Continuing on...

I'm pretty sure i stopped at Hallstatt. I also forgot to mention we went to a monastery in between mathausen and hallstatt. it was a really busy day. both things were very interesting though. anyway, so we went to the salt mines, and then we wandered around the town for a while. we loved that pumpkin soup SO much that we decided to get it again. totally worth it, even better than the night before. Wandered around the city and i finally bought a hat for my freezing head, got some groceries for the bus-ride and then left for Salzburg.

In Salzburg we put our things down in the hotel and didn't really have time to tour because it was already dark. So we all went to this incredibly delicious italian restaurant where the food was SO good, and afterwards, feeling very full and jolly, we walked back to the hotel and all crammed into one room and laughed and bonded some more. Every night i went to bed on this trip i was just so happy because i felt like i was part of a real group. i felt such camaraderie it was incredible. so anyway, the next morning we wake up a little early, have an incredible, INCREDIBLE, breakfast, and go into salzburg on a tour. our tour guide was like the shaun connery of austria, he was totally awesome. we got to see the new town and all of the old town, including where Mozart was born. Its the fourth largest city in Austria, but i think i like it better than vienna. It had three significant churches all rather close to each other that were great examples of gothic, baroque, and romanesque, respectively. I got to visit all three over the three days. after the tour we went up to see the giant schloss (Festung Hohensalzburg, the city's fortress, built in 1077) which was never ending and really fascinating. they had a bunch of different museums and some of us sat in a circle while dan told us a Norwegian fairy tale. it was fun. we got to see the marionette museum where you got to see how they are made. then we saw a museum filled with weapons and history of war. it was so fascinating, just to see the transition in warfare. the view was unbelievable. i'll have to post more photos later. afterwards, we broke up, had lunch, and then some of us met across the bridge in a park where the sound of music was filmed. there we played on the playground, then went to the gnome garden. afterwards, we all went back to the hotel, relaxed for a bit, and our group went to the same italian restaurant because it was THAT GOOD. the tortellini casa i della was particularly good. at the restaurant, we all played games (like the wood one and the dream house one). it was a really fun dinner. when it was over, we returned to the hotel and i (jessie, trent, melinda, daniel, andres, and john) watched a soccer game.

The next day was a free day in Salzburg. after another AWESOME breakfast at the hotel, i decided i really wanted to see the hellbrunn area, which was well worth the visit even in the rain. we got to see where the sound of music gazeebo was, the wonderful parks and steintheater, we passed the zoo a few times, and then decided we needed a warm meal. after returning to the old city, we found this hidden (melinda, dan, and i) hotel/ restaurant which had really wonderful food. we then proceeded to catch the rest of the churches we had missed (St. Peters, Franciscan Kirche, the dome are the three i'm referring to). soon it was time to return to the hotel, so we did just that. grabbed some lunch to go, and arrived in vienna late at night. felt weird to be back, and i missed the places i'd been. i think that was one of the best weekends ever. EVER.

the sunday after we got back, after church, we went over to the Holmes' house for the traditional dinner and evening speaker session. the patriarch over the area, Soucek, came over with his wife. he told us about his responsibility in the church, about the importance of going to take the sacrament every week, and a rough outline of the story of his life. He was a very interesting old man, very old fashioned. When he first got there he said, "ladies, would you mind if i took my jacket off? you see, that's how its supposed to be, you always ask women permission first." it reminds me of a different more refined time. i liked the air about him.

On Tuesday we went to see the marriage of figaro. and since i'm so tired of typing and i have so much other work to do, i'm going to update more later.