The hills are alive... SALZBURG!

Hey everyone!

We just got back a few hours ago from a wonderful weekend in Salzburg, Austria! We had the best time and I think the majority of us that went could say it was the best trip we've been on yet!

Thursday night was karaoke night. And yes, it really did happen. It was such a blast and we met so many fun people! All the different countries included: Russia, Mexico, Finland, Netherlands, France, Germany, USA!!, and many more! It was a fun-filled night of singing song after song. We were out probably a little too late considering we had to catch a 6:44am bus to the train station, but we were all there and ready to get going on our weekend trip to Austria!

When we got there, we walked about 40 minutes to our hostel. It was really nice though because we got to see the majority of the city as we walked. It was so nice, really well kept up. It reminded me of how Munich was. Many upscale shops, and the streets and walk paths were all so clean! Upon arriving at our hostel, we were amazed. There were sliding glass doors to enter. The first floor was amazing, clean, and very modern! We were all so excited. We got our keys and walked upstairs to the second floor. This was a different story. They have been renovating for a long time, but we got stuck in the old part. The room was maybe 10-12 feet wide and just long enough to hold two beds and two lockers. We were packed in like sardines! We were for sure in a hostel atmosphere. But, we managed and unpacked a little, freshened up and went out for a lunch/dinner. We went to an authentic Austrian restaurant called "Zum Mohren." It was so delicious and we had locally brewed beer called Stiegl which was very refreshing! (I might like it better than german beer...) We sat there for a couple hours, talking, eating and then we all were still so tired from the late night so we went back and rested for a while.

Since Salzburg is where the classic movie "The Sound of Music" was filmed, our hostel played the movie every night at 8 for anyone, so we decided to watch it! Then we crashed for the night because we had a lot to do the next day.

Saturday came and we were all so excited for our first excursion. We took a bus a little out of town to a cable car lift. It took us 1700 meters up to the top of a mountain (this is all in the Alps!) where it let us off and we got to sight see and HIKE! The view was absolutely breathtaking. I have personally never seen anything so beautiful with my own eyes in my life. I thought the Rockies were amazing, but wait until you see the Alps in person, it truly is magnificent. Abby, Andrea, and Anna had purchased tickets to go on a Sound of Music tour that afternoon that lasted for 4 hours so they had to leave early, but the rest of us (Suzanne and I included) decided to continue our treck up to the very top peak of the mountain. The snow was slippery and we had to go up and down this steep hills, but the adventure was so worth it. By the time we got to the top, I forgot how out of breath and tired I was because the view was even better than I would have ever expected. Suz and I stood there in shock and turned in a circle because around us 360 degrees we were surrounded by endless mountains and blue skies. I never wanted to leave!

After that, we went back into town and went up into the Hohensalzburg Fortress! It is located right in the middle of town but a quarter mile up on a hill. It is the first thing you see when you look out at the town of Salzburg. It was really neat and the view from up top, looking over the city was awesome! Really great pictures from that sight! Then we went back into town and went to Mozart's birth home and some famous churches.

The girls who went on the Sound of Music tour had a great time too! They had a little old lady as their tour guide named Barbara. She was a hoot apparently and drove a stickshift car, but really didn't know how to drive it correctly. They saw all the places like the house and the gazebo and learned the differences between reality and the way movie was filmed. On their tour they met an Australian couple (Tom and Kylie) who were backpacking Europe for an ENTIRE YEAR! They were so nice and staying at the same hostel as we were!

We all met back up and hung out in the room for a little while before going out for dinner and drinks at another authentic Austrian restaurant. It was so fun because Tom and Kylie met us and we just talked for hours and had a wonderful last night in Salzburg.

We woke up this morning to snow falling all around us. It was so beautiful and we were not expecting that. We decided to walk back to the train station to see how prety the city looked as the snow was lightly falling upon the streets. It was such a pretty walk. The trains were slightly delayed but we ended up making it back just fine to the RT.

Overall, this weekend was so great and the seven of us had such a wonderful time together! More to come!

Love and Miss you all,

Lauren & The Girls!

P.S. Please comment! We'd love to hear from you!