Do-Re-Mi

On Monday we headed south to Klagenfurt to see Minimundus, literally "miniature world" which has more then 175 scale models of structures from around the world.

The boys loved the trains. I think they could have watched them for hours.

Both Grandpa Mac and Weston have seen the Great Wall in person so we thought it was only fitting that we take a picture of them by the miniature version.

It was raining that day and we were a little concerned about keeping the boys dry. So we wrapped their legs in towels and then put a plastic bag around them. These two bags also served as our shopping bags. When you go food shopping in Austria you have to provide you own bag to take the food home in. So these bags were well used on our trip.

I hope to one day see this in person. I have already told Weston that I would love to go to Italy.

Well after we saw Minimundus we(Grandpa Mac and Weston) decided that since we were so close to the Slovenia border that we should go visit Slovenia for a while

Here is a picture of a Slovenia country side. We didn't stay in Slovenia very long, but we did decided to take the highway on the way home and not the scenic route. Well as we were about to pass the border we got pulled over by a border patrol agent and issued a 150 Euro ticket ($225) for not having a Slovenia highway pass. So our little side trip turned out to be rather expensive. So if you ever decid to go to Slovenia and you want to drive on the highway, make sure you buy a pass. We explained to the officer that we had no way of knowing that we needed the pass, but the law is the law.

On Tuesday we headed back into Salzburg. Our first stop was the Children's Museum.

The entrance into the Old City of Salzburg

Once again the boys loved the trains.

Then we went shopping!!! We went down Getreidegasse street. This is the main shopping street in the Old City. It had a bit of everything: elegant clothes stores, international shoe chains and even a McDonalds. It is also the street that has Mozart's birthplace-Getreidegasse No. 9. It was so fun at least for me to go into all the shops and I could have spent more time, but all the shops close at noon until two for lunch.

Mozart Birthplace

Not everyone goes home during their two hour lunch break, some stop to play Chess. Weston could have watched the whole game.

Then we went to the Fortress Hohensalzburg- one the largest preserved medieval fortress in Central Europe. Our tour guide looking at his map :)

By this time all the boys wanted to do was play.

Walter riding the bull. Walter must have looked really cute this day because two different tourists asked if they could take a picture of him and one asked if she could have her picture taken with him.

Last thing for the day was the Marionette puppet show of what else but "The Sound of Music" We weren't allowed to take pictures but everyone had a great time.

The Sound of Music

We just got back from a ten day adventure to AUSTRIA. It was my first time going to Europe and I already can't wait until the next time. The flights there were great. We were lucky enough to have an empty seat next to us on the longest of the three flights so Hunter and Walter were both able to have their own seat. We landed in Germany on Saturday morning and then started our drive to our hotel in Austria. Everyone but Grandpa Mac (since he was the one driving) fell asleep during the car ride. Our hotel was wonderful it was a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom partial kitchen room. This was the view from our window.

On Sunday we went to Salzburg- I loved Salzburg and I think I could live there. It was a beautiful blend of old and new. I loved the look of town. We first went to the Dome to attend mass- I didn't understand a single word. It was some kind of celebration that had to do with wheat. Many of the patrons were dressed in the their traditional clothes. The service was really short and then they had a parade and a wheat crown and bread that they gave out. I wish I understood the reason behind the celebration. The kids loved watching the parade.

Then we went to the Nonnberg Abbey- the nunnery that they used in The Sound of Music. It was a bit of a climb to get up to it.

This was the view from the Abbey

Do you recognize those gates?


Then we went to St. Peter's Abbey-now some tours say this is where they shot the scenes in the movie where the Nazi's are chasing the Von Trapp family, but I have read that all these scenes were done in a studio in California

We also saw the fountains and the festival halls where the Von Trapp family sings "Edelweiss" -unfortunately the festival halls which they still use were closed when we got there. Then we drove to the castle they used for the back shots of the house facing the lake in the movie.- it has been turned into a school and was not open for the public.

So our last site was Hellbruun Caslte-my friend Mette recommended this site and it is also where they house the pavilion from the Sound of Music. We took the tour of the gardens with their trick fountains and toured the palace as well. They had a wonderful playground that the kids got to play on and then we hiked up to the small castle on the hill.

The pavilion from The Sound of Music

The view from the small castle

By the end of the day we were all tired and ready to get back to the hotel.

Hey there Delilah (I'm at the MTC)

I saw this and thought it was super cute, that I had to share: