City of Arts & Sciences

This morning we said adios to Peñíscola, and took the train back to Valencia. We got in around 11am, and took a cab to our new hostel called Moon Beach Guest House. When it dropped us off at the address, we couldn’t find any building on the street with that number, nor was there any place with a sign saying the name of the hostel. We sat around waiting a while, debating what to do. My phone for some reason has no service in Valencia, so I couldn’t call the hostel or anything unfortunately. I thought maybe we’d been scammed, but then decided to ask a random man in a restaurant if he had ever heard of it. He pointed to the unidentified door next to his and said that was the hostel. We tried it, but it was locked.

We heart Spain

After a frustrating twenty minutes we finally saw a girl walk up to the door with a key and let herself in. She was Russian or something and said this was the hostel, so I followed her inside and up the steps. I yelled around until I found this surfer-hippie guy named Davíd, who is the owner of the “hostel”. After a brief chat with him and figuring out this was the place, the three of us lugged our bags upstairs to our room. The place was an old building converted into a surfer-on-acid themed guest house. The facilities were nice and it seemed like a fun young-people hostel, but I definitely wrote my complaints on the sketchy difficulty of finding it on my hostelworld.com review.

With that behind us, we went outside to hail a cab. We were staying in a good location, literally one block from the beach, and across the street from the high-end Las Arenas hotel. Before we decided to take advantage of this though, we headed into the modern part of the city known for its unique and impressive architecture: The City of Arts and Sciences. The famous architect Santiago Calatrava designed the whole complex, and it was recently completed in 2005. It now includes a nature park, a science museum, an opera house, an aquarium, and an I-max theatre. After we walked around and checked out some of the cool architecture, we headed to L’Oceanografic- the aquarium.

Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias

The Aquarium, or L'Oceanografic

 We spent most of our day there, and it was a fun time! We got to see the usual shark tunnel and exotic fish, but also some belugas, penguins, fighting walruses, and cuddling seals.  At one point, some trainer had a giant falcon land on Christina’s head, and later I thought a giant pink bird was going to attack me. The highlights of the day included seeing these electrical jellyfish that look like something from a science fiction novel, and of course… the Dolphin Show! Christina was so excited about it; she was like a little kid on Christmas. We got there an hour early to make sure we had front row seats. It was a pretty awesome show though! After we split some pizza at the aquarium for dinner, we headed back to the hostel.  We made it an early night for our day-trip tomorrow morning!

Moon Beach Guest House, Valencia

Peñíscola, Spain

Today we said adios to the Hotel Europea, and the three of us walked across the street to the Valencia Nord train station. We had a quick train 2 hour ride to the small town of Benicarlo, whose main attraction is the train station. As soon as we arrived, we hailed a cab and drove into the beach town of Peñíscola, a popular destination for locals and other European tourists. We quickly realized we were the only Americans around, which was a nice treat! We checked into our new hotel, a bit of a splurge called the Hotel Hey, and were pumped that our balcony had an ocean view. The first thing we did after settling in? Go to the beach of course!

View of the Castle 

La playa de Peñíscola is a beautiful stretch of sand, and the cherry on top of this fantastic view is the ancient Castillo de Peñíscola, a large stone castle built into the rocks by the Knights Templar in the mid-15^th century. You can feel the sense of history just from looking at, and it transforms what could be “just another beach town” into something unique.  I also think it’s neat that in the 1960’s a movie with Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren called El Cid was filmed there.  So, while soaking up the sun and swimming in the Mediterranean, the three of us were also enjoying the castle view. After my fair-skinned friends had enough sun, we made our way over to the hotel pool and had lunch. It is a small little pool but definitely nice- made me glad to be in Spain and I definitely felt like I was on “vacation”!

Pool at the Hotel Hey  Peñíscola

I wish I could say I built this

After us girls freshened up (poor Greaham), we decided to walk from our hotel down to the castle. It was about a 30 minute walk along the beach, but the breeze and the people-watching made the time fly. We saw a few professional sand-castles along the way, and stopped for the obligatory water breaks that we so often need in always-hot Spain. Once we got to the bottom of the castle, we enjoyed all the street vendors selling their crafts and souvenirs. We decided to start climbing the walls to the entry of the castle, and had some great view of the ocean and the town below along the way.

View from inside El Castillo

Once we were high up enough, we had the choice of paying to go into the castle- it wasn’t a bad price, so of course we did. It was a good decision, because the interior of the castle had some interesting carvings and information about the Knights Templar (makes me think of the National Treasure movie), as well as aerial views of the town that were even better than before. Being there at dusk added to the overall experience, and I was really happy we had such awesome views. Once we had our fill of hearing about secret caves, knights, and pirates, we headed back into town for dinner. We ate somewhere along the strip, and toasted the evening in Peñíscola with sangria (of course). Even better, Christina and I ate gourmet ice-cream as our dinner. I could get used to this! 

City of  Peñíscola from above

Historical Valencia

Today, with me as their guide, the three of us explored the older historical part of Valencia. The first thing we did was climb the bell tower of the centuries old Catedral de Valencia, called El Miguelete. It was a dizzying, circular journey of about 300 stony steps to the top, but the views were well worth it. From there, you can see the whole city: from the modern Arts & Sciences buildings to the old churches, and from the busy port to the beautiful beach. Once we took some great photos, we headed back down inside the church. There was a funeral going on that morning, so we weren’t able to walk around as much as you normally could. That didn’t stop us from seeing the real “Holy Grail” though! This church is rumored to have the real true original holy grail in it--  the Vatican in Rome even approves this as the most likely candidate. Little known fact about Valencia!

Catedral de Valencia

View of Valencia from El Miguelete

Plaza de la Virgen

Once we left the church and got some water (it was so hot!!), we began walking through the beautiful architecture near the Plaza de la Virgen. The buildings have an almost Islamic feel to them, despite the fact that the country is now 95% Catholic. We enjoyed the unique views, and Christina and I made Greaham imitate the classic pose of the man in front of the fountain in the main square. After that, we decided to head towards the Torres de Serranos. Up to this point in the day, I had already seen all of these sights before, but this was new for me. Apparently, this tower structure was one of the gates that ran along the medieval city walls. There were no signs or information anywhere on site, so while we climbed the tower to see the views and explored a bit, we really had no idea what we were looking at. It was still a pretty cool thing to see though. I later looked up the history of it, and found this out: “the towers were commenced in 1394, and although built with a defensive function in mind, they never came to be used as such, merely cruising through history as a decorative trade gate of Valencia. Between 1586 and 1887 they were used as a prison for the nobility (much like the Tower of London) which is why they survived the liquidation of the city walls in 1865."

Torres de Serranos

Greaham imitates the fountain

Matadors at the Plaza de Torros

After we had our fill of climbing steps, we headed back to the Plaza for lunch. I decided to treat myself to a gofre, a Spanish dessert consisting of waffles and nutella, MMmm! We then decided to head over to the Mercado Central. We walked for about 20 minutes, but sadly once we got there we realized it was closed since it was Sunday. The next thing we did was head back towards the Plaza de Torros to buy tickets for the bull fight that night. After some relaxation in the hotel, we headed over to the Plaza for the show. I went to one of these back in 2007, and thought it was an extremely depressing spectacle. Since my friends really wanted to go though, I decided to humor them. The bull fight this time was just as I remembered. A decorative cultural display of grown men torturing poor bulls that stand no chance of winning the “fight”. It is neat to go and see all the people that get really into it, but being an animal lover I just ended up leaving feeling sad. The photos of the matadors are neat, but everything else is bloody and sad. To finish off our evening, we had some tapas and sangria near our hotel- that helped us forget about the poor dead torros. 

Ole! Poor bull, look at all the blood :(

Bye Switzerland, Hello Spain!

 Indian-Swiss-Chinese Place

(7/25) After leaving Lucerne and taking a train up to Zurich, my Mom and sister sadly had to say farewell to Switzerland and head back to good old America. On our last night together, we walked to a Chinese restaurant near our hotel. It was run by an English-speaking Indian family, and they were cheering for France on the Olympics on TV. Talk about multicultural! (7/26) The following morning, we all went to the airport together. We planned it to be the same day, except Mare and Rachel were headed to New York and I was headed to Mallorca (then on to Valencia). I didn’t cry when I said goodbye to them at security, but once they were gone and I spent the rest of the day alone in airports and on planes, I started getting a bit emotional. To pass the time on a long travel day, I read an entire novel and ate chocolate. On a positive note, the flight from Zurich to Mallorca took us over the Alps, and I could see Mont Blanc in France from my seat: it was amazing!

View from the Airplane!

Downtown Central Valencia

Once I arrived in Valencia and went through customs, I took my luggage, exchanged francs for euros, and hailed a taxi. The cab driver drove me towards the center of the town, and we were chatting about a few things in Spanish. The immersion had begun! Driving towards the city was like going back in time for me. I studied abroad in Valencia in the summer of 2007, and so now, almost exactly 5 years later- I was retracing my steps. The driver let me off across the street from the Plaza de Torros, the bullfighting arena, which is right in the lively city center. I was really happy and excited to finally be back in Spain, and it helped that my hotel, Sorolla Centro, had Wi-Fi, A/C and a nice balcony overlooking the busy pedestrian-only streets. My first night there, I knew I had made the right choice in coming back to this city because the musician on the street started playing one of my favorite Spanish songs J! Despite all of the excitement, I was feeling a bit anxious, and had no appetite. 

(7/27) The next day, I was all on my own. I have traveled a lot in my life so far, but I’ve never had to be 100% alone in a foreign country before. I felt incredibly homesick that first day, and so after I got some crying out to my poor Dad via Skype, and talked myself through my plan for the next few months, I felt better and explored the nearby streets a bit on my own. I found a delicious Thai food restaurant and began feeling very excited about being back in this city I love so much! It’s a strange thing, but homesickness really is something that begins in your mind but actually makes you feel physically sick. It was really bad that whole first week for some reason, but now (at the time I’m writing) it is completely gone- Thank the Lord!

Valencia Nord Train Station

7/28- I slept in late and then checked out of my “treat yourself” hotel and into a cheaper hostel that was literally across the street. The Hotel Europa- it’s affordable, I stayed there 5 years ago, but it’s a bit cramped. Since I had 2 hours to kill before my friends Christina and Greaham would arrive into Valencia, what did I do? Of course, I ate! Finally, at 3:15 PM, I walked across the street to the Valencia Nord train station. I waited for about 30 minutes, but saw no sign of their train arriving from Geneva, Switzerland. I began to get nervous because my cell phone has no reception in Spain, and so I literally had no way of getting in touch with them to find out if their train had been delayed. During this panicked moment, I saw a new train pull into the platform, and then I saw a very tall guy with reddish hair- it was easy to spot Greaham in a Spanish crowd! I was so happy to see them and end my “seclusion”! Since they had been on an overnight train, they were ready to shower, freshen up, and have a relaxing night in Spain.

Matador Statue

Once we were ready to go, we walked around the part of the city near our hostel. Greaham and Christina liked how different the architecture is from the rest of Europe, and it is true. That’s one thing I love about Valencia, and Spain in general. It’s very unique and definitely has its own style. The city of Valencia in particular is a beautiful mix of a modern/urban city, combined with the slightly Arabic influenced architecture contrasting with the hundreds-year-old cathedrals and plazas. To get their welcome to Spain done right, we ate dinner on the busy street filled with live music. We shared a pitcher of sangria and toasted the beginning of a great “vacation within a vacation”!

Christina loves Sangria!

Mount Titlis, Switzerland

The stunning view from Mount Titlis

We began our day by lunching at yet another pricy Swiss restaurant. We skipped breakfast because it’s just too much money! We made a quick shopping trip to the train station, and I bought an ugly sweater solely because I needed it and didn’t pack enough warm clothing. After buying our large diet cokes (in true American style), we were picked up a by a giant, very multicultural 2-story tour bus. The bus took us out to Mount Titlis (pr­­­onounced Tit-Less, go ahead and laugh now), which was a 1 hour drive away from Lucerne to the city of Engelberg.­­­­ On the way there, Rachel and I slept and my mom had anxiety about the heights she’d have to be dealing with.

Once we arrived, we took a gondola up the lower mountains. It was dangling rather precariously and I wasn’t the biggest fan of it myself. Once we arrived to a certain point, we all got out and got onto a revolving cable car. Each car held about 40 people, and it would spin while you were going up the mountain so that you could see all of the views. During this time, Maryann was flipping out. She stood in the middle with her eyes closed, it was pretty funny actually. While on the cable car, we started chatted with a solo traveler from our group named Yvonne. She’s from New York but was in Europe to visit her family in Slovakia. She was by herself, so we ended up spending the day with her. I hope she enjoyed the company! Once we arrived to the peak of the mountain, we were instantly walking on snow. It’s a bit strange to see snow in July, but I loved it!

Top of Mount Titlis

Standing on a glacier

 The first thing we decided to do was take a small chairlift called “The Ice Glider” that goes over a glacier. You could see deep down into the glacial crevasses, which was cool, but it was also a bit scary to be dangling over it. When we got to the bottom of the glacier they had sleds that you could ride down a portion of it. Rachel, Yvonne, and I did this, but it didn’t turn out so well. Our sleds sort of crashed so we ended up having snow all over us, and wet jeans are no fun. After that, we headed back up to the main terrace on the mountain peak and enjoyed the spectacular views. It was extremely beautiful, and very cool to see all of the glaciers and snow, but somehow I still enjoyed yesterday’s views better. Titlis was a bit too crowded with tourists and there wasn’t as much freedom in regards to where you could hike around. Don’t get me wrong though, it was still amazing!

My new Swiss Swatch!

Once our time at Titlis was up, we were back in downtown Lucerne. Us three ladies decided to go on a little shopping spree. Rachel and I ended up buying typical Swiss “Swatch” watches- I love mine!! Then, we walked around and explored the medieval portion of the city and the bridge built in 1490. The one thing about the bridge was that it had all of these paintings on the top panels, and each painting somehow had a skull incorporated into it. It was a bit creepy for sure. For dinner, we ate at Pickwick’s British Pub solely because it was “cheap-ish”. We got some of our beloved gelato and strolled the town at sunset. As the sun was going down, we said goodbye to this beautiful Swiss town.

Hanging out on a medieval bridge in Luzern

Vitznau & Mount Rigi

Cogwheel Train from Vitznau to Mount Rigi
First thing in the morning we went to the tourism office to book our tour for tomorrow, and the one for today. With our all-inclusive ticket we were ready to face the day! We went to the dock in Lucerne, and took another scenic boat ride to the city of Vitznau. From there, we took a cog-wheel train up the steep mountain track onto the stunning Mount Rigi. The top of the mountain is known as Rigi-Kulm, and as soon as we got off the train, we were greeted with its fantastic view. I didn’t think it could get prettier, but this view was possibly better than the one we had at Eagle’s Nest a few days ago.

On Top of the World!

After an expensive and small lunch on the mountaintop, we took the trail to the top of the mountain. I don’t really know how else to describe it other than to say it was AMAZING. The weather was perfect, and you could see for miles around. We were on top of the world! The cows grazing in the fields all had bells on and with the constant chiming and the wind and the mountains, it felt straight out of a story book. I was extra excited because I saw baby cows, and a baby sheep. Best thing ever. From our vantage point, we could see sights in France, Germany, and even  Liechtenstein. The snow covered peaks were the most gorgeous part though. We spent a long time just walking around on the top of the mountain, taking in the spectacular views. It was so peaceful up there, and not crowded at all like some summit points are.  After a few hours enjoying the beauty of the Alps, we took the train back down the too-steep hills, and back into Vitznau.

 

The boat ride back to Lucerne was again very scenic. Once back in town, we ate dinner at an Italian place called La Terrazza with a great view of the lake and the old bridges. The three of us ordered 2 pizzas,  bruschetta, and tap water, and our bill was $45. Also the whole time we were sitting there, there were tons of spiders behind me and I had no idea. Gross. We walked around the town some more and enjoyed the lively atmosphere. Though we didn’t necessarily have as busy of a day as usual, it was easily one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life, and the three of us ladies will always have this great memory of Mount Rigi.

Weggis, Switzerland

Boat ride to Weggis

We began the morning with a quest to find a cheap breakfast/lunch in Lucerne. As we came to realize, this was impossible. We thought that McDonald’s would be cheap, but it in fact was not. Not only was the food terrible, but it was extremely pricy ($15 a person for a normal value meal). The service was bad and they charge you extra money for a ketchup packet, and of course no refills. While we were eating our food, a massive group of Asian tourists came in. They are taking over the town lately, I swear! Haha. The poor workers were trying so hard to communicate but there was no common language, I felt bad for them all but it was definitely entertaining!

View on the Hike

Next up, we walked to the boat dock. For $35 we bought a roundtrip boat ticket that would take us from Lucerne to the lakeside town of Weggis. The boat ride to the town was about 45 minutes, and it was incredibly scenic. Once we arrived to the little town, we knew we had made a good choice. Weggis was beautiful and far less touristy than Luzern. There was a 100% chance of rain predicted for the day, but it never did rain. Since luck was on our side, we decided to take a nice Alpine hike. Being that we are girls in the Curtin family, the walking tour we thought we were doing didn't quite work out for us. We somehow went the wrong way, but it worked out for the best. The hike we accidentally went on ended up being more stunning than we would have thought. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and of course as soon as we saw an isolated field in the mountains, my Mom ran into the grass spinning around singing “The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music”. Yes, we were embarrassed, but at least nobody else was around!

Dying of allergies

During our hike in the hills of Weggis (pronounced Veg-Jees) we saw many quaint farms, Swiss chalets, and of course some great mountain and lake views. The only downside to all of this was that my allergy to pine started really kicking in. I was sniffling like crazy and could barely breathe by the end of the hike. Once we got back into the center of town, we had dessert for dinner at a little café on the lakeside. After that we took the boat back to Lucerne. On the ride back, we had a perfect view of Mount Pilatus, one of the tallest mountains in the Alps.

Back in Lucerne, we walked around the food stalls of the “Blue Balls Festival” again. The food was so darn pricy, I can’t get over it! Maryann and I decided to be American and order a hotdog and fries (only $15 but the ketchup was free!). We thought, you can’t really mess that one up, but somehow they did, haha. My Mom was like “umm.. do I get a bun?” and they said “yes, $2 extra.” I asked for a plate to carry it on, and they said “yes, for $2 extra”. Unbelievable.

Rachel in front of Mount Pilatus

Anyways, since my Mom came to Lucerne in her twenties, she wanted Rachel and I to relive her journey. We ended up roaming around this random old hotel while Mare tried to decide if it was the same one she stayed in. Next, we went grocery shopping in the train station. There I tried to find some medicine for my allergies, which were killing me. I didn’t know how to say what was wrong with me in German, so I just pointed at my face with a tissue- she understood. The pills she gave me where labeled “Rhinitin Retard”, and she referred to them as the “retard pills”. Try to control your laughter.

Lakeside town of Weggis

Salzburg to Zurich to Luzern

We woke up at 5:45 AM this morning, and took a taxi to the train station. Once there, we ate our typical plain croissant for breakfast at the usual place, Le Crobag. At 8AM, we got on the train that would take us away from beautiful Austria. While we were struggling to find our seats, a young girl approached and asked if she could help. Being the friendly ladies that we are, we started up a conversation with her. She ended up being so chatty that she sat with us in our 4-seater compartment and talked to us during our whole train ride. Her name is Marlen and she’s from a town that sits on one of the lakes near Mondsee. She is a 21 year old sailor and spoke really great English. We learned a lot from her about life in Austria, and after 3 hours of chatting, we really felt like we knew her. When our train ride ended, we swapped info with her and said goodbye. We then arrived at our destination of Zurich, Switzerland!

Welcome to Switzerland - Here's your bed.

Once in the Zurich train station, we had ten minutes to find our connecting train. Running through the place with all of our luggage, we somehow found the train to Luzern. Shortly thereafter, we arrived! First stop: ATM (unfortunately), second stop: Tourism Office. We stocked up on brochures so we can keep up our “planning the trip ourselves as we go” thing. We hailed a cab outside and took the 3 minute ride to Hotel Schlüssel. Our cab driver charged us 16 swiss francs, which is basically equivalent to $15.75- such a rip off!! When we got to the hotel and checked in, they said they didn’t see our note about needing three beds. Since all the other rooms were booked, all they could offer us was literally a mattress on the ground. Naturally, we gave this to Rachel.

The Medieval Bridge - Trademark of Luzern

Mad about the Prices

Next up: Explore the area around us! Lucerne is a beautiful old town centered around the gorgeous, swan-filled Lake Lucerne, nestled at the bottom of the Swiss Alps. One of the trademarks of the city are its many medieval-era covered bridges, as well as the intricate renaissance era paintings that are on some of the old buildings and bridges in town. It really is a gorgeous city. However, despite the picturesque, quaint beauty of the town of Lucerne (or Luzern as it’s called in Switzerland), what we came to realize is that everything there is ridiculously, beyond all explanation, EXPENSIVE. It really put a damper on the whole vibe of the town. I’m not sure if it’s like that throughout the whole country, or just because it’s a tourist destination, but either way… it was ridiculous.

We decided to have dinner by the lake in the old part of town. While yes we had a nice view, we spent way too much money on a below average dinner. Rachel ordered a small portion of pasta, and it cost her 22 francs (just as an example). In addition, the service there was incredibly slow. It took us thirty minutes to get a menu after sitting down, and then we didn’t get our drinks until after our food was brought out. Free refills on drinks or bread to munch on while you wait are basically nonexistent in Europe.  Also despite the overly relaxed service, tipping is still expected (though only 10% luckily). Needless to say, I was mad at the whole dinner experience. My expectations weren’t that high but they didn’t even meet that. 

Swans on Lake Lucerne

We decided to end the night by strolling around the outdoor stalls and window shop a bit. As we explored, we made up our way up to a huge street festival going on. There were booths with food from all over the world, it looked delicious but the only thing we could afford was a small scoop of 5 franc ice-cream. Also, the festival was called "The Blue Balls Festival"- no idea why, but I got a little laugh out of it. As we walked beyond the festival, we got to a park with tons of beautiful flowers and some statues. After watching Rachel nearly fall trying to climb a statue of a horse, we decided to head back. On the walk to the hotel, we contemplated scaring some of the gigantic swans that are everywhere, but decided they are in face far too terrifying. So, in sum, despite the annoying prices and crappy service, it  really is a beautiful little town! 

Eagle's Nest

We began our day by once again feeling like royalty and dining in the Venetian room. At promptly 9 AM we were picked up by our local guide Christian with “Bob’s Special Tours of Salzburg”. There were only 2 other outside people in our car, and right away we could tell that our guide Christian was super legit. He was so friendly, and so knowledgeable. He reminded me of a younger, more Austrian Matthew Broderick. Somehow we got into these deep political and philosophical discussions with him, and we were really enjoying his insightful viewpoints on everything. At one point my Mom just blurts out, “Christian, I really like you!” - One of those typical embarrassing Mare moments, haha.

The retreat building - Kehlsteinhaus

It was rainy and cloudy that morning and we were worried it would ruin our trip, but luck was on our side! Our first stop was going to be “The Eagle’s Nest.” We drove up a mountain, crossing the border back in to Germany in the car, and then were dropped off at the entry point. From there, we took a bus specifically designed to navigate the narrow, windy mountain roads. It was a very precarious drive, and it definitely unnerved me to look out the windows. Our poor Mom was freaking out since she’s so scared of heights.  Once we got to the stopping point, we then walked down a long cold tunnel into a shiny brass elevator. The elevator let us out at the Eagle’s Nest, or Kehlsteinhaus in German. One thing you should know about Eagle’s Nest, this beautiful retreat built on top of a mountain, is that it was actually created and built as a gift for Adolf Hitler on his 50^th Birthday. So while you enjoy the beauty, it is slightly marred by the fact that it was built for someone so evil. Apparently Hitler was scared of heights and a bit claustrophobic, so that is why the elevator up to the retreat has mirrors in it- to give the illusion it is larger. He only went to the retreat maybe five times in his life, likely due to his fear of heights and the amount of cliffs you have to drive past to get up there. Its isolation is also one of the reasons why it is still standing and was not destroyed by Allied forces during the war.

View from the Eagle's Nest

Walking out of the building and onto the terrace was like stepping into a postcard. It was so beautiful, it was literally breathtaking. We were above the clouds, and the surrounding views were stunning. We didn’t have much time before our appointed bus would take us back down the mountainside, so us ladies were running around in the cold air trying to explore and take as many photos as we could. All too soon, our time on top of the world was done, and we were taking the bus back down to the bottom of the mountain.

Next up on our tour, was a quick visit that our guide Christian had added in himself. It’s not typically a part of the tour, but because we were so interested in the historical aspects of the area, he decided he would treat us to something different. At the bottom of the mountain where the Eagle’s Nest lays, there is a little-known Nazi era bunker. It is privately owned, and the bunker system beneath this unassuming cottage is HUGE! It connected Hitler’s private home to this and several other homes in the nearby area, as well as many exits in case of a need to escape. The house was labeled as Die Bunkeranlagen Obersalzberg, but it also functions as the Hotel Turken. It’s a good thing that the place is privately owned, because the German government would really love to level it and get rid of the bunker system entirely. It’s not something they’re too proud of obviously, but regardless it’s part of history. So, we walked into this cottage, and then went down the narrow, dank staircase into the incredibly creepy depths below. Christian took us around some of the damp and dark tunnels of the bunker, explaining what certain places where. The eeriest part for me was seeing the room that Hitler and Eva Braun shared, and knowing that I was walking on the same earth that he had once frequented.

The entryway to Hitler's old room at the bunker.

After that interesting but creepy experience, we drove to a quaint town called Berchtesgaden, Germany. Nowadays, it is very picturesque and full of lively Bavarian drinking pubs. During World-War II it was totally infested with Nazis and was their unofficial “hometown” and hangout. Our walk around this town was rushed since we had spent time at the bunker, and our tour end-time was fast approaching.  We were sad we couldn’t have spent more time there since it was so pretty, but at least we got to go at all!

Back in central Salzburg, we said goodbye to Christian. He has visited the USA multiple times, and has been to 39 states, but not Kentucky. We told him he should come visit and we would give him a tour of the best state ever! We were serious, and so we exchanged information with him in case he ever wants to take us up on our offer. Who knows!

Lederhosen store in Berchtesgaden

After a quick bite for lunch, we headed back into the main square of town. Rachel bought two paintings from a local artist, and then at 3PM we went to the main cathedral (or “the dom” as Maryann and the Austrians would call it) for a Catholic prayer time. After some more shopping and gelato, we walked across the bridge into the “Old Town”. This area has far less tourists, and we were happy to be mistaken multiple times for local Austrians. To top off the afternoon, we decided to have drinks on the roof of the classy Hotel Stein. While we were there, a bunch of cannons started being shot off at the Fortress. It was a bit strange, and noisy. We think they were shooting them off in honor of the commencement of the Salzburg Music Festival though.

For dinner, we headed to Corso again for groceries. While inside, it started pouring rain. After waiting, Rachel finally was able to hail us a cab. We walk towards it, and then in swoops some jerk who took it and then they just drove off!  We were pretty mad. Despite that, we spent the rest of the evening eating and looking over our beautiful photos.

The Day Nothing Happened

Rachel found her twin.

Today, we slept in on purpose. On European trips like this, it is often a rare thing to just be able to sleep in, so it was really nice. We ate our scenic Venetian room breakfast again, then the three of us ladies came back and took a post-breakfast nap. Exciting, I know. Finally, around 12:30 PM, we left the hotel and took local bus #25. This took us to the Hauptbahnhoff (train station). There, we bought our pricy train tickets for our next destination, Lucerne. My Mom ran around asking questions and everything to ensure our train ride would go without a hitch, but I still don’t have much faith in the system. For lunch, we saw a local Burger King, and decided to give it a try. Mistake!! It was gross. The menus are obviously different in Europe and the chicken was weird, not to mention no free refills and pricy drinks! Rachel and I were mad that they charged you 40 eurocents for a tiny packet of ketchup. Grrr. After this, we waited for a while for bus #25 to come to the train station and take us back into the city. A boring start to the morning, but we had to do these things.

At the Hellbrunn Palace - Pre Storm.

On the bus, we decided to go to Hellbrunn Palace. It is on a large park, and was very scenic. However, the skies were cloudy and before we knew it, it started pouring rain. We waited it out in the gift shop, and then FINALLY we were on our way. We walked on a long wooden path towards the privately owned “Fronnberg Residence”. Maryann wanted us to go there because it is the house used for the front entry to the Von Trapp home in the movie. On our walk along the trail, Rachel and I were assaulted by mosquitoes. Also, my allergies began attacking me again. Despite walking past the row of the trees that the kids climbed on in the movie, it was not very exciting. In fact, I was downright miserable thanks to my sniffling.

The goat whisperer

We began reaching the end of the trail, and realized that somehow we were at a zoo, and not a palatial mansion. We talked to a local woman hiking, and she told us we had taken the wrong trail, and were on the total opposite end of the park than we thought we were… Of course. An hour of walking, all for nothing! Typical Curtin lady style! So, once we admitted we were lost, we laughed it off and walked back to the entry of the park.  At that point, it looked like rain again. We were all in a bad mood and just decided to give up on going to the Fronnberg. After petting these random goats, we took Bus #25 back into town, and then walked the 15 minutes to the Leopoldskron. My Mom was all sad about not being able to see the Fronnberg, but we reassured her that it was fine since we drove past it yesterday, and that’s all you need.

The Leopoldskron, after the rain.

Back at the hotel, we ordered pizza at our little café. We got on the internet for a bit, and then decided to take a stroll around the beautiful lake. About ten minutes into it, a downpour of rain began.  We waited it out under a patio, and then after that, the walk was surprisingly pleasant.  We had some great views of the Leopoldskron, the lake, the fortress in the distance, and the local ducks. Rachel and I had fun posing for photos with our umbrellas, and it was all topped off with a rainbow!

Back at the hotel, we ate a simple dinner in the room, and then decided to go to bed early. Nothing much happened today, but it was still fun. And how could I not have a good time being with my two favorite ladies??

The "Sound of Music" Tour

Back of the Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron

Lake Town of St. Gilgen, Austria

We started our day by eating breakfast in the “Venetian Room” of the Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron. You know, the usual. This was the room that inspired the ballroom and the puppet show scenes in the Sound of Music naturally. Shortly after that, we were picked up for our “Sound of Music day-tour” by our local guide, Matthias with “Bob’s Special Tours” of Salzburg. He was young and cute and so us ladies were of course happy about that. We were basically then driven all around the city and Matt pointed out various places and facts about the movie. In addition to his commentary, he made sure to play all of the main songs from the movie as well.  Maryann was in heaven (and possibly falling in love, haha) and while yes it was incredibly cheesy, it was also a lot of fun. After the singing, we stopped at the lakefront near our hotel. It was a sight on the tour since it's where they filmed the backyard scenes, and I felt legit because we were staying there already. Oh yeah.

Next up, we drove to the lake town of St. Gilgen. There we ate some dessert at a café overlooking the beautiful lakes and mountains in the background. We saw a bunch of picturesque farms, and then stopped briefly to slide down an “Alpine Luge”. It reminded me of the Alpine Slide in Gatlinburg, just more scenic.  After taking in those amazing views, we drove to a quaint town called Mondsee. Here we got to go inside the cathedral used for Maria and Captain Von Trapp’s wedding scene in The Sound of Music. It is a gorgeous church, both in the movie and in real life. After some souvenir shopping in the cute little town, our group (just 6 of us) headed back towards central Salzburg.

Exterior of Mondsee

The "Do-Re-Mi" Fountain

Back in town, we stopped at the Mirabell Gardens. This is where many of the scenes from the Do-Re-Mi song were filmed. Rachel and I of course posed with everything and tried our hand at re-enacting a part of the children’s dance as well. We also saw the legendary I am Sixteen Going on Seventeen gazebo. It was so cool to see these things I’ve seen for years on a movie screen, but in real life! I’m not sure why but it was strangely emotional going to these places with my Mom. Maybe it’s because I grew up sharing my love of the movie with her and my Grandma (who just passed away this March). Either way, it was really awesome for me to have the opportunity to do this. The tour ended here, but us three ladies walked around the grounds some more and took some great flower photos.

SEW.. a Needle Pulling Thread!

Back in town, we decided to go to the market and do a picnic dinner again (in hopes of saving some money). At this point, I began basically dying from my allergies, so we had to shop fast. We went to Corso again and got some cheese, fruit and bread. We took it back to the hotel and sat outside on the balcony enjoying our amazing view. Nothing could spoil the beautiful backdrop of our dinner, except allergies and mosquitoes! Until tomorrow, auf wiedersen!