Salzburg, Austria: "The hills are alive with the sound of music..."

My roommate Ashlee and I went to Salzburg, Austria this past weekend and we loved it!!  It was quite a trek getting there though, a 15 hour journey each way, so we were exhausted by the end of the weekend.  Flights to Salzburg were really expensive, so we took a 12 hour overnight train from Rome to Munich, Germany.  From there we waited an hour to take a 2 hour train from Munich to Salzburg, and repeated the process to get back to Rome on Sunday.  We really only had about 30 hours in Salzburg, but it was definitely worth it!

We arrived in Salzburg around noon on Friday.  We weren't able to get into our hotel right away, so we started exploring Salzburg a little bit and got some food.  Unfortunately it was overcast, but the sun eventually came out in the late afternoon.  We went back to the hotel and showered then headed to Stiegl Brewery, which is just outside of Salzburg.  Stiegl has the largest beer exhibition in Europe and has been brewing beer since 1492!  We went through the museum then sampled the beer in their tavern-like restaurant.  We were enjoying ourselves so much we decided to stay and have dinner there, which was delicious.  I had goulash soup, which is a traditional German/Austrian dish, and a nice roasted chicken salad, which was great because I really haven't had any salads this whole semester.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel, since we were tired from the long trip and had to wake up pretty early for our Sound of Music tour on Saturday.  The hotel showed The Sound of Music movie every night, so we watched that in anticipation for our tour then went to bed.

On Saturday morning we took the bus to the meeting point for our tour.  We had a charming tour guide, who was very funny and dressed in a traditional Austrian dress.  First we went to Leopoldskron Castle, which is the palace that's used as the back of the von Trapp house.  The pond behind it is where Maria and the children fell out of the boat after the Captain comes home.  The Venetian Room in the palace was reproduced in Hollywood and used as the ballroom for the big party Captain von Trapp has for the Baroness.  Next we went to see the gazebo that was used for Liesl and Rolf's song "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" and Maria and the Captain's song "Something Good".  The gazebo was originally located on the grounds of Leopoldskron Castle, but the city relocated it to the grounds of another castle so tourists can visit it.  We also saw the actual von Trapp villa, which was used as the front of the house in the movie.  It is now a monastery of some sort so we just saw the outside.  Then we saw the Nonnberg Abbey, where Maria was planning on being a nun until she fell in love with the Captain.  We weren't able to actually go into the Abbey because it is still an Abbey today, but we got to see it from the outside.  Next we drove out to the "Mountains and Lakes" district, which is about a half hour outside of Salzburg.  The landscape is gorgeous, with little lakes and snowy mountains interspersed along the countryside.  The shots at the beginning of the movie were taken in this district, and it's even more beautiful in real life than it is in the movie.  Then we went to a little town to visit Mondsee Cathedral.  This is the church where Maria and the Captain's wedding was filmed.  It's in a charming town, and we had some free time to explore before heading back to Salzburg.  We sat at a table of an outdoor cafe and had apple strudel, which the area is famous for.  It was such a beautiful day out so we were glad to take advantage of the perfect weather.  Then the bus took us back to Salzburg and the tour ended.  Ashlee and I then went to Mirabell Gardens.  In these gardens Maria and the children sang "Do-Re-Mi" and danced around the fountain.  Flowers had just been planted in the gardens so it was really pretty.  It was cool to see all the places where the classic movie was filmed.  Our tour guide played the soundtrack while we were on the bus, so naturally the songs were stuck in our heads all weekend.

I actually never knew that The Sound of Music was based on a true story, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that.  Of course Hollywood does not portray it exactly as it happened, but the movie is based on a Broadway musical of the same name, which originated with Maria von Trapp's book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.  The real von Trapp family did leave Austria when Germany took over, but not by climbing over a mountain into Switzerland as the movie shows.  They took a train to Italy, then on to London, and finally went to America.  The family did all sing together, under the name "Trapp Family Singers" and toured the world after becoming popular in America.  There were 10 Trapp children in total, the 7 from the Captain's original marriage and 3 that Maria and the Captain had together.  In the 1940s the family settled in Stowe, Vermont, looking to live somewhere with a landscape similar to Austria.  They ran a music camp in Stowe when they weren't touring, and in 1957 the singing group disbanded and the children took to different interests.  The Trapp Family Lodge is still an operating Austrian-style mountain resort in Stowe, Vermont and is run by one of the Trapp grandchildren.  I hope to visit there someday to bring my Trapp family travels full circle!

After the tour Ashlee and I explored Salzburg a little more.  It's a very pretty city, surrounded by mountains and full of interesting palaces, fortresses, and churches, all with great architecture.  It's also the birthplace of Mozart, as you may know.  Before leaving we got some more traditional food: brats and sauerkraut, which I love, and soft pretzels.  Then we got back on a train to Munich to head back to Rome!  Thanks for reading!

Ciao,
Allison

Enjoying my Stiegl!

Goulash Soup

Leopoldskron Castle

The actual von Trapp villa

The gazebo

Mountains and lakes district

The church where Maria and the Captain were married in the movie

Apple Strudel

An avenue used in the scene when the children are climbing trees in their "play clothes"

On the steps in Mirabell Gardens where "Do-Re-Mi" was sang by Maria and the children

Pulling "a Maria": singing and dancing in the hills of Austria

"Old" Salzburg

Falling in love with Tuscany...

This past weekend I went on a trip with Loyola to Tuscany.  Tuscany is a region in central Italy, with the biggest city in the area being Florence.  This trip was a tour of some of the smaller cities and towns of Tuscany, and there were about 25 students and a professor on the trip.  The region of Tuscany is what I think most people picture when they think of Italy because that's the area that is most often portrayed in movies and media: rolling hills, cypress trees, vineyards and olive trees scattered across the landscape.  Well Tuscany didn't disappoint...it was even more beautiful than I could've imagined!  I absolutely loved the whole weekend and luckily we had great weather.  The emphasis of the weekend was on experiencing the traditional food and wine of the region, which was amazing.  If you couldn't tell from the title of this post, I fell in love with Tuscany...

We left Rome on a bus Friday morning and drove about three hours to a winery for our first wine tasting.  At this winery we tasted 5 wines, one white, three red and one dessert wine.  The red wine Chianti is produced in Tuscany, so we drank several kinds of Chianti throughout the weekend.  I usually prefer white wine over red wine, but being in Italy has made me appreciate red wine a lot more.  In my Food and Wine class in Rome, we had 4 classes of wine tastings, where we only tasted red wines, so that started my appreciation for red wines.  Anyway, at the winery we tried the dessert wine last.  It was way too sweet for my taste, and I have a big sweet tooth!  You're only supposed to drink a very little bit of it, or dip biscotti in it.  I think it's definitely an acquired taste.  After the winery we went to Siena, which is a historic smaller city in Tuscany.  First we had a delicious lunch, then a walking tour of the city.  It's a charming little city with a gorgeous Duomo (Cathedral).  Then we had some free time to wander around until we went to the estate we were staying at for our two nights in Tuscany.  We arrived at the estate, called Montestigliano, and I was blown away by the picturesque views.  The estate consists of several 18th century buildings that are basically large villas which have been restored and split into multiple apartments.  It is also a working farm, with thousands of olive trees, some fig trees, and wheat, barley, and corn also growing there.  It's on a hill, so there are gorgeous views of the Tuscan countryside.  If you want to get an idea of how awesome Montestigliano is you can take a look at their website: montestigliano.it.  I know that promotional pictures on websites and such often look better than the real thing, but I assure you it was as beautiful, if not more, in person.  We got settled then had dinner in the main villa, in a nice cozy room with a fireplace.

Saturday we had breakfast at Montestigliano then took the bus to the town of San Gimignano.  San Gimignano is a small medieval town, mostly famous for its architecture.  We had some time to explore the town before heading to another winery for another wine tasting.  This winery is run by people whose family has owned it since 1720.  The men who took us through the tasting were so charasmatic and were clearly passionate about wine.  This one was much more exciting in my opinion, because we actually sat down and had an explanation of the proper protocol for tasting wine and were given plates with bread, cheese, cold cuts, and a little salad with balsalmic to eat as we tasted the different wines.  At this winery we tasted about 10 wines, all red except for one dessert wine.  We also tasted some of the olive oil, truffle oil, and balsalmic vinegar that is produced at this winery, all delicious.  After the winery we went to a pig farm that raises Cinta Senese pigs, which are unique to Tuscany and produce exceptional pork products.  This farm wasn't a tourist attraction or anything, the man who runs the farm allows Loyola students to visit since he's a friend of a professor at Loyola.  He let us go in the pen with the pigs and I got to hold a baby pig too!  After we visited the pigs for a while, he and his wife prepared a simple lunch for us: a large assortment of different pork products and parts of the pig, along with bread and bruschetta.  It was great, and I loved seeing how some of the ordinary people in the countryside of Tuscany live.  Then we headed back to Montestigliano for a cooking class with the chef of the estate!  They gave us aprons and chef hats and we got down to business.  The cook helped us make gnocchi (little potato dumplings), pesto, and beans and sausage.  A couple hours later we sat down to enjoy our hard work, which turned out to be delicious.  Italian cooking really is simple and pretty easy once you know how to do it right.  I hope to practice my Italian cuisine cooking skills once I get back home.  After dinner, some of the Italians who work at the estate set up a laptop and speaker system and we had a karaoke night, which was really fun!

Sunday after breakfast we had an olive oil tasting at Montestigliano.  The man who takes care of the crops explained to us all about the olive trees and the process of producing olive oil.  Then we went back to the villa for the tasting, which basically consisted of drinking a small amount of each of the oils, which is not very tasty.  It was very interesting because I thought most olive oils would taste exactly the same, but I really could distinguish between different ones.  After the tasting, we had our last meal in Tuscany.  Tables were set up outside so we could enjoy the beautiful weather, and we had a delicious last meal.  Then we got on our bus and headed back to Rome, wishing we didn't have to leave such a beautiful setting.

I loved my time in Tuscany, though it was short.  I didn't expect to be so struck by the cliche landscapes that I had pictured before going, but the beauty surpassed my expectations!  I seriously hope to return to Tuscany sometime in the next few years and I'd love to stay at Montestigliano again.

Lexi and I at the first winery

Siena

View from Montestigliano

Main building of Montestigliano

Second wine tasting

Cinta Sinese pigs

Baby pig!

Making gnocchi

Olive oil tasting

Tiramisu

Since I didn't make a post about my family's time in Italy, I will talk about it briefly now.  I think everyone who reads my blog has heard all about the trip from my parents or brother by now.  We had a great time!  I loved going back to Venice with them and Florence was great too.  I know they all enjoyed their trip and I was definitely ready to see them after being gone for a couple months.

My roommate Ashlee and I are going to Salzburg, Austria this weekend, which I'm very excited for.  Salzburg is where the Sound of Music was filmed and I hear from everyone who's been there that it's absolutely beautiful.  I'll update you all when I get back.  Thanks for reading!

Ciao,
Allison