road trip- part 3

The last few days of our trip we really slowed the pace down and enjoyed Austria.

(Sorry if the spacing is weird, the computer was fighting with me.)

Charlotte proclaimed Hallstatt to be "better than all those other places" and Rob and I really had to agree. It was so nice to be in a small town after so much city touring. This is the MAIN road through Hallstatt. I know the photo is blurry, but I had to show you this road. We (and by that I mean Rob) drove our minivan down this road. Insanity.

The entire town is clinging to a mountain on the edge of a lake.

Gorgeous.


Just one more view of Hallstatt.
We only stayed here for lunch and some much needed fresh mountain air, but it was a highlight of our week.

Then it was time for the last stop on our road trip- Salzburg, Austria.

This is our one and only family photo from the trip.

Mirabelle Gardens with the Hohensalzburg Fortress in the background.

Doesn't it just make you want to sing, "Do, a deer?" (The Von Trapp family was from here, and they filmed parts of the Sound of Music movie here.)

Charlotte and Toby knock on the door to see if anyone is home at the Mozart Geburtshaus.

Rob and I found this museum interesting, but the kids only liked the little violin, and getting to watch bits of opera on TV screens.

The Salzburg Cathedral.

It's kinda like a Cadbury creme egg-- It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the inside was delicious! It would have been incredible to hear Mozart perform here as a young boy.

One teeny little part of the ceiling inside the Salzburg Cathedral.

I had every intention of us attending a marionette show while in Austria, but it didn't happen. (Combination of cost and length of performances, told us it was really not for kids.) Our kids posing in a cut-out will have to suffice.

Toby listening to the "children's tour" of Hohensalzburg Fortress. (I listened for a minute of it, and it was really boring, but he liked holding his own "phone.") Also, notice his Spongebob watch? He got that in a kid's meal like a year ago and wears it almost every day now because it is "just like daddy's." :)

"The hills are alive...."

So, here's a fabulous thing that happened. I really talked up the FUN-icular ride to the fortress to the kids. So of course, it was closed for repairs. So the four of us hiked up the extremely steep hill (with no stroller) to the fortress. (Allen, do you remember how steep this was back in 2004? ) After touring the fortress, we headed out (per Rick Steve's advice, and with a map) to walk around the top of the hill; planning to head down to the parking deck at the other end of the trail. This would have been great, if that route down the hill hadn't also been closed. So we made a big loop, stopped for an ice cream (which we totally had earned at this point,) and made the best of it by picking flowers and singing songs. It was not the plan, but it was a quiet and nice way to end our sightseeing. :)

One last photo shout-out from Rob to a special sister.

And that wraps up our road trip blogging!

Hope you have enjoyed seeing some of our photos. ;)