick lunch before heading off on our Sound of Music Tour.
For the evening, Tara had helped to arrange several choices, there were musical concerts or a performance of "The Magic Flute" at the marionette puppet theater. We chose to see the puppet theater. It was mesmerizing to watch the puppets, and it was easy to forget they weren't live actors!
The Sound of Music Tour
We used our free time in Salzburg to take the Sound of Music Tour. It was a great three generations option, as we all loved the movie. We enjoyed seeing the sights, hearing the stories from behind the scenes, and feeling a special connection to a favorite movie. While we are glad we took the tour, we were a bit sad that we didn't have time to enjoy Salzburg more. Tara surprised the group by visiting some of these same sites the next day as we left Salzburg.