The last of the vacation photos!

The other little side trip we made while we were in Germany was to Bad Reichenhall.  For that one, we got to ride a train!  Although only for about 20 minutes.  (I love riding trains!)  We rode through some really lovely countryside to get there:

So lush and green!  I wish that were my farm . . .

We rode right past this mountain.  I was surprised
that the mountains are kind of spaced a little apart
from each other.

My aunt lived in Bad Reichenhall for a while several years ago, so she took us all around.  And as she did, it got cloudier and cloudier.

I think it's clear I'm a big fan of mountains.

Bad Reichenhall is a spa town, where people would go to "take the cure" - and I guess maybe they still do.  

"Cure Street" 

The Old Cure House 

The water is saline; in the structure at the back, there is a
huge wall of twigs packed in horizontally, with the saline
water flowing down it.  This is supposed to make the air
restorative.

A very fancy hotel.

There's a lengthy pedestrian main street, lined with shops and cafes.  We stopped for cake and coffee in the most famous of these, Reber.  We'd just finished our snack when it got very dark and started pouring!

The main street.

Cafe Reber

Yikes!  This was at 4:30 in the afternoon!

We tried to wait it out, but it just wouldn't stop!  We ended up having to walk about a mile back to the train station in that rain.  Quite an adventure!

In other news, I did manage to do a fair amount of knitting while I was there.  I had taken along yarn to make my second Adrift, and managed to get it about 2/3 done! Here it is, back at home:

I really loved having all my knitting
stashed neatly away in my lemon bag.

And I tried the Sally Hansen Polish Strips for the first time!  I had bought some specially for the trip because I didn't want to mess with carrying bottles of polish.  (I blame Karen D!)  So many of the reviews of these have said there's a pretty steep learning curve, but I found them really easy to use.  They claim to last ten days, and I bet they do.  But I got bored and took them off after four.  The only downside is that they aren't that easy to remove.

This is after a few days' wear.  Sorry about
 the dry cuticles - this is the day we were
out and about in Salzburg.

I'll definitely be taking these along on future trips!

So there you have it!  And trust me - that was the abbreviated version!  I took over 500 photos in 10 days.  Aren't digital cameras wonderful things?

Salzburg

One of the side trips we made from Freilassing was to Salzburg - a distance of only about 10 km.  We were able to take a bus there - no muss, no fuss!  The day started out hot and sunny, but by late afternoon it started to cloud over.

I took a ton of pictures that day, so I'm just going to spam the place.  I got some really nice pictures of my mom, my aunt and me, but they are both reluctant to share their pictures on the internet, so those will have to be my private treasures.

A beer garden.  Later in the day I had an espresso here!

We spent our time exclusively in the pedestrian Old Town.

We lucked out - admission to Mozart's
Birthplace was free that day!
We saved 21 Euros!

I do not remember what this building is, but it's very pretty.

I was wearing my Traveler Dress that day,
even though it was really too hot for it!

There was a dog show in town that day too.  We saw so many
beautiful dogs.

More pretty signage.

One of many sidewalk cafes.

Plop in the center is the fortress, up on a hill.

Another view of the fortress.

And yet another.

This is a pretty fountain/pool that used to be a watering
hole for horses back in the day.

And here it is with the fortress.

Weiss beer for lunch . . . yummy!
Don't worry - I ate food too!

We didn't eat in this cafe because they really only have
coffee and cake, but isn't it pretty?

And another pedestrian street.

There were lots of street musicians too.
These guys were my favorite, because
they played jazz.

Hello again!

I've actually been back since Saturday night, but I set up posts through yesterday knowing I wouldn't have time until now for anything new.  And sure enough, I have a mountain of laundry to deal with that's almost as big as the Alps I've just returned from!  And a house that needs to get cleaned top to bottom in time to receive a house guest tomorrow.  When it rains, it pours!

My mom and I spent the last two weeks visiting her eldest sister in the southeast corner of Bavaria, just across the border from Salzburg, Austria.  The town where my aunt lives is called Freilassing; it's a very charming little place, so I though I'd share a few pictures with you.

This is my aunt's terrace:

And when you step out onto the terrace, this is what you see:

Obviously, I didn't get tired of this view!

Here are some snaps from nearby her house:

The tower in the background is the old firehouse.

Lots of pretty houses all around, most
with very lovely gardens.

I really love this type of signage.

The pedestrian main street in "downtown" Freilassing.

We had a really nice visit with my aunt.  We went to help her out with a couple things, but we managed to squeeze in some fun times too.  Our evenings were mostly spent drinking wine, playing cards and giggling - priceless!  

We also made a couple side trips, which I'm going to use as fodder for the next couple of posts!