This morning we were very tired after a long hard day of TEAM EXTREME! But we had to move on! This morning we were catching a bus and following the Sound of Music…or Salzburg!
This morning was a hard one to get up for – but after a hearty breakfast we hopped back on the bus and left the quiet town of Bled – to head in Austria!
Heading through toward the Austrian Alps was amazing and made even more exciting as we had got stopped at the border! The first time for us on this WHOLE trip – finally we can get another stamp in our ‘should be full -but sadly not’ passports! Before cruising into Salzburg to catch up with Maria and the rest of the Nuns, we stopped at some amazing Werfen Ice Caves before getting into town. The caves sat on the very top of some of the Austrian Alps – and after a very dodgy trip up the mountain in the coach (the roads very very thin), the driver (luckily) decided he couldn’t take the coach anymore and we all jumped out to hike the rest of the way up. This was easier that we though and we clearly hadn’t planned for this hike – all dressed in jeans and casual clothes! To our pleasure we did notice a INSANE looking cable car that took us the rest of the way up – imagine a gondola like in Queenstown, but thousands of feet in the air, very fast and VERY steep!
The ride was worth it and meant we only had another 15 minute walk to the entrance to the ice caves! There was an amazing gaping hole in the side of the mountain which greeted us – and a line of tourists! But soon enough we were given gas lanterns and being taken in by our guide. Upon opening the door (yes you heard right a door to the cave!) we were suddenly all pushed backwards by a massive gust of air – created as the freezing air of the caves met with the warm air out side! The caves were amazing and any photo we took did not give it justice to the amazing clumps of ice everywhere!
The 45 minute tour could have been cut to 15 minutes though – as we found ourselves getting colder and colder and all wanting to catch a glimpse of sunlight again!
After our hefty trek back down the mountain we were met by the coach who took us back down the mountain and headed off to the home of the Von Trapps…Salzburg! We arrived at our hostel – dumped our bags and went exploring around the city- as we didn’t have much time here (we had to leave for Prague tomorrow morning!) . We went up a small hill in the centre of the city to do some Sound of Music spotting and, saw the Nunnery where Maria was, the graveyard with the famous graveyard scene and the Royal Festival Hall where the Von Traps performed at the end..funnily enough it was the Royal Festival night that evening so we couldn’t get that close!
We headed around town and decided to head to the Beer Halls for the evening – nothing beats a salty half chicken and a Stein of cold beer (that we had to clean our steins and fill ourselves!!). The night carried on as you would imagine…..
