From Salzburg, Maria drove us to Berchtesgaden, Austria. This town is home to a spectacularly colored lake and was once one of Hitler's favorite places to visit. He formulated his vision of the Third Reich while finishing his memoir, Mein Kampf , in the region. Once he had risen to power, he built his Eagle's Nest retreat on top of a nearby mountain.
We didn't have time to visit the retreat, so we hopped on a boat and cruised around the lake enjoying its gorgeous scenery. After enjoying God's beautiful creation, we headed back across the German border into Bavaria and visited one of the most spectacular man-made buildings in the world. If this building looks familiar, it's because it was the inspiration for Cinderella's Castle in Disney World. Neuschwanstein Castle was the dream of "Mad" King Ludwig. It looks really old, but was only constructed in the late 19th century. It was actually built using steel girders and a sandstone veneer. Unfortunately for us, they were performing repairs on an entire side of the castle! The castle, even though the interior was only a third finished, opened for tours within six weeks after Ludwig's death. We joined the masses and took a tour of the interior. The rooms were lavishly decorated and displayed the King's unhealthy, in my opinion, fascination with the famous opera composer, Richard Wagner. The master bedroom, basically a giant hand-carved wooden room, took over 10 years to complete! The most recognizable picture of the Castle, the one in which you can see all the scaffolding, is taken from Mary's bridge. The bridge spans the gorge and provides an amazing view of the castle. However, the wood floors moved a little too much for my liking, especially given its height!
We returned to Basel for a day of rest before my parents, Jake, and I visited the Swiss Alps.
We're a bit behind on our posting, so we have some work to do to bring you up-to-speed on our latest adventures.
In early September, we were extremely excited to have my parents, the Dierings, come to visit us. After they adjusted to the jet lag, we headed off to Salzburg, Austria. Maria graciously offered to be our chauffeur and she became the first Diering to drive the streets of mainland Europe. Six hours later, we arrived safe and sound!
Salzburg is probably best known for being the city where the Sound of Music was filmed. For a greater appreciation of our trip, watch this video, then browse through our pictures below.
Oh, it's also the birthplace of some guy named Mozart.
He's no Julie Andrews, but he still gets his own statue.
In the 16th century, the Prince-Archbishop decided to build the "Rome of the North." As a result, Salzburg is considered the greatest Baroque city north of the Alps. The city's most famous Baroque building is its cathedral.
Mozart was baptized here and later became the organist for two years. St. Peter's cemetery, the inspiration for the scene in the SOM where the von Trapp family hid from the Nazis.
As you can see from this picture, the Mirabell Gardens had a spectacular view! Maria is pretending to be Julie Andrews finishing the "do-re-mi" song. I didn't believe her when Maria, my wife, not the one from the movie, claimed that the song ended with this pose. Don't believe her either? Judge for yourself at the end of the video attached above.
The SOM crew danced around this statue in the Gardens at the 3:58 mark in the video above.
They also pranced around this fountain in the Gardens at the 4:45 mark in the video above.
After much dancing of our own, we headed up the cliffs that soar above the city. Yes, this view also made the movie. See the 1:50 mark of the video above.
We ate some schnitzel for lunch at a fantastic restaurant on the cliff's edge, but we first had to pass through the medieval city wall in order to reach it.
The restaurant shares the cliffs with the Hohensalzburg fortress. Since its construction over 1,000 years ago, this fortress was never captured.
The view from the cliffs underneath the fortress.
We took a bike ride along the Salzach river to the Hellbrunn castle.
The von Trapps also enjoyed the city's bike paths. See the 3:00 mark of the video.
After biking for about half an hour, we had a much different view of the fortress.
The "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" gazebo...the real reason we visited Hellbrunn castle. It was so romantic!
After a busy day, we enjoyed one last stroll through the city at night.
We've lived in Europe for just over a year now and it has truly been an incredible experience. We have learned a lot, been challenged a lot, and have been able to see a lot of fascinating places. Here are a few of our favorite pictures. Can you identify all of the places? Impress us with your knowledge!
So, if you're up for a challenge, leave a comment and name all of these places! (top to bottom, left to right)
Thank you for visiting our site! In September of 08, we picked up and moved from Raleigh, NC to Basel, Switzerland for two years. We thought that this blog would be the best way to share our European lifestyle and adventures with you. We miss all of our friends and family, but we hope this helps us stay a little more connected while we are away. Hope you enjoy!
We didn't have time to visit the retreat, so we hopped on a boat and cruised around the lake enjoying its gorgeous scenery.
After enjoying God's beautiful creation, we headed back across the German border into Bavaria and visited one of the most spectacular man-made buildings in the world. If this building looks familiar, it's because it was the inspiration for Cinderella's Castle in Disney World.
Neuschwanstein Castle was the dream of "Mad" King Ludwig. It looks really old, but was only constructed in the late 19th century. It was actually built using steel girders and a sandstone veneer. Unfortunately for us, they were performing repairs on an entire side of the castle!
The castle, even though the interior was only a third finished, opened for tours within six weeks after Ludwig's death. We joined the masses and took a tour of the interior. The rooms were lavishly decorated and displayed the King's unhealthy, in my opinion, fascination with the famous opera composer, Richard Wagner. The master bedroom, basically a giant hand-carved wooden room, took over 10 years to complete!
The most recognizable picture of the Castle, the one in which you can see all the scaffolding, is taken from Mary's bridge. The bridge spans the gorge and provides an amazing view of the castle. However, the wood floors moved a little too much for my liking, especially given its height! 
We returned to Basel for a day of rest before my parents, Jake, and I visited the Swiss Alps.
