We embarked at the town of Linz which is the third largest in Austria (population 8 million) on an optional two hour coach tour to Salzburg. On the way we travelled through some of the most beautiful countryside....... rolling green hills with the snow capped Alps in the background as it had snowed the previous week. The 'Salzakammergut' or Lake District is postcard picture perfect....exactly as it was in The Sound of Music. Absolutely stunning!
On the way we stopped at the town of Mondsee for some coffee and cake and a tour of the local church where the wedding scenes from the movie were filmed.
Salzburg is a town full of beautiful gardens and buildings, small alleyways full of boutique shops including a Christmas shop where we bought a decoration for our Christmas tree (we're purchasing one from each destination). The Getreidegasse is the main pedestrian mall, with the usual cobblestones (we are continually amazed at how European women manage the cobblestones in their stilettos) and onto it fronts the birthplace of Mozart. This is of course Salzburg's main claim to fame.
It was delightful to see many locals in Austrian national dress, and this is apparently gaining popularity.
We rejoined the ship at Passau, now in Germany but on the 2 hour journey we again passed gobsmackingly gorgeous countryside with fields and fields of bright yellow canola (grown for bio-fuel) and the standard Austrian country house, two stories with barns and stables underneath to house animals in winter.
Once in Bavaria the countryside changed again with the most notable feature being the rows and rows of solar panels on virtually every roof - houses, barns, everything.
From Passau we sailed at 10pm having enjoyed a long but glad-we-did-it day. 'The hills are alive with the Sound of Music..........'.