Back in February Ron and Connie Koehn came to visit and we met them in Salzburg, Austria. Ron and Connie studied abroad at Salzburg College and actually met while exploring Austria together! Ever since then, they have loved Salzburg and have encouraged all the Kap kids to study abroad and travel as much as we can. As soon as we told our family we would be moving to Germany we knew they would plan a trip to see us right away. They spent a week in Salzburg before we arrived and were excited to show us around. Brandon and I hopped on the train, made a few connections and in about 6 hours we arrived in Salzburg where Ron and Connie were waiting for us on the train platform.
The weather wasn't great while we were there, but it was great to walk around and see the city that Ron and Connie love so much as well as take in some wonderful architecture, sights and food. We took the Sound of Music Tour which was a great way to see different parts of the city as well as some of the countryside (even though I have to admit I've never seen the whole movie. We tried to watch it the night before and didn't get very far :) ).
The steps in the background are featured in the "Do, re, mi" scene of The Sound of Music. I actually did see that part of the movie :).
One of the exteriors of the house used in the movie.
Also from The Sound of Music. The gazebo has been moved, but this is the original structure from the movie.
We also took a trip about an hour outside of town to Berchtesgaden. When I google pictures of this town, it looks beautiful! It was pretty when we were there as well, but the cloudy weather inhibited us from actually seeing any mountains or blue sky. We did eat at a great beer garden, toured the old salt mine and got to see the Documentation Obersalzberg which was a great museum depicting some of the Nazi propaganda as well as Hitler's summer retreat and compound that was located on the same grounds. They have even opened up some of the old bunkers that connected all of the Nazi buildings and it was really interesting to see how they had carved out so much of the mountains to connect all of their offices, buildings, etc. We will have to go back some day to see Hitler's Eagles Nest which wasn't open while we were there.
The hike down to the site of Hitler's summer home
All that remains of Hitler's summer home. This is the back wall of the house. The house was destroyed by bombing and trees were planted to try and cover up the area after the war. Only recently has Germany really started to create museums, etc. in regard to WWII. It was a time in history that many wanted to simply forget, but history can never be forgotten and they are starting to understand the importance of educating people about the past to ensure history does not repeat itself.
Other highlights of Salzburg include visiting Augustiner beer hall, taking a tour of Mozart's birthplace as well as a wonderful dinner and concert of some of Mozart's famous opera arias performed by a string quintet in costume as well as a male and female vocalist. We had a GREAT time and were so thankful to spend time with Ron and Connie and get to see the beautiful city of Salzburg. We definitely want to go back when the weather is better.
Ron and Connie spent a few more days in Salzburg and then flew to Frankfurt to spend a week with us. Unfortunately, we had to work every day, but they are easy guests! They ventured out to many of the little towns around us and took in the sights while we were at work. We did get to spend evenings with them and show them some of our favorite restaurants around Kaiserslautern. Over the weekend that they were here, we took them to Bamburg and Rothenburg (see previous post about our trip there last fall). We had a wonderful time and were sad to see them go.
In other news...I don't think I ever posted that I got a full time teaching job for the remainder of the school year. I spent about a month as a special education aide at Kaiserslautern Middle School last December and was offered a position directing band at Landstuhl Elementary/Middle School for the rest of the school year starting in January. I am really liking it! I miss teaching choir, but this has been a great experience and I am learning a lot. I should know in the next few weeks if I will get to keep the job for next year. As a result of government budget cuts and schools closing, I may not get to stay in this position. Brandon is still enjoying his job as well and has even started volunteering with one of his co-workers as a coach for pe-wee baseball.
No comments:
Post a Comment