Erratic and exceedingly slow Internet access in our otherwise gracious and delightful Blaue Gans hotel in Salzburg caused me to take the last couple of days off from writing daily blog entries. Now it's just about midnight, and we just concluded our last Shanghai game of the trip (The girls came in first and second one last time ;); we have a 6:00 a.m. wake-up call set for the morning, when we will begin to make our way to Miami via Manchester, while Maddie will make her way back to Salzburg and Schloss Leopoldskron, which will serve as her home for the next three weeks.
Our rainy drive from Prague to Salzburg was lovely despite the rain. We stopped in Cesky Krumlov and had lunch with our driver, Alexandru, who talked about his various jobs, Brexit and how much he loves to drive, making this current job the perfect one for him. We walked around just a bit in what is clearly a charming getaway for the Austrians, Czechs and Germans who regularly holiday here, boating on the Vltava River, before getting back in the car for the rest of the drive to Salzburg.
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| We couldn't lunch on the terrace today, but the view was still lovely |
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| The moment we entered Austria, Maria started singing in my brain... "The hills are alive..." |
When we arrived to our darling Blaue Gans, we immediately set out for dinner on the picture perfect street I remembered best from my visit 28 years ago. When we passed by a little offshoot street with delicious Indian aromas wafting from the restaurant, we all agreed that it was time for another change of pace, food wise (or, as Daniel put it at one point in the last few days, #can'teatanotherbreaddumpling") The food was delicious, as good as our favorite Indian restaurants at home.
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| The view from our hotel room |
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| Little Mozart rubber duckies :) |
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| The Blaue Gans - loved, loved this special boutique hotel |
Our next day (yesterday) was full - Dana bought day passes that enabled us to get into many attractions we wanted to visit and to use whatever public transportation was necessary. We started the day by dropping Maddie's bag off at Schloss Leopoldskon, where she will live for the next three weeks. I felt much better seeing the place she would call home; we were able to take the bus she will take, walk the walk she will walk, and generally get a sense of what her life will be like when we leave. Not only was this a comforting thing to do, but it was also a must stop for many
Sound of Music fans, as many scenes from the film were shot here.
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| A room where some of the workshops will likely take place. |
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| Our walk back to the center of town, with the fortress in the background |
After our morning visit to Maddie's new digs, we were off to the races: Mozart's birthplace/museum, the church across from his home, Mozartplatz, a bus to the cable car at the top of the highest peak in Salzburg, and a visit to Hellbrun, the palace with the famous trick fountains, which are enormously entertaining, though the weather was a bit cooler than it had been so being drenched in water was a less welcome surprise.
Much like we had in Vienna, we closed out our day by roaming the beautiful gardens that are open to the public; The kids played on the playground, we all frolicked in front of the famous gazebo (closed after someone broke a hip while jumping from bench to bench) and with dinner in a warm pub recommended by our concierge as a place where he and his mates eat regularly (and, yes, they served bread dumplings).
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| a spin around the gazebo |
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| McFlurries!!! :) |
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Dana and Maddie filmed many of the little scenes which moved through water power - revolutionary and clever for its time
Today, the boys hit the fortress, while Maddie and I took the final hour to shop the street one last time. Then it was on the bus to the train station to catch our 10:00 a.m. train to Munich. The Munich airport is considered one of the best in Europe, and it's easy to see why. 40 minutes out of town, we initially planned to just stay put. We ultimately opted to make the trip back into Marienplatz, the square that many say is the first stop for a visitor to Munich. We had a lovely dinner and walk there, though the S tram ride there and back was a bit stressful.
Maddie will be staying in this same hotel, and taking this same flight, three weeks from tonight, so we were happy to be able to give her a preview of what she will do on her own later. More than anything, of course, I was just happy to have her with us for one more night. The Blaue Gans asks their guests to take the little blue duck with them as a keepsake and to take care of that duckling. Ever since reading them the book when they were both little, and made fresh again by Maddie's selection of Boston (home of those same ducklings) as her college home, I always call Maddie and Daniel my ducklings. Therefore, it was poignant to have a ducking to take home when I'm leaving one of mine behind! This has been a glorious holiday with more memories than we have begun to sort out, though we did highlight a few of our favorites over dinner tonight - the gondola ride in Venice, the sunset dinner in Santorini, the evening palace garden jaunts in Vienna and Salzburg, roaming the Uffizi in Florence, eating tartufo in Piazza Navona... what a beautiful time we have had. Thanks for sharing it with us xoxo
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