Salzburg

 

After our tour of the Melk Abbey, we returned to the ship and set sail. We sailed through the night and were still sailing when we woke. We were due to arrive at Aschau just after breakfast where there were two different tours available The first was a trip to the Cesky Krumlov, and the second to Salzburg. We chose the Salzburg tour and were greeted by Elizabeth, a South African lady now living in Salzburg. She was a self professed Sound of Music tragic, who was also a trained opera singer.

The first stop was Mondsee, roughly translated to Moon lake. The church here was used for the wedding scene in the sound of music. Our guide also gave us her first rendition of a song from the movie. I must admit, she did have a good voice that suited the musical. As it was all saints day, a church service was about to start, so we quickly took a few snaps inside and went out to the Kaffee and Kondieterei (Coffee and Cake) shop. 

The cakes were magnificent and the coffee was good but not big enough. We went to pay and grabbed the card only to find out it was cash only. Luckily we had got some Euros earlier so we had enough to cover the cost. We started to walk back to the ship and came across a bank with an ATM. I am always dubious about using an ATM anywhere, and to be honest it has probably been several years now since I have used one, about 2016 to be precise. It made it a bit easier with the tap and go and within seconds had 200 euro to go. We then noticed a woman go into the bank. It is a public holiday and only coffee shops and souvenir shops are allowed to open. Apparently banks as well!

Back on the bus we made our way to Salzburg and in the distance we could see the alps in the distance. before long we were in the centre of the old city. It is a beautiful city with magnificent architecture. There is a castle on top of a hill and beautiful gardens leading to the old centre. There are various areas you will recognise from the sound of music from the steps where the children sang Do-re-me,  to the covered arch and water fountains. Of course this was a segway for our guide to break out in song again.

Eventually we ended up in the oldest area of the city with small shops and market areas all over the place. There were passages through buildings and wrought iron sign hangers everywhere. One street has a stipulation that to have a shop there you must have an ornate sign hanger. It was rather amusing to see a McDonald's golden arches inside a wrought iron hanger. We also saw the house where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born and that is now a Mozart museum. 

A few more churches, alley ways and a hundred or so tourist shops later we were in Mozart's square. this was to be our meeting place before returning to the bus. The next two hours were free time, and as it was lunch time the priority was finding somewhere to eat. We did notice a convenience store that was opened as we walked and made a beeline back there to get some cough suppressant lollies. A few people have been coughing on the ship and the last thing we want is to get some bug from them spreading their coughing.

After a great lunch and nice Bavarian beer we made our way back to the square and ultimately back to the bus for the trip home. A stop at the border and passport check later and we were back at the boat with our guide giving us a final farewell with a rendition of 'So long, farewell' from the sound of music.

Back on board we had our dinner and then prepared for a night of entertainment from the Bavarian Devils as we sailed from Passau to Regensberg. This is a 3 man Oompah band with a guitar, accordian and Tuba type horn. It was a fun night ending in a Bavarian version of Waltzing Matilda. 

So far this cruise is shaping up pretty well.

Day 9 Regensburg