This is Maria’s convent from the movie “The Sound of Music.” It was founded around 714 by Saint Rupert of Salzburg, but made famous by the 1965 movie.

From a Salzburg tourist info site:
“A visit to the oldest salt mine in Europe is a special experience.
Here on the Durrnberg you can step through the same tunnels that the Celts used to mine salt over 2,500 years ago.
From the days of the Celts to the Salzburg Archbishops, salt brought riches and prosperity.
A visit to the salt mine on the Durrnberg is a journey back in time to when salt was still called “White Gold”.
Plunge into a mysterious underground world, thunder through tunnels far below the surface in the miners’ trolley, plummet into the heart of the mountain on speedy parallel slides.
Observe the world’s first salt gallery, the Celtic dioramas and the Celtic grave.
Glide across the subterranean salt lake on a mystical mist of sound, and hear the fascinating story of the “Man in Salt”.”
Allie had to stay at home with the baby, so Stefan joined us for an afternoon of learning about salt. The slides were awesome!!!!

Celtic grave- check out the skeleton!

When we were in the tunnel, we actually crossed the Austrian border into Germany. Thank goodness we didn’t need our passports!

We went to a beer hall in Salzburg. So fun. Of course it was raining so we had to sit inside, but we still had a good time. Many people were wearing lederhosen and dirndls which are traditional Austrian clothing. These folks take their beer seriously- check out the size of the steins!

The above image is what happens when Stefan takes a photo- I start staring into space and Jesse says “take the gosh darn picture, already!” ha

Jesse with a new friend dressed in lederhosen.

Maddux doing art at the beer hall.

A series of funny things happened right before this photo was taken, then I lost it. I couldn’t stop laughing! Allie is a silly lady.

Come hell or high water, I was going to have Allie blow out a candle for each year of her life so far. I went to three different stores and no one sold Birthday candles! Weird. Finally found some. Mission accomplished but they were some cheap, quick burning candles. He had to sing really fast!!!

The kids love to cook and bake, especially Emerson. Taker a gander at her first blueberry pie…delish!!!

Allie is one of my best friends. Our story goes back to 1995 in Washington D.C. Jesse and I were living with Lee Topar, Jesse’s best bud from college. Lee was an intern at the National Gallery of Art – as was Allie. He brought her to our place to hang out one night and the rest is history. It was like I found a long lost sister- she had me at hello. hee. Our sense of humor, the delight we find in the absurd, our inability to suppress laughter, a little sprinkling of insanity and our love of Halloween are all things we share.
After D.C., Jesse and I moved to Chicago and Allie and I temporarily lost touch. Then one night, after one of Jesse’s games with the Fire, my mom told me there was a girl behind me trying to get my attention. I turned around and saw my buddy!!! We quickly picked up where we left off and had nothing but fun together in Chi-town! She was a reader at our wedding and stold the show- as usual!
We often planned Halloween outfits together. My favorite was when we dressed up as the Sweeney Sisters (it was a Saturday Night Live skit from the mid-80’s that I loved!)

I can not find a picture of us from that night, but we kind of looked like the photo attached. “Clang, clang, clang goes the hammer! Ring, ring, ring goes the bell!!!”
Allie is one of those friends that I hope my kids find at least one of in their lifetimes. Our relationship has been nothing but fun and love. She makes me feel like I’m in the middle of a “sparkle party” whenever we’re together.
The baby in the Austria photos is Allie’s newborn, Walter. What great timing that our trip took us to Salzburg soon after he was born. We all got to meet our new friend. He is perfection. Stefan, her husband, is pretty amazing, too.
Wir lieben Sie!!!