Austria and a taste of Germany

We found an amazing deal on a bus ride from Prague to Nurnberg, so we took it. We spent the half day at The Nazi Party Rally Gounds Museum learning about WWII. It was a really cool museum. We saw the Congress Hall, Zepplin Field, and watched a couple short documentaries about Hitler and the War. It was very interesting to see and learn more about. Afterwards, we went to the city and had lebkuchen which is sort of like a gingerbread cake that they are famous for. It was absolutely delicious. It was a fun day. After spending the day in Nurnberg, we headed down to Austria, which is about an hour and a half away by train. You may be wondering why we didn’t just stay in Germany, since we were going to come back, well the reason was because our flight left out of Munich, so it was just easier to finish the trip there.

Translation: Hitler: Our last hope

Zepplin Field

This is where Hitler used to preach from. Danny wanted me to heil, I wanted to live.

And this is for all you nursing mothers out there. Yes, the water is coming from her nipples.Our first day in Austria was really fun. We went to a little town called Werfen, home of the famous Hohenwerfen Castle. We hiked up a large Alp Mountain to get there, which was beautiful. The castle was really cool. It is about 600 years old and has been used for a myriad of purposes. It was used as a castle, a prison, and a Nazi Police training center. The little town that it is in is famous for bird training, so we were able to see a falcon, eagle, and owl show while we were there. It was very cool.

These are some of the birds we saw in the bird show

Danny was misbehaving, so I put him in the stocks.

View of the city from the bell tower

After the castle, we went to Salzburg, home of The Sound of Music. There we saw some beautiful gardens, the city center, and some fountains called Trick Fountains. The person who designed these fountains was a bit crazy. He designed a whole city block with hidden “fountains.” He then would invite guests over and trick them with them. When they would be sitting or walking, he would turn on the water and get them all wet. Every room had sprayers in it hidden very well. We went with a group of students from Italy, and they were loving getting wet. Our guide was nice enough to take us in separate groups so we all didn’t have to get drenched.

This is a little city built out of wood, and has over 200 figurines, of which 75 move

This is the Salzburg CastleOur last day in Austria was spent in a little city called Hallstatt. It is a very old Austrian city, dating back to before Christ. Obviously it has been renovated since, and is a beautiful city. It is built right around a big lake, with the houses going right to the waters edge. We rode a tram up to the top of the mountain, and then hiked down. It was absolutely beautiful. I also had my first and last leberkase, translation: liver cheese. Yes, liver cheese, do I need to expound upon why it will be my last? Danny absolutely loves the stuff, but I could not force myself to do the same. I gave it a fair try though, 3 bites. Danny wasn’t very sad that he had to finish my share. I couldn’t get the taste out for the rest of the day. It reminded me of bacon bits in that aspect. It was a very relaxing day, we walked a lot, as usual, but the city and the lake were well worth it.

The LeberkaseWe were sad to leave Austria, but happy to be moving on to Germany, our next stop.