Gute Nacht Deutchland!

When the weather wasn't too rainy, we would find a place to hike and take some pictures.

Falkensee (Falcon Lake)

Leftover snow

Sunset on Chiemsee.

Rain on Chiemsee.

Fun at the brewery.

Even The Pope needs a beer now and then.

Gute nacht!

Let's See Mondsee

In case you haven't noticed, I love Salzburg.  It was a beautiful day for just strolling around the city considering I've been there half a dozen times and seen most of the sites.  Thomas was sweet enough to drive over and pick me up after he got off work and took me over to the town of Mondsee or Moon Lake, aptly named because of its lake's crescent moon shape.  Mondsee is only about a 20 minute drive from Salzburg.

My favorite view of the Salzburg Fortress.

Schloss Leopoldscron

Another view of Salzburg from the hilltop at Nonnberg Abbey.

Nonnberg Abbey is a Benedictine monastery.  It was founded ca. 714 by St. Rupert of Salzburg and is the oldest women's religious house in the German-speaking world.   Its most famous postulant was Maria Augusta Kutschera...who later became Maria von Trapp of Sound of Music fame.

Yet another view of Salzburg.

St. Michael Church of Mondsee Abbey built by Odlio, Duke of Bavaria, around 748. It was used in the filming of the wedding scene for The Sound of Music.

Thomas and I enjoying an evening at Mondsee or Moon Lake.

The beautiful Baroque interior of St. Michael Church of Mondsee Abbey was warm and inviting.

A dock on Mondsee surrounded by the Alps.

There happened to be a free concert by a youth orchestra from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA when we arrived.

Salzburg Fortress from Mozart Footbridge.  Also featured in The Sound of Music.

Hellbrunn's Trick Fountains

It was a beautiful day, so I ended up taking the train back out to Salzburg.  I've been dying to do an official Sound of Music tour.  There is a "Fraulein Maria" bicycle tour I'd love to go on, but it is late in the afternoon.  Instead, I chose the "Hop On Hop Off" tour, thanks to a cool American tour guide I met named Kristin, because I can get on and off the bus wherever I want all day.

I've seen most of the sights, and I've been to Hellbrunn, but I hadn't seen the trick fountains (wasserspiele).

The oldest parts of these fountains were built for Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus in 1613.  The fountains comprise of several grottos, ponds and little houses where fountains emerge in unexpected locations and various mechanical gimmicks are operated by the kinetic energy of water.  The layout was inspired by the villa of the Roman Emperor Nero.

Hellbrunn Palace...again

The main theater area of the trick fountains.

I think I'm being followed.

This stone table has one seat for the Prince Archbishop and a set of chairs for guests.  It was custom that nobody at the table was allowed to get up until the Prince Archbishop had finished his meal and indicated his permission to withdraw.  The bishop could trigger the fountains hidden in the chairs of his guests and enjoy watching them get soaked while he remained dry in front of his meal.  In case they would run away, there were additional fountains hidden further away from the table.

 The sections following the theater and the table are ponds and grottos with tritons and depictions of Bacchus. Water and wine were the driving forces for good nights at the trick fountains. 

The mechanical theater was built in the mid-18th century and compromises of a model of the nearby Schloss Emsburg and 100 wooden models of artisans that move, twist and turn - all powered by water and a sophisticated machinery, similar to clockwork.  since the machinery is a bit noisy, there is an automatic organ that plays music to distract from the fact that this is a machine.

 Next, was the Mydas-Grotto or "Crown Grotto".  At the center is a well that has a golden crown on top.  When the water is turned on, the crown is squirted to the ceiling.

Last, we ran through the last set of fountains and were assured we wouldn't get wet.  We didn't until we got to the end were we were greeted by a squirt right on the chest by one more trick fountain.

Tittilating Tittmoning

We took a drive on a sunny early evening to the city of Tittmoning, it's just on the border of Germany and Austria on the left bank of the Salzach river.  The main attraction of the town is the castle (burg). In 1234 the construction was vouched by Archbishop Eberhard II of Salzburg as protection against the strong Bavarian town of Burghausen. In 1816, Tittmoning permanently became a part of Bavaria.

Tittmoning Castle

The back of the castle with the town below.

A church in the town.

Is this bamboo?

Bridge up to the castle.

Really big door.

Sunset over Traunstein.

Hohenwerfen Castle

The weather was predicted to be a rainy mess for the weekend.  We decided to attempt to go to Hohenwerfen Castle anyway and hope for the best. 

The castle is surrounded by the the Berchtesgaden Alps in the Salzach valley, just 25 miles south of Salzburg, and dates back to the 11th century.

After trekking for about 20 minutes up the hill, we finally reached the majestic castle.  We walked through the castle to see the falconry museum and its firearms and weapons exhibition.

View of Werfen as walking up the mountain.

Entrance to the castle.

The grounds of Hohenwefren Castle.

Thomas, Dominik and me.  In the rain.

The Austrian Alps.

The Salzach River from the castle's bell tower.

View from the castle's bell tower.

The bell in a rainy, windy mess.

The fortress is also the home of a spectacular falconry show.  Falconry is a very important tradition in the UAE, and there was a massive show there in December.  We discovered we were an hour early for the show, so we trekked back down the mountain and got a small lunch of cheese and sausage.  We ate it in a little enclosed hut about halfway up the hill.  Perfect since the rain hadn't let up.

The falcon soars past the crowd...

...and then high above the fortress.

 

The falcon buzzed right past my head several times.

They even had an American Bald Eagle.

This vulture was like a little dog.

Beer, Beer Beer Said the Sergeant!

The next day in Bamberg, I got up bright and early to meet my friend Brooks for our beer tour.  I needed to get tickets from the tourist center.

The day wasn't looking promising.  It was pretty rainy and chilly.  I had a hard time finding the place, but I eventually did.  For only 20 euros, we were given a backpack, a beer stone, a map with the breweries pinpointed, and 5 tickets for a beer at each place.  We began our morning with a breakfast of traditional weiss sausage (white sausage) and pretzel.

We felt kind of nerdy and touristy with our backpacks, but as we discovered at our first stop, we weren't the only ones doing the "tour."

Where is the schmuck? Schmuck actually means jewelry in German.

Our little backpack and beer stone.

Our first stop was the Greifenklau Brewery. It has been around since 1595.  We had to walk quite a bit up Kaulberg Hill, where the views are supposed to be really nice.  Since it is away from the main tourist area, the brewery is populated mostly by locals.  Mostly, since we spied another older gentleman with his little beer tour backpack. It started pouring rain a few minutes after we got there, so we chose seats on the balcony, but under an awning so we wouldn't get drenched.

Our first stop, Greifenklau Brewery.

Brooks just ahead of me with his beer backpack.

Our next stop, I think, was Klosterbrau.  The rain was coming down and it was pretty cold.  It is the oldest of the Bamberg breweries; making beer since 1533.  Their specialties are Braunbier (brown beer), and Schwarzla (black beer).  We also decided to have a small lunch that wasn't so small of more sausage and salad.  This was after the sushi we had in the afternoon because Shelly was craving rice.

Enjoying beer at Klosterbrau.

Next we bee-lined it all the way to Fassla Brewery; 1695.  They have a cute logo of a gnome rolling a beer beer barrel.  Here we had some "Weissbier" or white beer.

At Fassla with their cute little  beer barrel rolling gnomes.

Already at this point things were becoming blurry.  Brooks was navigating, so I wasn't really paying attention to where we were going.  Our next stop was for the famous Rauchbier or smoke beer at Schenkerla Brewery.  It tastes a bit like beef jerky.  It was actually good, but I don't think I could drink it all night.  The place was packed with people and very warm and inviting inside.  The tavern used to be an old monastery with Gothic vaulting and wood paneling.

At this point we were running late.  We had budgeted time for Shelly to take a nap and it was time to meet her, so Brooks ran off to their B & B to get her while I saved our table.

Smokey Rauchbier at Schenkerla Brewery.

The interior was nice and warm on a cold, rainy day.

And last was...was...hmmm...I'm guessing we ended up at Ambrausianum because it was right across the street.  Just founded in 2004, its microbrewery equipment is right in the middle of the pub. We had dinner there, again. We ordered this big dinner for 2 people of pork shoulder and pork knuckle and I think some kind of beef with semmel.  It was all so good and I was so stuffed.

Yep, just about done at Ambrausianum Brewery.

Finishing up the beer tour!

Just enough light left to guide me back to my hostel...where there was some old guy creeping around in his boxer shorts. Yay.