Salzburg

When we were in Salzburg we really enjoyed exploring the "Old Town". There are several cobblestone streets filled today with shops and cafes with beautiful baroque architecture. Salzburg literally means "Salt Fortress" and derives its name from the barges carrying salt on the Salzach River. In fact, we learn that the word, "salary" comes from the latin word for "salt".

After wandering through the Old Town we climed up the steep hill to Festung Hohensalzburg, the city's fortress, which was built in 1077. Salzburg was the seat of the Archbishop of Salzburgh, a prince bishop of the Holy Roman Empiere.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany

We stayed one night in Partenkirchen on our trip through southern Germany. Garmisch and Partenkirchen were separate towns for several centuries but today they are meshed together into one resort town in Bavaria.

Partenkirchen was first mentioned in the year A.D. 15 as a trade route between Venice and Augsburg. It's main street, Ludwigsstrausse, follows the original Roman road. We stayed in a traditional Bavarian guesthouse on Ludwifsstrausse Road.

The 1936 Winter Olympic Games were held in Garmisch and Partenkirchen.

Apple Strudel

Yummmm........we found a wonderful place to sample the traditional Viennese apple studel - a popular pastry in Austria. We ordered our apple strudel with both a topping of vanilla ice cream and a vanilla sauce. Delicious!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Mozart was born and raised in Salzburg. Lisa played many of Mozart's pieces on the piano as a child. Laura played a few in Suzuki Music School. In Salzburg we spent some time learning more about the man behind the music. Mozart composed over 600 works and 22 operas. By the age of five, Mozart was already a prodigy on the piano and violin and played before European royalty.

The Hills are Alive with the South of Music!

We were so excited to arrive in Salzburg! Our family loves the "The Sound of Music" movie so we took the tour of the landmarks and views of the landscape where the movie was filmed. Some of the sites we saw included the Veranda where Lisl and Rolf sang "I Am 16 Going on 17" and the church where Maria and Captain Von Trapp were married in the movie. We walked through Mirabell Gardens which were laid out in the 18th century. Maria and the children danced throughout these gardens singing "Do-Re-Mi."

We went to the Leopoldskron Castle which was used as the front side of the Trapp family home in the movie. The children boated on the Leopoodskron Lake and fell into the water during the movie.

A Vow in Oberammergau

Oberammergau is a tiny village in Bavaria which is best known for the Passion Play. The tradition of the Passion Play began with a vow made during the Thirty Years' War. While the Swedes were invading, Bavaria was hit by a devastating plague epidemic, which claimed more than 80 lives in Oberammergau. In 1633, the village leaders made a vow to God "to keep the Passion tragedy every ten years" if the village were freed of the plague. The epidemic came to a standstill, and in 1634 the people of Oberammergau fulfilled their vow for the first time. In 1680, the play was moved to every "full" ten years.

The village of Oberammergau is also known for its woodcarvers. We bought a beautiful nativity set in Oberammergau to remember our visit in 2010.

The Royal Castles of Bavaria

During our time in London we planned to do some travel in Europe and teach the girls history and geography as we go. We are now in Bavaria and learning about the classical revival in Germany during the 19th century. John and I are learning medieval history as we go and teaching the girls as we explore the castles together. King Ludwig I (1786-1868) built many Greek Revival buildings in Munich. The most outrageous building projects culminated during the reign of "Mad King Ludwig II" who died under mysterious circumstances in 1886. Despite his strange political and personal alliances, King Ludwig II was a great patron of the arts. He supported the work of Richard Wagner.

Ludwig II became king in 1864. Two years later he was forced to accept thedefeat of his country by Prussia. Since he was no longer sovereign ruler, he was unable to cope with being a constitutional monarch so he created his own alternative world where he coud live like a king of the Middle Ages. This is the idea behind his opulent castles.

King Ludwig II built three castles - Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee. In 1868, after a visit to the great castle of Wartburg, Ludwig wrote to his good friend, composer Richard Wagner: "I have the intention to rebuild the ancient castle ruins of Hohenschwangau in the the true style of the ancient German knight's castle." The following year, construction began on Neuschwanstein castle. But construction stopped with Ludwig's mysterious death in 1886, only 5 days after he was deposed because of alleged insanity.