Nearing the halfway point in my travels, I’ve started to get a little homesick. I miss Paul, my friends and family, sleeping in my own bed, proper pillows, certain food, and just the feeling of home. So, having my mom come and spend 10 days with me was just what I needed.
Lots of people might hate the idea of 10 straight days with their mother. I, on the other hand, love it. My mom and I are very close. She isn’t just my mom, she’s one of my best friends, and traveling through Europe with her has been awesome!

Because we rented a car, my mom didn’t want to stay in big cities, otherwise we would likely have to pay for parking. On top of that, my mom prefers the local experience. We both flew into Munich, picked up our rental and headed to our AirBnB just outside of Munich. As we had a little time to kill before we could actually check in, and we were both kind of hungry, we drove into Munich to see what we could find for food. 

Back in 2004, my whole family (Mom, Dad, brother and I) did a EuroTrip of our own. So, this was not our first time visiting Munich. I remember seeing the Glockenspeil (but it was at night) and eating at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was right beside the Hofbrauhaus. My brother should remember Munich very well (or maybe not), as it was the city that gave him his first hangover! I mean when you go to a place that serves beer by the litre and then a frathouse that has beer on tap….of course you’re going to overindulge. 

So we decided to retrace our steps from 2004, visit the Glockenspeil and have dinner at the Hofbrauhaus!

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The following day we drove to Hallein, a small town just outside of Salzburg where we stayed for 3 nights. On the way stopped to visit the Herrenchiemsee Palace, which is a smaller and much more elaborate version of Versailles that was commissioned by King Ludwig II but never finished because he ran out of money! Our next day was going to be a busy one, so we just walked around the Old Town Hallein, had a bite to eat and called it a night!

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​Salzburg & The Sound of Music Tour

We started our day with a Historic Walking Tour of Salzburg. It wasn’t too bad, but I did find myself to be a little bored. My experience with the free walking tours was substantially better that this one that we paid for, but it still wasn’t too bad. Following the tour, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to meet up with our Sound of Music Tour. 

If you know me well, you know that I love the Sound of Music. My dad and I used to watch this every year at Christmas and I know pretty much all the words to all the songs. If we were going to Salzburg, a Sound of Music Tour was a must! Well, we were not disappointed with this one! We visited the location where they filmed all the backyard scenes, including the scene in the row boat where Maria and all the children fall in the water. We also saw the Gazebo where Liesel and Frank sing “I am 16 Going on 17,” the long stretch of road when Maria is running to the VonTrapp House singing “I Have Confidence”, the garden where part of “Do Re Me” was filmed, and the little town of Mondsee which has the church where Maria and Captain VonTrapp get married. From a distance, we also saw the Mansion that was used for the shots of the front of the VonTrapp House, and the Abby where Maria was a nun. It was a great tour, and seeing all the original locations was so awesome!

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Keltenblitz & Salz Welton

This had to be one of my favorite days! My mom watches Rick Steeve’s Europe, and one of the things that Rick said is a must-do when you’re in Austria and the Salzburg area is to go on the Keltenblitz. The world’s longest toboggan ride. Conveniently enough, we were less than a 10 minute drive from the Keltenblitz. We decided to make a day of it and also visit the Salt Mine (Salz Welton) while we were in the area as well!  How it works: You’re taken to the top of the mountain on a gondola, have a short walk through the restaurant that’s up there, down a few stairs and you get to the start of the Blitz. Essentially, it’s just a tiny little car on this track (which I’m surprised doesn’t fall off) that you’re strapped into with a seatbelt. There is a long handle between your legs that you push forward to go faster, or pull back to brake. And that’s it! My mom and I both agreed that something like this would NEVER fly in Canada. It would be in violation of so many safety regulations. Luckily, we weren’t in Canada! IT WAS SERIOUSLY SO MUCH FUN! All I can say is, you HAVE to go on the Keltenblitz if you’re in the area! It was so much fun we rode it 3 times and probably could have gone 3 more times! Mom will tell you that we had to go a 3rd time cause she lost her cardigan on the first ride down and we needed to get it, which is true, but secretly I think she just wanted to go down for a 3rd time. 

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After our Keltenblitz adventures, we went for a tour of the Salt Mine. I wasn’t aware, but Salzburg’s wealth came from the salt that was mined in the alps surrounding the city. Salt used to be currency, and worth a lot! I finally understand the phrase “worth their salt.” So we went on a tour of one of the old mines that has been shutdown and converted to a tourist attraction. 

You get all dressed up in these ridiculous outfits. Mostly to keep you warm and prevent your clothes from getting ruined, and then you take a little trolley ride into the depths of the mountain. My favorite part was the wooden slides they have that you ride down to get to the next part of the tour. One was 50 feet long! It was great fun.

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​Hallstatt & the CRAZY narrow Austrian Mountain Roads

Our next day was a travel day on to the next destination. We were headed for a small village just outside of Lienz. We decided to stop in Hallstatt, a small lake village on the way there. On a whim, we rented a little electric boat, cruised around for an hour and got some pretty awesome views of the town from the water.

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After our boating adventure we had to drive to our AirBnB. Having taken a detour to visit Hallstatt, we didn’t know that the roads we would have to take to get to our accommodations would be the back country, side of the mountain, can only fit one vehicle roads! It was both the scariest and funniest driving experience my mom and I have been through. Not to mention, we were driving a manual!

There were times when we would come to a hairpin turn around the side of a mountain, on a road that only had enough room for one vehicle and you couldn’t see what was coming towards you. It also didn’t help having several roadside memorials with statues of some pretty creepy looking dead Jesus’. I’m not kidding, these were EVERYWHERE! At one point, we had to backup for a tractor, and another time, we came around the corner to see a big truck coming our way. Mom started screaming and let Jesus take the wheel.  We managed to make it in one piece and are damn proud of ourselves for driving those crazy roads!

The rest of our trip was spent exploring small towns and villages you normally wouldn’t pencil into your trip. We saw Lienz, Reith, Seefeld, Innsbruck, Romanshorn, Rothernburg and a brief visit to Zurich. 

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​I love my Mom, and the last 10 days have been incredible. So many laughs and so many memories. I can’t wait until our next adventure.

‘Till then…

Ciao!

-A<3