June 19

Today was a real contrast of topics.  We left the hotel at 7:30 am on a bus trip up to Eagle's Nest, near Berchtesgaden, with local guide Barbara.  On the way she filled us in on all sorts of information about Hitler, since Eagle's Nest was established as his retreat from his home (Berghof) in Obersalzburg (he didn't sleep there but went up on day trips), and the Trapp family of Sound of Music fame.  With regard to the latter, Barbara distinguished betwen the story told in the movie and what really happened.  She would point out things like the convent where Maria was a novice and teacher, which, unlike the movie, is also where she was married.  And we saw, from a distance, the home where the Trapp family lived and several locations where scenes for the movie were filmed, including the opening scene which was shot last due to a long wait for good weather.

Red dome of Maria's convent in Salzberg:

Meanwhile we were driving up to the Eagle's Nest, first to Obersalzburg, where we switched buses to a local one that makes the trip up the steep and winding mountain road.  The road is actually one-way, but the buses are timed such that there is a pullover where the downhill buses can pause while the next uphill buses come through.  During the drive to Obersalzburg, Barbara turned into Herr Barbara and told us exactly when and where to do things:   "You will not make video when I am talking about Hitler.  You will not take pictures here, you will take pictures when you reach the top.  At the top you will not buy souvenirs.  It is a beautiful day--you will enjoy the view and you will buy your souvenirs back at the bottom...."  

Eagle's Nest from afar (look above the second of the large pines from the left):

After the war, the area was used for many years as an American Armed Forces R&R spot, but now all the buildings are gone.  Only a restaurant remains at the peak.  To reach the top, you walk through a 407 foot tunnel (a brief cool respite) and then 407 foot ride an elevator up through the mountain.  The Eagle's Nest sits on a ridge with an elevation of 6017 feet.  The views are gorgeous!

Somehow in the shuffle my camera wasn't with me up at the top, so I had to use my iPhone camera.

But I vaguely remembered that it had a panorama feature, which I figured out and put to use.

I later located my camera which had somehow ended up under the seat of the bus.

After about 45 minutes of free time, we made our way back down the mountain, pausing part way for the uphill buses, and taking time in the souvenir shop at the lot where we changed back to our bus (figured we'd better do what we were told!).  Then it was back to the hotel with 45 minutes for a quick lunch before we set out with Barbara on our city tour.

Our walking tour took us first through the Mirabell Gardens, where we located the spot where we would give our concert at 4:00 pm.  

We then crossed the Salzach river (BTW, salz is salt, in case you hadn't guessed, very important for the local economy in earlier years)on a foot bridge to the Old Town area.  We wound our way through mostly pedestrian streets (and any vehicles such as delivery trucks and taxis that use the pedestrian streets are required to stop for walkers) seeing Mozart's birthplace and Doppler's house,

(Doppler, like Mozart, also has his own candy brand:)

the Dom, or cathedral,

 the old cemetery that was a model for the hiding scene during the Trapp family's escape in the Sound of Music (which was filmed in a studio).

The tour ended at the Mozart House, where the family had moved as it grew out of their original residence.  Having visited that last fall when I was here, and with our performance in less than two hours, I skipped the house and walked back to the hotel, stopping for ice cream along the way because once again the temperature was in the 90s.  Our tour guide said that a record high might be set this week.  But better sunny and hot than cool but rainy, which is the more usual state in Salzburg.

There was about an hour until we would meet to warm-up before our performance which sounds like plenty of time, but not if you need to first cool down (which was not easy since the hotel air conditioning had only one temperature no matter where you set the thermostat), then shower and wash hair, do makeup and dress.  And it wasn't easy to put on knee-high hose and the turquoise sweater with the heat.  In fact, the sweater didn't go on until we were ready to head out the door.  For the concert we were able to stand in a shady spot and we collected an audience throughout the performance.  

One of our chorus members, Trudi Thompson, speaks fluent German so she was able to tell them about the chorus and the songs.

They were quite moved when we sang Where Have All the Flowers Gone in German (Sag  Mir Woh Die Blumen Sind) and from that went immediately into Let There Be Peace on Earth.  

After the performance we mingled a bit with the audience, then went back to the hotel to change into "farmhouse casual" for our dinner, which was at an actual farm in the Salzburg countryside (Salzburg being the name of the city as well as the surrounding province).  We were greeted by some family members and escorted into the barn, offered elderberry or obstler (apple and pear) schnapps, and met the other residents: several cows including Simone (all the animals had names), mother pig Rose, some rabbits, goats, donkeys....

   The rabbit with its own local food:

   Rose the pig and one of her offspring in a dark photo:

All of the food was homemade.  We ate outside at nice picnic tables initially filled with jugs of apple juice, apple wine, elderberry juice and water.  

Soon wooden platters of homemade cheese, cheese spreads, and sausage, and home-raised prosciutto, tomato, onion and red pepper slices arrived, along with baskets of poppy-seed covered breadsticks.  

That would have been a wonderful dinner, but it was just the start!  Then came bowls of kraut salad and mixed salad, and soon a pan of sliced pork with carrots, potatoes and gravy.  

Just when we couldn't eat any more came a different and interesting dessert.  It was similar to French toast--bread triangles with plum jam and walnuts, coated with egg and fried, then sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Somehow we made room for them!  

Burgi, our host, explained that they had added this business of dinners and other events, mostly on the weekend but also by special request for tour groups during the week, in order to be able to make ends meet because farming alone was no longer enough to provide a good income.  They have a separate building with a big kitchen and dining area which we were able to see after dinner.  

Then we bid a fond farewelll and waddled back to the bus.  The challenge would be staying awake long enough to pack and take another shower....