Hellbrunn Palace

Today was spent in Salzburg!  We drove for a few hours from the port to arrive at Hellbrunn palace.  We had a half way point rest stop, and had the most amazing view of the mountains and the lake.  I felt like I was in a National Park. 

  Hellbrunn is famous for it's gardens which are full of trick fountains.  I found the gardens to be very whimsical, with statues of random animals, little figurines hidden in the hedges, a sea serpent marry-go-round, and of course the famous trick fountains.  It was also extremely beautiful, very green and lush.

These were the first fountains we encountered.  The archbishop would have summer dinner parties out at this magnificent stone table.  He would then surprise his guests, as well as cool them down, by turning on the fountains around the table.  There are also fountains that come out of each seat!  Talk about a surprise!

Our next stop was the magical grotto, which was a short stroll away from the stone dining table.  Here we found mosaics made out of different varieties of shells and a little sea serpent merry-go-round that chirped like little birdies.

These funny little scenes were hidden in the hedges near a little stream that ran through the gardens.  They were so small and well hidden that I would have easily of walked right passed them without ever knowing they were there, if our guide hadn't pointed them out.

 Then we stumbled upon this ginormous music-paying theater.  It was built in 1750 and has some 200 automata showing various professions at work.  There was a trick fountain directly facing the theater, so while guests stopped to admire it and listen to the music, they would get a cold, wet surprise from behind!

After the theater, we strolled onto the next gotto.  Here we got a demonstration of a golden crown that would rise and fall by the power of a water stream.  It was meant to symbolize the rise and fall of power.  It was all very magical.

To exit grotto number two, we had to walk through a tower of interlacing fountains.

Hellbrunn is also the new home of the Gazebo from the famous Sound of Music film!  It is where the adorable 16 going on 17 scene is filmed.  I made Andre and Ben act that scene with me for the pictures, what good sports are they!

Then it was back to the buses for our specially packed box lunches and the drive into the main town of Salzburg!  I taught the boys all about the importance of wearing sunglasses while people watching and trying to catch sneaky naps on the bus, Ben and Will wanted to apply their education to real life, they looked pretty stylin.