Day 3 in Salzburg, and we woke up before the alarm went off!  Several creaks and groans later (really feeling the effects of the snowboarding), the first stop of the morning was the Haus der Natur.  We went all over the museum, with dinosaur models, some big fish tanks, funky lightning photos, the reptile house (snakes and cute baby turtles!), a water section with an overhead waterfall we wanted to take home, and an astronomy section that informed us we would weigh around 2000kg each on the sun!  

 

Next stop along the line was the Kollegienkirche - the University Church, as it is also called - which was absolutely beautiful, a stunning sculptured mural over the altar greets you as you walk in, with clouds surrounding a Jesus sitting in a sunburst looking welcoming.  Understated beauty in there, it was lovely.  No photos, I don’t do photos in churches.  We pottered on from there to the Cathedral.  This time there was no understatement, gold leaf everywhere - the Cathedral was redone in 1959 after it was bombed for some reason, so it was all still ever so shiny.  Best bit was the dove in the sunburst at the very top of the dome, way way up so you didn’t see it till you got up close to the altar.  We preferred the Kollegienkirche, though with 4 organs round the altar as well as the big one up the back, we thought a concert on them would be something else!  Sadly, nothing on this week.

 

After a spot of lunch, it was time for the second half of our day - the oh-so-cheesy-but-had-to-be-done Sound of Music Tour.  Our perky American-Austrian tourguide took us round the sights of Salzburg and out of town with bad jokes and random Sound of Music information.  We saw the lake and garden they used as the back of the house, waved at the Nonnberg Abbey, visited the summer gazebo, no longer in the filmed garden as too many people were dancing round it.  We saw the front of the house from a distance, along with the ‘Confidence Alley’ (also used for tree climbing), and had a whistlestop tour of the sights around Salzburg where they filmed the Doe a Deer bits.  Out of town and into the lakes and mountains regions, absolutely stunning scenery.... photo time!  We stopped for an hour in the town which holds the church they got married in (Mondsee), and admired the lakes-and-mountains some more.  So, now when we watch the movie we’ll be able to spend all of it saying ‘Been there’ :-)  

 

One prance around the Sound of Music fountain and a large dinner later, and we’re relaxing in the hotel again before we head up to the snow again tomorrow for our last day (boo!).