So today is a detour in our tour as they attempt to complete repairs on our ship’s engine. We are being bused to Salzburg, Austria for an all day excursion. The bad news is it is a two hour drive each way, but the good news is Salzburg is a fabulous destination. We were there years ago so a revisit is welcome. Most other people on the trip have never been there so there has been very little grumbling from the passengers. Yvonne is still recovering from the 24 hour flu we both suffered this past week and decided a day of rest on the ship was a better choice for her. The weather forecast for Salzburg is marvelous-sunny and 74.  Normally it rains in Salzburg 180 days/year so we are in for a real treat.

Vantage arranged for local guides to accompany us on the buses to Salzburg where local guides will lead us on a walking tour of the city. The ride through the countryside was pleasant-small villages, rolling farm fields with corn (for animal feed and biofuel), sunflowers, trees and forests.

Maya (another Maya who is a local tour guide) entertained us with stories about the people and area. Austria is a small country, with only 8.8 million people, whereas Germany has 88 million people.

Salzburg is the home of the Porsche Family and the richest man in Austria, who owns Red Bull. Fun fact: Cappuccino was invented in Austria, not Italy. However, weinerschnitzel is always attributed to being an Austrian creation; however, it came from Milan, Italy. Obviously a bit of tit for tat.

As we approached a highway sign saying “Ausfarht” she said she is sometimes asked by tourists if they will be visiting that town and she has to tell them that it is not the name of a town; it is the German word for exit.

Near the Austria-Germany border there is a lot of traffic in both directions. Germans come to Austria for its cheaper gas and Austrians come to Germany for its cheaper groceries. Thank God for open borders!

Germany plans to be free of nuclear power by 2022, reactors are all being shut down. Germany is betting big on solar. There are photovoltaic panels everywhere we looked- in farm fields, on commercial buildings and homes. Bavaria is leading Europe in the introduction of solar to replace fossil fuel systems.

As we got closer to Salzburg real mountains began to appear on the horizon, the beginning of the Alps. As expected we arrived in Salzburg in exactly two hours, another sign of German efficiency!  Once there we were met by local tour guides who took us through the old town part of Salzburg. We saw the home of Salzburg’s most famous son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We were told stories about the filming of sound of Music including where some scenes were shot. By the way, most Austrians know nothing about the Sound of Music movie. Furthermore, the music in the movie is not Austrian; and was certainly not sung by the von Trapp Family. The songs were written in Hollywood. We walked through the local market, saw the Bishop-Prince’s mansion, the cathedral, and the landmark statue of Mozart, which was to be our meeting point later in the day. Trivia: It is not known where Mozart is buried; he spent most of his latter years in Vienna, not Salzburg. Also, Mozart died at the age of 35, but In that short time he wrote over 600 songs and operas.  He was a musical genius.

After the 1.5 hour tour we were given three hours of free time for lunch and more sightseeing on our own. By the way, Vantage gave each of us 20 Euros to buy lunch, which I thought was pretty considerate. Our new found friends, Jim and Joan Mancini from MA joined us and we sat at a recommended outdoor cafe for lunch. We chose the classical Austrian dish, weinerschnitzel, which came with parsley boiled potatoes and cranberry sauce. The schnitzel was delicious but was more than I could consume at one setting. After lunch several of us went in search of the graveyard that was also part of the Sound of Music movie, plus a stop in the city cathedral, which turned out to be pretty dramatic. I stopped at the small store that was the only one to sell the renowned Mozart Chocolate ball and bought a few to take back to the ship. A bit of window shopping down small cobblestone streets followed by a late afternoon ice cream sundae finished the afternoon. It was then time to meet the rest of the passengers and head back to the buses for a return trip to our ship.

We were scheduled to be in Vienna this evening but at this point we still did not know if the ship has been repaired and we might resume our trip via ship. We are scheduled to have an update meeting at 6:30 to hear our fate. Everyone eagerly awaited the 6:30 meeting with fingers crossed. There was bad news. The repairs made the past day did not solve the problem; the ship was going to have to go into dry dock for more extensive repairs. We are going to have to leave the ship and continue our trip via land. All the arrangements have been made to find us accommodations in both Vienna and Budapest. We need to pack this evening after dinner and be prepared to leave the ship tomorrow after breakfast. Activities in the two cities will still be held, we simply will not have the ship as a base of operations. Disappointing, but certainly not disastrous news. 

This was our “last supper” but we were able to celebrate Jim & Joan Mancini’s 50th wedding anniversary with cake and some fireworks before leaving the ship.