50 Golden Years

50 Golden Years.........June 30, 1965-2015

When we realized we would be on our mission when our 50th Anniversary rolled around, we thought spending it in Germany sounded pretty exciting.  We had heard from other missionaries that Salzburg, Austria was only about 5 hours from Frankfurt, and a really amazing place; we decided to go there.

We dropped Chris off at the airport for his flight home, and took off!  Trusting in our GPS, and the recommendations of friends, we enjoyed the beautiful drive through southern Germany.  Lots of road construction, so we felt right at home.  Had to buy a "vignette" (permit) at  the Austrian border, saw the Alps in the distance, and there we were.  Our GPS took us right to our hotel and we had plenty of parking places to choose from, so Keith was a happy traveler.

On our special day, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and walked the 5 or 6 blocks to the Panorama Tours meeting place.  We were early, one of Keith's prerequisites, so we waited in the Maribelle Gardens.  Our first tour took us to the Salt Mines....they are actually in Germany.  A little train takes you into the mine and then you slide down further into the mountain. You end up in a huge room with a lake that distills  the salt and you glide across the lake in a boat while a light show entertains you.  A nice guy offered to take our picture by the beautiful river......look at that water!

The bus dropped us off in Berchtesgaden for lunch and a walk through the tourist part of town.

 Back to Salzburg and our next tour.  This is the 50th anniversary for The Sound of Music, and we enjoyed seeing many of the places that we recognized from the film.

The Von Trapp house.....and the lake where the canoe tipped over............

....the gazebo where Liesel got her first kiss, and I got one, too....it was our anniversary!

The church where they got married..... they used this shot, but they actually  got married at another church.

Remember Julie Andrews walking down this aisle?

It's a beautiful area!  This is the garden where they filmed part of Do-Re-Me....and these are the steps.

We had our anniversary dinner at the hotel.  It was a great day and we were tired.....went to bed before the sun went down.  Of course, the sun doesn't go down until after 10 in this part of the world!

July 1st found us on our way to Hitler's mountain retreat, Eagles Nest.  What a view!

Back to Berchtesgaden....this time for gelato.

Our fourth, and final tour was a van ride through Salzburg and a boat ride up the Saltz River.

A "lock bridge" .......there are thousands of locks fastened on the bridge by couples who then throw the key in the river.   There are lots of lock bridges in Europe.  The fortress on the top of the hill is impressive, too.

We had to walk back to our hotel, and I was glad Keith wore the pedometer.......we walked over 8 1/2 miles in those two wonderful days!

We drove home on Thursday and it was back to work on Friday.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate our 50 years together......Keith told me not to expect this next year!