Neuschwanstein 2019

We drove from Salzburg to Innsbruck, taking in the occasionally breathtaking views. 

We don't have much to share of Innsbruck itself.  I was sick with a bad cold and never left the hotel.  Tom took a funicular to the top of the mountains and visited the zoo where the animals were all sleeping.

But before I was felled by the cold, we enjoyed a pizza dinner next to the river.  

But I rallied for the visit to Neuschwanstein.  There were 2 castles to see, and the second one had over 300 steps.  At the time, it seemed like the first one did too.  These photos are all of the exteriors, since the guided tours prohibited interior photography.  We realized pretty quickly that the prohibition against photography had little to do with limiting images of the interiors themselves, but all to do with the speed of the tours which would be completely bogged down by the now ubiquitous photography of influencer wannabes that require images of themselves in every possible pose in front of every possible location.  Forget the now quaint annoyances of the selfie stick, now we are talking about women in major makeup and fashion posing with the site we came to see as an incidental backdrop.  So -- no photos of the interiors or our many fellow tourists straining to be seen.  

A view of castle #2 (Neuschwanstein) from castle #1 (Hohenschwangau).  Hohenschwangau was Ludwig II's childhood home.  Once he was king, he started a castle-building campaign, which included Neuschwanstein on a nearby hill.  It was his extreme spending and disinterest in politics that lead to his probable murder by the government. 

A long way down from a not-very-secure feeling bridge. 

View of castle #1 from castle #2.

We made it through the day and sped off the following day to Munich to leave the rental car and fly to Marseille. 

Salzburg 2019

Tom's objectives in Salzburg were sachertorte  and Mozart.  We got both.

We stayed at the Sacher Hotel, so the sachertorte was all around us, including chocolate shampoo and body lotion.

 Our first evening we walked to a palace in a nearby park for a charming concert. 

 

The next day we sped out of town in our rental car to visit Hallstatt, a charming lake-side village unfortunately overrun (as many of our stops were)  by busloads of Chinese tourists and van-loads of Japanese tourists, none of whom apparently ever learned to walk to one side or stay out of the road.  

 That evening another concert arranged by our concierge, an exceptional 45 minute piano performance.   

 We learned that Salzburg has it's own infestation of "love-locks" on a pedestrian bridge. 

 And that sachertorte can be enjoyed in your hotel room, in the hotel bar, and in anyone of the hotel restaurants.  They even have an app to summon sachertorte to your room 24/7.  Interestingly, as Tom observed, it's tasty, but we've both had much better chocolate cake. 

 Our last night featured another concert in the castle overlooking the city. 

The original decor of the concert hall. 

 We noticed this closed shop on our walk back to the hotel. 

 And before the high mass the next morning, we found the Satzburg weather station. 

Salzburg has a few of the cobbles we saw in our river cruise a few years ago, which mark the last place a local person was seen before being taken or killed in the Holocaust.  This cobble notes the date that Johann Rehrl was deported from this place, and the date of his death the same year. 

 The day before we had taken most of Rick Steve's walking tour of the old town. 

 This being Sound of Music territory, this is the cathedral for the wedding. 

 Mozart's baptismal font, from the 13th century. 

 The statue of Mary being crowned by angels is an illusion.  Mary is in the plaza, while the angels are across the plaza on the church facade. 

 The cemetery which features the escape of the von Trapp family in the movie.  But not in real life, where they just hopped a train to Italy. 

 We went to high mass at the cathedral, which has four organs. 

 Mass used only one however. 
 
 But they were the organs played by Mozart back in the  day.  No pressure. 

  

 

 A last farewell to our lovely hotel...

And then, off to Innsbruck....