Salzburg and Munich- Wednesday 13th/Thursday 14th April

Hi Guys!

I noticed that nobody has done the blog for these days and I have some spare time on my hands, so I might as well do it. Everyone ready for a wall of text? Ill try my best to put paragraphs in!

So the Wednesday of last week was the day that we went to Salzburg, which is in Austria, about a 45 minute drive away from our hostel. Unfortunately by this stage in the week many of us were feeling a little under the weather, and even more unfortunate was the negative temperatures we felt all through the morning, however the snow was fantastic to see, none of us expected to see such a huge amount of snow blanketing the ground in the middle of Salzburg! So we met with our tour guide after walking around the Do Re Mi garden from The Sound of Music, and started walking through city, after we spotetd Mozarts old residence we walked over the Salzach river and then to the Getriedegasse, an old street in the centre of the old town of Salzburg, where we all found refuge from the cold in Macdonalds. After a quick break we continued, reaching yet another fountain from the Sound of Music, and then we went into the Salzburg Cathedral, which was one of many great, elegant buildings dotted aroudn the old town. We also spotted Mozarts birthplace, and then approached the large hill upon which the fortress, Hohensalzburg, is situated.

Usually you can take a tram up the hill in around 53 seconds, but the guide ecstatically told us that it was under rennovation so it could do the job in 48 seconds when it is reopened in a few days. Unfortunately for us, this meant it would take us about 15 minutes to get up by walking, and this hill would soon become our least favourite hill in Salzburg! But once we were up the views were breathtaking, and we were somewhat sheltered from the snow within the fortress walls. After a short tour around the fortress, which included a torture room that the guide claimed was never used, we reached the highest tower of the fortress from which we could get a full 360° view of Salzburg and the Alps, but we had to leave quickly because the wind picked up and started chucking snow in our faces yet again.

The journey down the hill was somewhat easier than the climb up to the fortress, and the guide kindly took us back to Getriedegasse, where we had a few hours to shop, most of which was felt finding a place to shelter from the cold, Macdonalds was the perfect refuge yet again. We also went in pursuit of the real Mozart chocolates, as a patent was never made on them, so there are numerous shops that claim to have the real deal, but have fakes! But with the advice from the guide, to look for the Fürst Chocolates with blue and silver wrapping, we eventually found them. After our shopping we went back on the bus and back to our hostel- der Schapbachhof- and went to bed on time, we promise...

The Thursday was our day in Munich, and this trip was a little longer, about 2 hours. The landscape was still filled with snow, but luckily the centre of Munich was snow-less, and we could shed some of the jackets and jumpers we had brought, expecting another sub-zero temperature day. In the centre of Marienplatz we met our guide, who was a Texan living in Munich, who was very funny, although some of his facts about Munich seemed quite strange. He took us to the Frauenkirche, which was commisioned by Satan, according to the guide. However this story was just a legend, and had to do with the footprint of the architect in the vestibule of the church, and how no windows were visible from this position, the perfect dark, scary place for the devil to do his bidding, when infact there were many windows, but were all hidden by columns. Oh, and the devil speaks like Christopher Walken according to our guide, another fun fact.

So after this we walked back to Marienplatz, where we saw the famous Glockenspiel, which contains a wedding scene, two jousters who move unbelievably slow, and some barrelmakers who spin around a thrusting jester, it was certainly a cultural experience! The guide claimed that the finale of the Glockenspiel was when a golden eagle bursts out of the new town hall, flys around the square, turns the golden statue of Mary into David Hasselhoff, who then sings to us, but unfortunately none of us saw that bit! After that we walked to the Viktualienmarkt, the market where the most fantastic smelling foods are sold, surrounding a beer garden and a Maypole, which also has another funny story behind it. According to the guide, if your maypole is stolen, the only way to get it back was to throw a party for the thief with lots of food and beer for free, but the Viktualienmarkt maypole was a bit big for us to cart of unnoticed.

We kept walking past a Jewish Temple and other memorials, and then made it to the Hofbräuhaus, the highlight of the day! The biggest beer hall in Munich, it is filled with jovial old Bavarians with awesome moustaches and the sound of the Bavarian band playing in the centre of the room. Frau Zimmer ordered us all Weißwurst, a Bavarian food, which are white boiled sausages, which were certainly interesting to eat. We all had a lot of fun, and most of us enjoyed the food, but for some Weißwurst were not the most appealing meal. After the Hofbräuhaus we all had some time for shopping, and some of us went up St. Peters Church, which was about 300 steps up, but had amazing views. After our freetime, we went back on the bus and had another 2 hour drive back to our hostel, where we enjoyed our last night, some by going to bed early and having a great sleep, and others by staying up past midnight and having a few hours rest!

Of course the Friday was less spectacular, but we all had another great 10 hour bus trip back to Werder, where we all set off on another eventful weekend. We dont have long until we have to come back to New Zealand, so we are trying to enjoy ourselves as much as we can and experience life in Germany to the fullest. Bis bald!