The Great Danube Cruise, Salzburg

We docked in the idyllic town of Passau where three rivers connect. It's yet another fairy tale town with a majestic castle high on a hill and baroque onion domes church spires reaching up to it from the town below. 

But we would not be seeing any of the pleasures of Passau since we booked an excursion to Salzburg. I have not been there since I was in school in France back in 1996 and my friend from the College of Charleston was living there. I took the train from Paris in the winter and will never forget arriving at dusk to those onion domes dusted with snow in a mysterious bike light. 

On this trip the weather has been rather cold but sunny. In Salzburg, however, the clouds creeped in and the rain came for a visit too. Mother and I didn't mind really. We are both fans of the drama of a mountainous landscape with fog and clouds rumbling through. 

We had a delightful guide names Silvia all kitted out in her Drindle. It was interesting to hear that she wasn't wearing this just to be cheesy as a guide but that she actually enjoys it and that the traditional costume is making a comeback with the young folks. Indeed while we were there I saw guys in my age running about town in their lederhosen and beautifully tailored Loden blazers with deer horn buttons. It made me very happy about my purchase in Regensberg!

After out tour where she showed us some Sound of Music sights (sigh) and explained the architectural significance of some building (huzzah!), we had free time. 

Mama and I dipped into Furst chicks tie where they make Mozart Krugel by hand. Legend has it Mr Furst used to make his workers sing all day. It wasn't for the sound but so he was sure they were not eating the precious chocolate!

We then sallied up to the locals at the farmers market and stood at a stall and ordered sausages and mustard. Divine! And it was the perfect snack on a drizzly day under the baroque cathedral. 

To balance our bourgeoise taste we then went for dessert at Cafe Thomasell where Mozart used to frequent for his hot chocolate. I had a flakey plum torte while mama had coffee. 

Next we strolled through that mammoth old cathedral where Mozart was the organist when he was 16. Do you know every piece of music he wrote down was perfect? Never had a mistake. At least that's what sweet Silvia said. We also saw the massive bronze font where baby Amadeus was christened. It has survived a fire and the bombing of the church in WWII. 

Once it was time to meet back with the group we headed to the bus and drove to the Lake District. I don't think I have ever fallen to sleep so quickly. All these mornings up at 7 are getting to me! And it was an ugly mouth agape, head bouncing, drool filled  nap. 

But how wonderful to wake up gazing at St. Gilgen. This is a tiny town nestled into the mountains facing a large lake that, when it is sunny, has an azure color. It is where Mozart's mother was born and where his sister moved with her husband. I can imagine booking a chalet there in the winter and curling up w a book for weeks on end. 

The next stop was MondSee where a Benedictine Monastery was built centuries ago but 200 years ago the King did away with the monk since they weren't making beer or cheese and now it is a lush hotel! 

The cathedral was one if my favorites. It was gothic but then souped up in the baroque period with massive black wooden carved reliefs with life size angels and saints in all their gilded glory. There is even an old saint sitting above the alter. Well his skeleton is sitting there. He was murdered 1000 years ago and canonized. He was always just a plain ole skeleton until those (are you tired of this word yet?) Baroque's came around an bejeweled all of his bones!! It's rather decadent. 

We were lucky to witness a wedding going on too but sadly that meant I couldn't get a good look at the bedazzled saint. The post card will do. 

Oh and a other reason we stopped here is that this is 'the wedding chapel' in the Sound of Music. We learned some interesting facts about the movie. The family never climbed the mountain to escape the Nazi's. In fact if they had they would have climbed right into Hitlers hands. In the movie you can see a black house in the background when they are climbing. That was Hitler's home, the Eagles Nest. The family actually escaped by taking a train to Italy. Much more civilized. 

And in that note were wrapped it up and bussed back to the boat which was now docked in Linz. We arrived at 530 and had enough time to lay prone until dinner was served at. 7:15. 

Dinner was delightful with our fun group and some of us decided to stroll into town to see the main square after dinner. There was a huge free concert happening and we were excited to hear Austrian music but the lead singer was American! His name was Eric Burdon and when we got back to the boat we googled and he was the lead singer of The Animals in the 60s. I love how these old goats come to Europe in their autumn years and become celebrities all over again. 

We were back on the boat by 10:30 and fast asleep when we motored out at 11pm. 

Tomorrow we arrive in Melk but mom and I won't be seeing much of that town. We are abandoning the group to take the train to Vienna to see the Lipizzaners!!!! A true dream come true.