David and I had been to Neuschwanstein Castle last year and didn't really wan to go back, so we departed from the tour itinerary and rode a train from Munich to Sazburg on Day 11. We slept in as much as the heat and city noise would allow and then went down for breakfast at the hotel. While eating breakfast we could look out into the back courtyard and parking lot of the hotel. We watched as an English speaking couple (we could read their lips, but didn't hear them so don't know accents) attempted to back out a Mercedes station wagon from a very tight parking spot. They only hit planters, the wall and a few other items before ripping off the passenger mirror and giving themselves enough space to finally get out. It was really riveting and quite entertaining.
We then walked to the train station, which was only a couple of blocks from our hotel, bought our tickets and ran to our train because we only had a few minutes to get there. Then we sat in European train comfort for 2 hours progressing towards Salzburg. There were no exciting events during this train ride. Arriving in Salzburg, we attempted to get a map from the information booth but didn't have much luck and finally figured out how to get to our hotel. It wasn't a very long walk, but it was miserably hot. We checked in and went for lunch at a restaurant around the corner from our hotel that was wonderful. I had a salad that had fried cheese, egg rolls and soemthing else, and David had a "farmer's pie" which reminded me of "shepherds pie" in Ireland. The dinner was wonderful, so we had dessert. I got a fried banana and David got a chocolate concoction.
After lunch we walked down to the river and sat and watched the water race by. It was so much cooler down by the river because the water was glacial melt and was very cold--natural air conditioning. We stayed down there for a bit and then walked back to the hotel for a nap before joining our group for dinner.
We all went to dinner just down the street from the hotel and had wienerschnitzel (fried veal) which was ok...not amazing, but not bad either.
After dinner we went to the Milk Festival which was in Mirabel Gardens. The purpose of this festival was to educate locals on the fact that the EU imposed prices on milk were causing serious problems for farmers being able to make any money. The farmers were protesting by pouring out fresh milk for 2 days and this festival was enacted to educate people on what products are made from milk. There were people dressed in white with lights shining on them performing to different components of milk--bacteria, proteins, etc. It was really neat.
Then we went to enjoy the Long Night of the Churches. This is a festival that happens once a year in Salzburg and we were lucky enough to be there for it. Most of the 44 different churches open late and put on a show of some kind. They are are lit up by candlelight. It was one of the best events of the trip. We went to three different churches before heading back to the hotel for sleep--it was close to midnight by this point. My favorite was the labyrinth in the cathedral. At one church, that I found stunningly beautiful, there was a well known men's choir performing and the place was so packed that I actually feared for my ability to get out so I left before hearing any of the performance.
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