Our Life...: Meet me in Salzburg

After checking out of our hotel in Fuschl we were on our way to Salzburg, Austria!

Salzburg.

It just sounds so... I don't know... foreign...

I still sit here in awe that I, Rachael, the farm girl from Benjamin never traveled further than Oregon until I got married, was even anywhere near Salzburg! What?! I know, it's crazy. If you were to tell me after graduating high school almost 20 years ago that my life would go where it has gone I would have laughed in your face... HA!

Me.

No. I'm just a stay at home kind of girl.

Yes, I always dreamt of traveling.

I just didn't think it would ever happen.

I listened to my dad's LDS mission stories to Denmark and was so intrigued by the Danish language and cultures and the slides he would show us on some family nights. Then there was all he would tell me about where our family came from... Germany. It sounded so interesting and scary all at the same time.

I guess that's why I'm so excited to share this with you.

I want everyone in the world to have an opportunity to do something they never thought they would. It changes you. It enlightens you. It teaches you. It amazes you.

I just have to say, again, how blessed Marc and I are to know Achim and Thomas! Having them as friends has been a life changing experience for me and for Marc. We are truly blessed/lucky to have friends that we consider brothers from other mothers! Tee hee!

Anyway, meet me back in Salzburg... here we go!

This caught my eye because it was a good reminder to me of the history that I had been surrounded by during this entire trip. I learned something too, I didn't realize that this was a bridge built during the war or the circumstances surrounding it. Now I know. It's a beautiful bridge.

See.

I just couldn't get over the age of the buildings we were seeing and the shape and architecture of them all - this building was just to the right of the path to the bridge. Not to mention, we were there in Springtime so everything was in full bloom, green and beautiful.

And this was the view to the left of the river as we entered Salzburg! We did go to that castle. Keep reading/looking and you'll see it.

So, here is the bridge a little closer.

"What are all those things attached to the bridge railing?" you wonder. Those are love locks. It's a tradition in European countries in certain areas that you put a lock on the bridge with yours and your significant others names written on it and then you throw away the key to symbolize your commitment and love for each other. Pretty cool. It was a neat way to see thousands of people having shown they love some one so much. After seeing this I noticed it being started in other areas we visited too, but this bridge was, by far, the most impressive.

They must be discussing the deepness of the symbols of love these locks are...
or, knowing Marc, they were talking about men's fashion... Love you Marc!

Marc took over the camera and I told him to quick snap a photo of these cute little school kids all lined up to cross the street in their vests. There were just so cute and I think I missed mine, a little bit too. Besides, I'm from Utah, I'm used to seeing kids EVERYWHERE... so not seeing them very often really became quite a site to behold!

Marc loves bikes. Europe loves bikes. Therefore, Marc loves Europe.

Marc captures a selfie with the really narrow shop street behind him... and Thomas working on vacation...

I tried talking Marc into this little ensemble. Apparently, in Austria lederhösen are making a come back... Seriously, I couldn't believe how many men I saw wearing them... some really looked great and others just looked like they were... well... wearing lederhösen...

All the streets were so tight and packed with apartment buildings and shops. It was really beautiful. Not in a mountain and nature kind of way, but in a clean lines and human creations kind of way. I think it is amazing the talent people have to create.

check out the guy putting the chairs out on the right... he looks like Brian Williams from the NBC news...

Remember how excited I was in Austria to have seen the home that Beethoven lived in and walk through the park where Beethoven played? Well, seeing the birth home of Mozart was pretty incredible too. Austria's veins are just pumping with inspiration and art. Amazing!

It was awesome to see such huge farmers markets crawling all over the streets and pathways. It brought about a feeling of community pride, community socializing and just all out nostalgia of traveling to foreign cities!

But then...

Then came the stands selling breads, cheeses, chocolates and pretzels.

LARGE pretzels!

Umm... excuse ma'am, but I believe I ordered the large pretzel...

Across from where I got my pretzel was a sausage stand. Thomas talked Marc into getting some. It looked like fancy jerky, not pretty, just fancy... I mean look at that stuff... eh. I didn't try any but it tasted good I heard.

This picture below was shot from my hip... really. I wasn't shooting for the street view, though. I was trying to get the silver Mozart on the far right... I didn't want to have to give him a tip just because I wanted a photo of a silver guy... I've been to Vegas a few times, I know how that works...

Again, we saw lots of horses and carriages like we had seen in Vienna. They were a different style though, seemed a bit more "Sound of Music"-ish. Yep, we saw a lot of that around. Salzburg is quite proud of its connection to the Disney movie, "Sound of Music."

I really wanted to sing out loud "The Hills Are Alive..." oh... never mind, I already told you that...

This was one of those funny moments when I wanted Marc to take a picture. I told Marc to take a picture of me with the guitar player while I was tipping him for his beautiful music... I guess Marc thought I meant after I was done tipping, and had walked away, and was totally out of the picture... Hee hee!

There were a beautiful cathedral we walked into look at.

I took this picture for my dad because it is, supposedly, and amazing bookstore... but I couldn't take just a picture of the book store, so I had to stick Marc and Thomas in the pic and they weren't quite ready because they were still working on there sausages... you can tell they're chewing... tee hee!

This guy, the grim reaper just creeped me out. He was just outside the church as a reminder... I guess. I just thought it was a very interesting sculpture because it was hollow inside... I reached in... I know... and it gave me the heebie-jeebies!

I saw these guys, though, right after and they made me smile. Not sure if it's because they were cute or that I just like food...

After making our way through the city we were on our way to the castle that you saw in the beginning. Marc really got some beautiful shots (Remember, he took charge of the camera today).

Here are some shots from the walk up to the castle.

Thanks Marc for this intriguing shot of me... hee hee... I look either A) tired or B) concerned.
Maybe it was C) concerned that I am so tired

Thomas got this shot of us

It was a fairly steep walk to the castle but quite short and very easy. It had a lot to look at along the way.

Almost there

Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair....

Doesn't it just look like that from here? (Oh, and I took the camera back for a few minutes)

Still on the outside walls

Then Marc took the camera over again

So I used my phone for some very important selfies ...

...

This is a picture of me taking a picture of me.

Doesn't quite look the same, does it.

He he! Thomas hood looks funny here.

And my hair looks funny here... I have an Ed Grimley hairdo... if you don't know who that is, that's OK (smile)

There was a beautiful view from the top. The clouds were so fluffy and not threatening at all.

Then I took over the camera and we were back to the good old phone photos.

After soaking in the views from both sides of the castle we were on our way down.

On our way out of the castle I spotted this little Blacksmith's workshop and had to stop to take a picture of that too, for my dad ... can you tell I love my dad?

I snapped a few shots on the way down.

I want to frame this one too.

Back down in the city center...

I think this is what we need in my town! A giant chess game! It looked so cool and wouldn't be hard to do! I should probably learn how to play chess... or maybe I will just do a huge checkers game!