No, I don't like The Sound of Music, thank you very much.

After leaving Munich (honestly, the tour should have had an extra day there), we headed to Neuschwanstein Castle in another part of Germany.

Unfortunately, it was almost completely socked in by fog and there was a ton of scaffolding around the castle. I think we spent more time walking to and from the castle then we actually spent in the 30-minute tour they provided. Plus, they only show you the finished rooms of the castle--King Ludwig II died before the castle was completed. But even the rooms that are finished are undergoing renovation. And it was also tough to get a distance shot of the castle with all the fog. It was a very disappointing experience and it was one of the things I was looking forward to most on this trip since I haven't been here since the seventies. Grrr.

After that, we had lunch in a small town nearby and a cute little dining room of a local restaurant. From there, we headed to Salzburg, Austria. We had dinner, then did a brief evening walking tour of the city. Really cute, historic area that was fun to explore.

Salzburg

Salzburg

Salzburg

The next day, we did a morning walking tour with a local guide, then did a schnapps tasting at a local  liquor shop, then were free to explore on our own.

Schnapps tasting

I did a bit of souvenir shopping and had lunch at a local Italian restaurant. That evening, the group attended a Mozart dinner concert in an old church. It was a lot of fun and the opera singers and musicians had a good sense of humor and seemed to be having a great time performing. At one point when they walked in between courses, one of them played the Imperial March from Star Wars on his violin. :) Side note, 2nd violinist from left was cute.

The next day, we left Salzburg and headed toward Obertraun, which is a cute little town on Lake Halstatt in Austria. On the way, we stopped at a local farm that produces organic cheese and did a bit of cheese tasting. 

After checking into our Chalet style hotel in Obertraun, which is basically like dorm rooms in separate buildings with a common area downstairs, we took a boat across the lake to Halstatt to check out the shops and do other sightseeing. It's a cute one town, but completely over on by tourists, which is why we stayed on the other side of the lake. One of the cool sites we saw was the Bone house behind a Catholic Church. According to one website, "the grave yard in Hallstatt is very small and there is no space to make it larger. In former times, cremation was not allowed, and there was already a serious lack of space for new graves to be dug. 10 to 15 years after a burial, therefore, graves had to be re-opened, and the skulls and long bones which took up so much space were removed."  It was pretty damn cool.

Bone House, Hallstatt, Austria

Bone House, Hallstatt, Austria

Bone House, Hallstatt, Austria

We then came back to our chalet via bus, and me and my three housemates shared a bottle of wine, some giggles, then headed to the hotel restaurant for cocktails and dinner. Exhausting tour, though I am seeing way more than I would have had I traveled alone, and meeting new friends in the process.