We started the day early because of the early conk out the night before. I was, once again, doing OK, but the poor bf had woken up at 3:15am and could not fall back asleep. Having slept through dinner last night, we were starving for breakfast which was a wonderful thing as their breakfast spread is so bountiful. I am getting less and less shy about my German so we breezed through the service with a nein danke no kaffe bitte. We once again tried to hydrate as well as fill our bellies. I ventured to the boiled egg this time. I swear there was a feather on the shell of my egg. That is how fresh and wonderful it was. I also made a great poppy seed bread salami and German bologne sandwich and a yogurt with museli and fruit. I washed it all down with a Yakult, a fresh squeezed orange juice and some peppermint tea.

Wonderful breakfast, this time with an egg to boot!

We decided to get some more cash before we left so we popped back to the platz for the ATM and some gum for the bf. He is a gum fanatic, that one. Too bad that it was too early for most of the stores to be open because I have a lesson learned. When planning a trip, try to not leave on a Friday. We landed late Saturday which meant our first whole day was a Sunday. Although Europe is pretty progressive and are not crazy religious much any more, they still close everything down on Sundays. Our only day in Munich we could not shop. We ended up with no souvenirs at all. Bummer. Later on in the day when I finally bought some gifts I was leaping about with happiness!

We checked out and grabbed a taxi to the car rental place. We were given a Mercedes! Fancy or WHAT? It was all paid for so we just hopped in and....sat there. I asked for a car with GPS. As such, we were mailed a GPS unit that we dragged from home all the way to Germany. We spent time trying to get it to show maps in Germany yet speak English. We had finally figured it out when we got in the car and ...what do you know?....there is a GPS already connected to the darn car! Then we spent another few minutes figuring that one out. Then we spent a few minutes figuring out how to release the emergency break. By that time the rental guys were nervous as heck watching me drive out of their parking lot with their Mercedes!

We had little trouble making our way through the pouring rain to the Austrian border where I had to stop at a gas station for a sticker that will allow me to drive on their roads. While I was there I had to use the WC, aka bathroom. It was like a subway station there. I had to give a turnstile €0.50 to get through to the toilettes. It was worth it to me at that point....I mean...did you read what I had for breakfast?

On we went to Schloss Hellbrunn. I wanted to come here because the last time I was in Salzburg I went there and it had a lasting impression on me. Of course the last time I was there it was almost 90 degrees F outside. The grounds are famous for what they call "trick fountains". The wild ...or bored? prince set up the outside grounds to trick his guests by squirting them with concealed fountains of water.

Here, the Krazy King put the fountain in the seats of the dinner table so his guests would get a surprise.

One of the underground grottos made with big shells.

This visit, it was raining and about 12 degrees C. It was still totally enjoyable for both of us. We huddled under one, tiny, useless umbrella before we realized we were better off with hats or hoods and fending for ourselves. You know, before we killed each other over an umbrella.

No umbrella for YOU!

After the guided tour of the crazy trick fountains we took the time to wander the grounds further because despite the weather...or because of it, the area was beautiful. It was serene and the deepest shades of green. The statues were all the more dramatic when wet, dark and set against an ominous sky. Sometimes we pulled out the tiny umbrella as an excuse to snuggle up and walk close to one another. We toured the inside of the castle too but it was the outside of this particular castle that was most interesting.

After leaving the Schloss Hellbrunn we had a short skip into Salzburg proper. Our hotel is well situated in the old town where cars are NOT allowed. To keep the cars out they have these posts that stick out of the ground. Like a gate, you can enter a code and the post will lower and you are allowed to drive in ONLY if you are a guest at a hotel and are unloading your car. Our GPS lead us to the correct street name but stopped helping us once we reached the posts. We froze at the blockade not knowing what to do. My hotel instructions said to push the Hotel Wolf button. Problem was that there was no Hotel Wolf button. We circled around after being honked at repeatedly by impatient cars behind us. We never figured out what to do so I circled around and back to the blockade. I pushed any ol' hotel button and whined to them in my pathetic voice......Hotel Wolffffff??? The big posts dropped down without a word....so I drove on in. We pretty much could see our hotel but didn't know it because it was just out of car reach down a one way (the wrong way for us) street. We circled the roads that forbid cars until we happened upon a taxi. I asked the cabbie " how do we get to the Hotel Wolf? " and he basically said we entered on the wrong side of town and without a code we were stuck there with no way out of the blockade. Well that sucks. We found a handicap spot and parked, we walked only a few steps and found our hotel. The woman at the desk was amazed that we got in at all. She said it should be OK for us to park where we are. She checked us in and we went out again. Our room is really cute and comfy, similar to the last one in Munich. 

One of the views from above Salzburg.

The bf was starving and I had the idea that we go up the funicular to the castle on the cliff to eat up there. He was skeptical that he might starve to death before we got up but the funicular was super fast and before we knew it we were sitting on the top of the world eating lunch. He had veggie cakes and a salad, I had a Sacher Torte and an Eiskaffe. A Sacher Torte is a decadent chocolate cake with apricot jam in the center. An Eiskaffe is a coffee with ice cream dunked in it. We took our semi full bellies on a tour of the castle that lies at the top of the cliff. I was most excited to see the torture chamber. I took a great pic of me in hanging shackles, too bad I can't share that now....later though.

We spent so much time at the castle that we ran out of time to see Mozart's residence and birthplace. We, instead, took our time walking the old Town. I was thrilled to be there with the man I love, walking those old streets, seeing the shops. We took all kinds of pictures of various squares and platzes. We saw a huge church and thought it would be nice to take some pics inside. We went in, I lit a candle, as per usual, and we started walking around. I noticed that people were starting to file in more and more. This was much more than your usual church visiting crowd. I suggested we take a seat in a back row and see what happens. A choir of men in red robes came out and began to sing this wonderful A Capella music. We stayed for a half hour or so because it was so beautiful hearing that sound in the echoing chambers of the church. We ducked out and took the long way back to the hotel. 

Back at the hotel we ditched the umbrellas, ours and the one we borrowed from the hotel, and I changed into a dress. We walked back out into the rather comfortable night. We headed to a restaurant called Carpe Diem where all the food is little finger food and mist of it is supposed to come in little cones. We never got a cone but we had some mighty unique food. I ordered three entree snacks and the bf ordered two and one dessert. I started with caviar with sour cream and smooth, creamy mashed potatoes on toast points. Then I had a huge slice of wheat toast topped with arugula and loads of delectable Spanish ham. But here's the twist...they topped it all with caramelized bananas. My third meal was perfectly cooked venison with figs and....here's the twist....white chocolate raviolis. The bf got cheese raviolis in a tomato foam, a coconut curry soup then a Chocolate Mozart Ball with rhubarb ice cream. Those Mozart balls are extremely popular here.

We walked home and I was feeling so happy to be here with the bf. We meandered through the old, narrow, cobblestone streets, happy and in love. We fell asleep at around ten, when we got home.