Salzburg: Climb every mountain, swim every stream

Salzburg was super. The hills were alive with the Sound of Music, particularly alive while biking down Hellbruner, the tree-lined lane where the Von Trapp family lived (for the movie, not in real life!) Britt`s take away from Alice's one-hour explanation of the Sound of Music was that "They sing at the end in a meadow and walk over a mountain, right? And doesn't one kid get eaten?"

JD was able to wear his plaid. He was so happy about it he wore both a plaid shirt and plaid shorts in the same day. We took a vote on whether or not he perfected the close-mouthed smile, and the answer is: 3 - 1 - no!

Alice didn't get kicked out of anywhere, although she did snap some secret photos in the Eisriesenwelt Ice Cave. She decided to put her camera away when another tourist was warned that he would have to find his way out of the cave on his own - no thanks!

They didn't ride a horse to Halstatt, they took a train. But since they were in beautiful Halstatt they had an opportunity to swim! YAY! En route to Halstatt Fraulein Alice gave JD one-on-one German lessons, while Austrian locals laughed. Direct quote: "Just speak english, they will understand you." AKA: Give up. Alice's response "Nein!" The answer to will Austrians continue to make fun of us across their beautiful country? Most definitely yes, at least during an entire train ride. Ask us to see the video where they cut in to help us learn German.

Where we stayed: In the Astoria Hotel, located a 15 minute walk from the Old Town. The best part about the hotel, apart from extremely comfy beds, was the lovely receptionist dressed in traditional Austrian dress; picture: Oktoberfest server:

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She gave us great instructions, maps, and most importantly, kept our beer cold in the fridge while we were out and about! We also had an enclosed balcony that doubled as a dryer for drying our hand-washed dirty, dirty clothes.

What we ate: Alice checked off her final Austrian dishes, liebenknudlesuppe (aka liver ball soup) and garlic soup, Britt had a traditional strudel and Ashley and JD had more Austrian wurst. We also had Austrian macaroni and cheese, lots of ham and cheese and pizza... twice. (The twice being because after 10 pm pizza was the only dinner options!) Lastly, after a day at the beach, the four travellers stopped by the Hotel Sacher (one of the fanciest and most famous hotels in Austria) to try Sacher tort, a little piece of heaven (chocolatey-deliciousness with apricot jam). Apart from being delicous, the Sacher tort was another check off the dessert list.

What we drank: Two euro wine from the grocery store, mixed with "gassy" (aka carbonated) water - our home made spritzers! And Stiegl, a Salzburg beer. We splurged one day and bought a 2.49 euro bottle of wine, which was chilled in the lake in Halstatt!

What we did: Exercised a LOT. We did a tour of the world's largest ice cave, Eisriesenwelt, sitting at 1700 meters. To get to the ice cave was no small feat. We travelled by train, by shuttle bus, walked uphill, took a cable car, and walked uphill even more, in extreme 40 degree heat all wearing and/or carrying winter clothes in preparation for the 0 degree weather in the cave. Once at the top, we scaled 700 steps up to get to the farthest point of the cave. Note: Frodo had it tough, we totally get it. We also did a Sound of Music biking tour, taking in the old city Salzburg sites as well as the landscape (and fancy homes) outside of Salzburg. The Austrian heat wave continued so Ashley and Alice decided to jump into the local swimming spot (a fast moving river) mid-way through the tour. So refreshing! (Also, first swim of the trip!) You will all be happy to note that we were the only four tourists wearing helmets, and became known as those four Canadians wearing bike helmets.  But no brain injuries here!  On Day 2 we took a day trip to Hallstatt. The picturesque view of this sleepy town is what inspired Britt and Ash to come to Austria. Ash, Britt and Alice went swimming in freezing mountain water and took pictures with the Canadian flag (yay Canada) while JD watched our bags and made the most out of wearing his plaid. We were almost stranded in Hallstatt when a crazy storm picked up owing to a low lying pressure system moving in from the east (yeah that's right, we're smart).

Lessons learned: If you're going to comment on how ruggedly handsome the tour guide is, make sure not to do it infront of his sister. If you're going to jump into water in your full clothing in front of a large tour group, make sure that your pants won't become see through and/or that you aren't wearing a dark pair of thong underwear. When things are moving quickly (aka when Ashley and Alice jump into a river), don't try to capture it on camera, take a video!

Funniest misheard conversation: JD: "That's a weird shape." (Referring to Alice's strangely shaped bottle of sunscreen) Alice (looking out the window, gazing at the mountains): "I think it's because of years of wind damage, and probably earthquakes". JD: "Your sunscreen bottle?" Alice: "Oh."

Questions for Zurich:

1) Will Britt make it back to Canada with any functional cameras?

2) Will karma ever reward JD in the form of vending machine items for his stolen 2 euros? Will he pass his German test?

3) Will Alice's Swiss checklist be as successful as her Austrian one?

4) Will everyone see Ashley's underwear on Fraulein Maria's Biking Tour facebook page? (Ashley hopes not, everyone else hopes YES).

Stay tuned!

Our motto:  Bulls-eye.  (Salzburg was stupendous)