ZURICH:
The first impression I got of Zurich was that it was an absolutely gorgeous city, but that everything was ridiculously expensive there. Also the money was beautiful which made it more difficult to spend, but it was also almost a 1-1 ratio with the dollar, so the prices were more obviously horrible...booo:
The first day we were there it was just Katie, Lisa and I so we bought some supermarket food and headed off to explore the city. We ended up finding Lake Zurich and enjoying our first real view of the alps:
After that we just wandered around for a long time until we could actually check into our hostel. I wasn't a huge fan of this hostel because for one it was ridiculously expensive (boo) and for two the staff wasn't very friendly and we didn't have much interaction with them. But they did have a really cool and large and moving Swiss Army Knife in the lobby:
Later in the day Jen and John met up with us and quickly after that we went to sleep (it was a long day and we were tired). The next day we woke up early, had a free and good breakfast (the only good thing about the hostel besides the fact that we didn't have to share a room with strangers) and then headed back into the city center. We went to the Swiss national museum which was pretty cool because we learned about Swiss history and the Reformation (super history dork powers GO!) and then actually saw a statue of Zwingli in front of one of the churches where he preached. It was so cool!
Then we just walked around and saw more beautiful buildings:
And a really cool stained glass window in a church (that I wasn't supposed to take a picture of...but I couldn't help it!):
After that we ate dinner at a delicious (but very expensive) Swiss restaurant since it was drizzly and miserable outside so I got chicken, rice and veggies...not traditional Swiss food unfortunately, but still delicious. After that we headed back, played some chess, and then went to sleep. We woke up early the next morning and separated on the train (we bought our tickets at different times) and Lisa, Katie and I sat in our Harry Potter compartment, waiting for the next leg:
And finally we were in...
SALZBURG!
Already I liked Salzburg more than Zurich because we were using the friendly Euro (or at least more friendly than the pound and the franc). Also with the Sound of Music tour awaiting us, how could it be bad? The first day we were there we walked around the city a bit and saw Whomping Willow trees:
And the garden from the Do-Re-Mi song from Sound of Music (before even going on the tour):
Before heading back to the (smaller and friendlier) hostel we saw a cow which got us really really excited for the tour the next day:
In other words...we were all ready to sing along to the songs (well, almost all of us) and see the majesty that would await! When we woke up the next morning we quickly got ready and boarded the bus that would take us around the city on the tour. The first thing we saw was the lake that the children fell in in the movie and the actual Von Trapp house (which of course we had to get our picture in front of):
Then we saw the gazebo where "Sixteen going on Seventeen" and "Something Good" were both filmed. Two of the best songs in the movie obviously!
Then we took a short detour from the Sound of Music aspect and the driver took us to Wolfgang Lake, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. There was a beautiful blue lake surrounded by Alps with clouds surrounding it and a little village next to it. By saying "the most beautiful thing I've ever seen" I mean that 100% and I would definitely go back there. The picture doesn't capture the beauty of Wolfgang Lake, but take my word for it...if you're ever in Salzburg, go there!
After that spectacular stop we made our way to the church where Maria and Captain Von Trapp got married and Lisa proposed!
Then we had the BEST STRUDEL I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE! You all might be thinking that I'm exaggerating, but I would go back to Salzburg and do the Sound of Music to see Wolfgang Lake and eat that strudel again. We all loved it so much that I took a picture before:
And after...but the after picture is too sad because there isn't any strudel in it, so I decided not to include it. Then on the way back we got on the Audubon! But unfortunately we were on a bus so we didn't go fast, but I took a picture of it anyway:
The amazingness of the day continued with a visit to the Fortress: Salzburg's most noticeable attraction:
It was a steep climb up, but the views that we got of the city were totally worth the long and arduous trek. We learned that Salzburg means the Salt Fortress, so this ^ is really the namesake of the city. We spent some time in the museums and just walking around, enjoying Salzburg. We then climbed back down (which involved me gripping the handrails because of the steepness) and then bought soft pretzals and Lisa and I bought SWATCH WATCHES! This meant that Katie, Lisa, and I all had Swatches so of course we needed a picture of the three of our watches:
(Mine's the cool rainbow one) After that we just walked around the city and enjoyed the beautiful views some more:
And then went to a beer hall in a former monastery and ate dinner. Overall, this was my favorite day of the entire trip just because we did so much and saw so many amazing things (and ate the best strudel ever) and I loved every second of it. While I did things in other cities that were cooler and more historical (haha inner dork breaking out again), this city had so much charm and I would definitely go back.
Then we left the city of Salzburg and headed off to Munich! But that's a story for another blog post...stay tuned!
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