Salzburg

This is sour first day of truly grey and damp weather but we remain optimistic.  The Wachau Valley is so very scenic and you can already feel that you are getting into 'The Sound of Music' country. we had a very short photo stop at Melk Abbey which is quite magnificent from the outside.  Lara showed us a video of the abbey and its history while we were on the coach so we got a bit of an idea of how impressive it must be inside.  Certainly worth a visit if we had more time.  Lunch at a motorway rest stop which was very impressive as there were so many food choices,beautifully set out.  I had a piece of vegetarian lasagne that filled the dinner plate.  It was without a doubt the best vegetarian lasagne I have ever had!  Then onto Salzburg where most of us stay on the coach to do an optional tour of Hitler's notorious 'Eagles Nest'.  We have to ascend about 5000 feet  on a very narrow road, which meant we had to leave out huge coach to get onto smaller ones for the last 20 minutes to the top.  Spectacular scenery and thankfully it has stopped raining so we are very lucky to get the great views that we did. Very cloudy against the mountains, but the valley below was just magnificent.  To hear the history of how this place was built was so interesting.  We walked through the man made tunnel that Hitler drove through to get to the brass lift which took him to the top of the mountain for the beautiful residence that was built for him as a gift for his birthday.  Some of you may already know that Hitler and I share birthdays - albeit a lot of years apart! So if you are thinking of what to get me for my next birthday I'm sure I can get hold of the plans for my own 'Eagles Nest' retreat!!! On our descent we get a glimpse of the ruins of Obersalzburg where a couple of Hitler's offsiders had their own residences built.  It is now a huge InterContinetal 5 star hotel and gold course.
Then we had dinner in our hotel which was as disappointing as the hotel.  We have generally been in very obvious 4 star hotels (and paid for it, I might add) but the Holiday Inn in new Salzburg just did not cut the mustard.  Thankfully it was the 2nd to last night and not at the beginning or I would have been very worried.
Anyway our room had the twin beds immediately side by side and as the side tables were either side of the beds pushed together we weren't able to separate the beds any further apart.  Thankfully there was a fold up bed in our room too, so I slept on that. The mattress was firmer than the one on the other bed anyway, so I didn't mind at all.  Not to let me get away with a good night's sleep though, Marianne had a nightmare during the night and let out screams and cries that frightened the bejeesus out of me.  I woke her up as best I could and then spent the rest of the night worrying that I might be in for a repeat performance.  then to add insult to injury she was up and faffing about at 6 a.m. when we didn't need to be up till 7.30.  There is light at the end of the tunnel though as she finishes the tour this morning as she is going to visit relatives in Austria today.
So after breakfast the coach bids a fond farewell to Marianne.