Saturday, September 20, 2008
Austria Part III / Österreich Teil Drei
I posted the wrong videos. Check them out again ;)
Lemme show you a movie and you should be able to guess which part of Austria we were at... (especially towards the end of the clip)And take a look at the following photos....
Its the Mirabell Garden in Salzburg, where the filming of "Sound of Music" took place at!
It was such a lovely day to spend in the garden and we spotted some bollywood stars.. Hmm... why not Hollywood???
But the weather is too hot, so we hopped on the "Sound of Music" coach and enjoyed a guided "Sound of Music" trip around Salzburg!
So funny... the first thing that the guide told us on board was that Austrians dont really know "Sound of Music" and those that knows... actually hate "Sound of Music" because Hollywood changed the story so much... The original show is actually von Trapp Familie which is in german (oh and i watched it, its good!)
The first stop was some mansion that the film took place at. Actually I think I watched the movie before when I was young but I couldn´t remember much, except the songs of course.
And this pavillon! "I am sixteen going on seventeen....." It is now closed because some old lady tried to hop around the benches like in the movie and broken some bones, so it is then decided that it is too dangerous to open to public.
No recollection? Watch the video here.
We moved on to the outskirts of Salzburg which has 70 lakes. It was soo beautiful I tell you!
This is not one of those 70 lakes. It is the headquarter of REDBULL. Yes, if you don´t know yet, Redbull is invented by a Austrian guy who is damn rich now. We even passed by his castle at the top of a hill and a small lake in the back, which he likes to call it as... "swimming pool". oh my...
(oh wait, it might belongs to another rich Austrian guy, i can´t remember exactly, hehe)
The finally stop is Mondsee which means Moon lake in german. Great fans of "Sound of Music" would know the church above. Its the one where the wedding scene took place at!
The interior. Cool but to me.. Every european church looks more or less about the same. Oops! Alright, thats because I really don´t know much about building and christianity.
Found my idol there as well! He was promoting the Mozart chocolate ball, which is being sold everywhere and tasted quite good I must say.
Other than Mozart chocolate ball, Mondsee sells great Apple Strudel as well! Oh yes, apple strudel is from Austria. The left is Apple strudel with cheese ice cream (yes CHEESE) while the right side is apple strudel in vanilla sauce. I wish I had both for myself only, yum yum!
Checked in to our camping site later that night. It was our first try to stay in a tent! Its cheaper and looks rather clean (but we were infested by some bugs throughout the whole trip =( )
Busy unpacking... Thats 5 beds in a row. Thank god there was shower room with hot water in the camping site!
But.... it rained for 2 whole days while we were in Salzburg. So much rain that even the tent gave way to water, we woke up with wet sleeping bags... Look!
And we also had to wear poncho the whole day. We looked so comical eh?
Despite the bad weather, sightseeing plans continued! Took a cruise ride down to Hellbrunn Schloss.... It is not a typical palace but rather, a very fun palace!
Thats how the King actually hosted dinner, by splashing water to the guests´ buttock during the meal. All seats have such device, of course except the King´s seat.
And the guide pulled some tricks on us too. The whole palace is filled with secret switches to splash on unawared tourists!
Thats me!
A very grand musical box that runs on water power. Every figure inside moves and there is even music playing!
The main attraction in Hellbrunn. A golden hat that weighs around 1.3kg or something that I can´t remember, being raised all by water!
Next, we took cable car up to Untersberg where once again, the filming of "sound of music" took place. But due to the rain, the weather was foggy and COLD, VERY COLD. We made it as far as only 50m to find the house below....
Oh and not forgetting to take a photo to commerate such unforgettable moment.
The other few even bought ice cream and ate it there, really mad friends that I have!
Went down again to Salzburg city and up again to Hohensalzburg!
The birdeye view from up there....
Soon it was dinner time and we decided to visit some beer brewery to have dinner there.. But we didn´t know it is some sort of fine dining (oh of course, with reasonable pricing).
There was free bread to fill our growling stomach first...
And complimentary starter!
Although it was only that little but we were happy to know there is FREE stuff! haha!
Then came my main course. Wiener Schnitzel (Vienna Pork Cutlet). You see that in Singapore sometimes too.
Finally, Mozart chocolate alcohol drink that we bought on our own as dessert wine. It really tasted so good that I regret not buying more!
Willy is holding on to the white choc wine while I had the dark choc wine.
The PINK toilet that we visited in the brewery.
The next morning we made some time to visit Mozart birth house and residence.
While the residence was actually rebuilt, the birth house is the exact same location and building as where Mozart really lived as a young boy hundred years ago!
We had to carry all our barang barang along too!
The young Mozart portrait.
It was said that more or less, thats the decor of Mozart´s house in the past.
Mozart´s birth house was so much more informative and interesting as compared to the residence, so make the right choice if you plan to go to salzburg some day!