Monchsberg

I was determined to do something touristy today.  I was going to go to the Mozart Geburtshaus, and I did go past it meaning to go in, but there was this long line, snaking down the stairs into the lobby.  So I passed. 

I ended up walking along the Monschberg, which is the hill overlooking the city.  There are great trails and views as well as remnants of the old city walls. 
The Monchsberg, which means Monk's Hill in German,  is the major feature in Salzburg.  It's where the Festung is, the city walls, and where they built the Modern Museum of Art in the late 20th century. 
But back to the hiking.  It was nice.  A bit chilly up there, but the sun was out and there were sheltered spots.  I walked a lot more than I planned.  Up stairs, around walls, through tunnels and over the town.

It's also a great way to get a new perspective on the city.  From some of the viewpoints you can see how small Salzburg really is.

The Sound of Music

I haven't written much about the movie.  It has a few connections to the Schloss Leopoldskron.  The first is that Max Reinhardt's son bought the rights to the story and turned it into a movie, no not that one.  Then of course, Max Reinhardt owned the Schloss at one point.  Remember my office was his.  Or more accurately I use his office.  Which is cool since they filmed part of the movie here.  Yes, that one.  The musical one with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

Mostly in the back by the lake. This is what you see mostly in the movie.
The canoeing scene is the most famous, but there were some exterior shots as well.
Today there was a SOM tour across the lake while we were out on the back patio after lunch.  It's sorta odd to be stared at by the tourists.   
I think we should wave and then break into song.  It's not like they can recognize us or anything.  The tourists are gonna take photos anyway.  But would be funny.  Especially if we all did the arm movements from "So Long Farewell"

Food and drink

Finally got to the cafe deal today. After hiking the fortress, again, we stopped at a cafe in the Old Town. Very ladylike. Which is always fun. But they had on their menu Sachertorte. Oh yum. Tea and chocolate cake in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. And it's a very pretty cake too. Plus this place sells real French macaroons. I have to go back. Love those....
Saturday night we went to the Augustiner Braustubl. Reminded me a bit of a baseball park in the concession area. You browse the stand, choose your food(sausage with baked potato and really good mustard) get your beer(because that's what it is, a beer hall) and find a seat. Lots of families, locals, and some tourists.
It was an Augustinian monastery, so they brew their own beer. You get it filled from a wooden cask after you rinse your mug out at the fountain. Not bad beer, if you like beer. Huge place. It's the largest beer garden in Austria.
It's a wonderful place to people watch. And the stone mugs are just fun.

Working for the weekend

I play tourist on the weekend since the city pretty much closes up shop about 6 or so here. The weekend(okay Saturday) is when you can hit the tourist sights and really enjoy the city. Sundays, only the tourist areas are open and not a lot of shops overall. The grocery stores are closed too on Sundays, which to this city kid is odd. Have to plan ahead for Sunday dinner here.
Have made a list of things to do. I crossed off the Festung today. Also I got to tag along on a walking tour of Salzburg for the new session participants. That was very interesting. I really enjoyed walking through the mountain and seeing St. Peter's cemetery. For all you SOM(Sound of Music) fans that's the inspiration for the scene in the movies where the family is hiding in the cemetery in the locked caves. They recreated that on a soundstage, 'cause...cemetery. It's still used to this day. Wonderfully peaceful and artistic there. We even saw the archbishop today.
I like the Geteridegasse as well. The main shopping street in Salzburg from way back. Now there's places like Hermes, Vuitton and McDonald's, but they kept up the wrought iron signs that advertised the business. Probably the classiest Mickey D's sign you'll ever see.

Tuesday morning

Today was a late day. Got to sleep until 9 because we had a walking tour of the city. We met our guide at 10:45 and then proceded to walk all over the city. We did take a tram to the Strahov monastery as it's all uphill.

We saw the Astrological Clock in action and learned the history of it. It was built in the 1400's and more than 70% of it's parts are original! The apostles march, the statues move, the seasons and zodiac signs are shown. And there's a modern part too.

We went to the Basilica of St James, which is an amazing Baroque/Rococco church. It also has a mummified arm hanging in chains. Fun! The legend is that a thief tried to steal from the church and the Virgin Mary grabbed his arm and he was so terrified he left the arm there...

We walked all over the city. Our guide knows all the hidden alleys and short cuts in the area so we bypassed some crowds.

Some of the house signs he pointed out were very interesting. Instead of numbers(that was the Hapsburg invaders) they used pictures on the houses to tell people what house and what occupation they were at.
There are gold snakes and violins, stone bells and statues of the Virgin Mary. The double headed eagle and gold rings.
I liked the unicorn and the medusa head best.(two different houses) Each means something. The bells are for the bell makers and the snake for a pharmacy. The unicorn was a place where Jewish intellectuals used to gather.

Elephants on parade

Checking on twitter to see what the ash cloud from Iceland was up to, and saw a tweet regarding London.
Since I'm staying in London for a day I am all excited about touring and hitting new sites. Vinopolis for one.
But here's a bonus. Elephants! I love elephants. Honestly more of an African elephant fan than Asian, but hey that's just me.

They have this summer set up for elephant statues(in case you thought I totally lost it) that are all painted and set up in areas. There's even a map.
There will be elephant photos coming soon.

Update
Saw a few baby elephant statues. Some right around my hotel. I liked Penny for your Thoughts best.