Mom is telling me to wish everyone a Happy belated fourth despite me hating that celebration due to the awful fireworks.

that's very frightening to me.

We said goodbye to beautiful Salzburg and planned to drive over the German Alps. It was a little tricky to get out of town with lots of traffic, little cars buzzing around like bees, and a horse carriage?

We did get a great view of the castle as we were leaving

We were not only leaving Salzburg, but we also left Austria and are now in Germany, and this is the first border we were stopped at. A smiling policeman asked if Mom was traveling alone, and she responded like she always does. 

"Nope, I have my copilot with me" and points at me............and we were waived on with a smile.

I'm not sure exactly what the plan was, but we didn't get far before we needed to get gas,and Mom said "This looks pretty let us stop here" and we did

We stopped at a tourist information booth to look for things we need to see, and there was this pretty lady telling us about great places to visit

On the hill behind the place, Mom said there were giant Henrys on the field?  Noway those aren't dogs they don't have the right scent, I said

We are at Köningssee a lake deeply nestled between towering cliffs with emerald green water at the foot of the imposing Watzmann East Wall. The heart of the Berchtesgaden National Park.

We parked in an RV parking and went for a walk in to town. Amazing how things can grow on a rock if allowed 

Souvenir shops growing like mushrooms at all these beautiful places

Mom really wanted one of these birdfeeders but they were expensive and had to be shipped for a lot of money 

The water in this lake is green very green and freezing cold. The lake is noted for its clear water and is advertised as the cleanest lake in Germany. For this reason, only electric-powered passenger ships, rowing, and pedal boats have been permitted on the lake since 1909. We were told its clean to drink, and I did

the lake lies just south of the town of Berchtesgaden, in a deep cut that is surrounded by sheer limestone mountains, within the Berchtesgaden National Park. Königssee is one of the most picturesque lakes here and is 5 miles (8 km) long and from 1,500 feet (457 m) to more than 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, and its greatest depth is 617 feet (188 m). 

We bought tickets for the boat and again I had to wear a muzzle, which of course Mom takes off as soon as nobody looks, which I'm very grateful for, because. I can't give kisses with it on.

It's not a clear day so we can't see the top of the mountains, still very pretty though.

At the stop we had lunch and this time we ate smoked trout, which Mom loved, I thought it was just ok

The St. Bartholomew pilgrimage church and hunting lodge, on its west shore, formerly belonged to the prince-bishops of Salzburg and later to the kings of Bavaria. The lake is stocked with Alpine trout (saibling, or arctic char).

A combination church and hunting lodge. Bavarian royalty and the local rulers of Berchtesgaden and Salzburg hunted here, Hitler went boating on the lake, and Eva Braun liked to sunbathe on the shore.

After lunch, after a looong boring wait we continued on the boat to the end of the lake, 

On the way back I started to get a little worried and at first, Mom couldn't figure out why?  But it was thunder in the air and she soon found out. These boats are soooooo so slow so there was no way of getting away from this disaster that's happening. Mom kept telling me it's ok it's ok don't worry. It's easy for her to say, she doesn't FEEL it like I do, she thinks it's kind of exciting.

Back in town, we had about a 15 min walk to Lucy. It was pouring rain so Mom bought a rain poncho and carried me under it. I suggested we stay in town and order a beer to wait for it to stop, the problem was, it didn't stop it was still raining when we went to sleep 

It's now 7.30 am and it's not raining but it's cloudy so we'll stay here until it's clear, because what is the point of getting up on the mountains without a view?

We are close to Hitler's Eagles nest but we aren't sure if it's worth paying to see it. We can't drive there on our own and tourists are getting milked on money everywhere we go.

I think we are going for a shorter hike today, and again we'll rest.

Having a great time 

Kisses to ya all Henry

It's 6 am and we just got up from a great night's sleep at a camp on the outskirts of Salzburg (salt castle) which is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.

It is a city known for its Baroque architecture and is one of the best-preserved city centers north of the Alps. The historic center was enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 and has three universities and a large population of students. 

It's not Vienna but we both took a liking to this city because it had a little bit of a small-town feel about it.

It's impossible to avoid knowing that the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was born and raised here. Every souvenir booth is selling his name. He was employed as a musician at the archbishops' Court from 1773 to 1781. His house of birth and residence are tourist attractions. His family is buried in a small church graveyard in the old town, and there are many monuments to "Wolferl" in the city. This was the house he grew up in and it was packed with tourists looking at it, maybe hoping he'll look out of a window? 

That would be a miracle Mom said, he hasn't been around for a long time, only his music is.

The Pferdeschwemme is one of the two preserved horse "baths" in Salzburg's old town. In the middle of the fountain is a large sculpture of a prancing horse. Some visitors like to throw coins into the well for good luck. It was here, in the heart of today’s Festival District, that parade horses from the Prince archbishops stables used to be washed off and groomed.

The Trapp Family, including Georg von Trapp, Maria von Trapp, and their children lived in Salzburg until they fled to the United States following the Nazi takeover.

“Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love – they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.” 

So says Orson Welles as Harry Lime in the 1949 film "The Third Man". Welles added those lines himself to a script based on Graham Greene’s original story. And though he may have been a genius, Welles was wrong about the history of the Cuckoo clock. “When the film came out “the Swiss very nicely pointed out that they’ve never made any cuckoo clocks!” Indeed, although often associated with Switzerland, the cuckoo clock was more likely invented in Germany sometime in the 17th century.  “likely” is because the origins of the cuckoo clock are unclear and its invention is still a topic of debate among horologists.

Some dogs are free to roam the streets without having a lead and I would like that a lot too, but Mom doesn't feel I would be safe if she let me do that. 

We sat down and watch these guys playing a giant game of chess and my money was on the guy with the hat, Mom said the guy with the knapsack... .....My guy won

Now I got to put that stupid muzzle on again just to get on the ride up to Hohensalzburg Fortress which was refurbished from the late 19th century onwards and became a major tourist attraction with the Festungsbahn funicular railway, opened in 1892, leading up from the town to the Hasengrabenbastei; It stands today as one of the best-preserved castles in Europe.

During the early 20th century it was used as a prison, holding Italian prisoners of war during World War I and Nazi activists before Germany's annexation of Austria in March 1938.

We had an amazing view of the city and the Alps. It was overcast so the pictures did not come out very well.

Mom says it's very important not to get dehydrated and we need to rest, so we sat down to admire the view for a while.

Saint Rupert founded the church in 774 on the remnants of a Roman town, and the cathedral was rebuilt in 1181 after a fire. In the seventeenth century, the cathedral was completely rebuilt in the Baroque style to its present appearance. Salzburg Cathedral still contains the baptismal font in which composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was baptized.

Not sure what this gold ball represents we couldn't find an explanation 

A lot of od scaffolding is being put up for an upcoming concert which spoiled the view of the church and the gorgeous statues 

Back in town being tourists we sat down on the steps of a bank to do some people-watching and all of a sudden ..............here come our friends from the UK that we met in Croatia. I greeted them with all the love kisses I have

Mom told them the importance of being hydrated and luckily there was a place right there so while they chatted over a beer I worked the tables where people were eating. Surprisingly nobody gave me anything despite my performance?

I think Mom had something to do about that shaking her head...........why I asked?   

Mom is afraid I get sick and fat

Saying goodbye to our friends we continued our walk to the Residenzplatz a large, stately square in the historic center of the city  Originally named Hauptplatz, it is now named after the Alte Residenz (Old Residence) of the Prince-Archbishops It is one of the city's most popular places to visit

Horse Fountain at the theResidenzplatz is a grand baroque fountain that looked enchanting with light passing through falling waters. This fountain was executed by Tomasso di Garona from 1656 to 1661 and is made of marble, and it is considered the largest baroque fountain in Middle Europe.

Four 45ft. tall horses leap out of the base with 2 streams of water jetting out of their mouths. The Greek God Triton spouts water from a seashell at the top of the fountain.

One of the filming locations of the movie Sound of Music was around this massive fountain. The scene was where Maria's family gleefully splashes while performing the song: "I have confidence in Me". 

There are beautiful horse carriers for tourists everywhere and we think they have it better than in Vienna because it's less busy here and no cars in Centrum

        .

 Allied bombing destroyed 7,600 houses and killed 550 inhabitants. Fifteen air strikes destroyed 46 percent of the city's buildings, especially those around Salzburg railway station. Although the town's bridges and the dome of the cathedral were destroyed, much of its Baroque architecture remained intact. As a result, Salzburg is one of the few remaining examples of a town of its style. American troops entered the city on 5 May 1945 and it became the center of the American-occupied area in Austria.

Oh, here's another interesting story for Jeopardy Watchers.......... Josef Mohr was born in Salzburg. Together with Franz Gruber, he composed and wrote the text for "Silent Night". As a priest in neighboring Oberndorf, he performed the song for the first time on Christmas Eve 1818.

Pretty soon Mom will pack things up and despite really enjoying this smaller city I would like a place even less busy for a change and she promised me we'll find a relaxing quiet place somewhere north of here. 

We're off to new sights and new adventures

Stay hydrated ya all 

Wet kisses Henry

So we left Vienna Saturday before noon thinking there will not be much traffic getting out of town, but we were wrong. Where is everybody going? must be a popular event somewhere we don't know about.

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On our way, we passed Schönbrunn Palace, another  UNESCO Heritage Site and is so full of history 

The vast courtyard houses a theater, a cafe, and fountains with a cobblestone path leading to the palace’s front balcony. The Schönbrunn Palace has 1,441 rooms
The palace was originally a mansion called Katterburg. It was bought by Roman Emperor Maximilian II along with the floodplain it was erected on. He intended the place to be the court’s recreational hunting ground. He got the area fenced and exotic animals were kept and fishponds were made.

Just like other palaces I'm not invited so on we go

We followed the Danube, which is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through much of Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest into the Black Sea. A large and historically important river, it was once a frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects ten European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for 2,850 km (1,770 mi), passing through or bordering Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine. Among the many cities on the river are four national capitals: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade. 

It was raining most of the way but it's still very pretty 

Here's one of the famous river cruise boats

We stopped in a small town named Melk, and we went for a walk.

Mom adores these gorgeous geraniums

and the roses 

Melk Abbey is one of the biggest and most beautiful European Baroque Ensembles. Its splendid architecture is famous worldwide and is part of UNESCO´s World Cultural Heritage. Since 1089, Benedictine Monks have continually been living and working in Melk Abbey. Following the rules laid down by St. Benedict, they try to translate into action the words ORA et LABORA et LEGE (pray, work, and read) by working in pastoral care, education as well as organizing numerous cultural Events

Mom knew I wasn't going to be welcomed in the abbey but we walked up there anyway, and this lady came walking on the opposite side. To Mom's surprise, I started my deep dark warning growl ............

Why Mom said? I wasn't sure but something wasn't right to me. 

Mom tried to figure it out and spoke to the lady and asked why God disliked dogs so much so they were never let into religious sites.

The lady responded "This is a sacred site and dogs don't have the spiritual sense to understand that"

HEY SISTER, you know absolutely nothing about dogs especially me. I have a spiritual sense which I use for detecting things such as good, evil, beauty, and truth, much better than both you and Mom ..............See Mom, I warned you 

Due to its fame and academic stature, Melk managed to escape dissolution under Emperor Joseph II when many other Austrian abbeys were seized and dissolved between 1780 and 1790. The abbey managed to survive other threats to its existence during the Napoleonic Wars, and also in the period following the Anschluss in 1938, when the school and a large part of the abbey were confiscated by the state.

The school was returned to the abbey after the Second World War and now serves nearly 900 pupils of both sexes.

After our walk, we continued following the Danube driving through several sweet small villages until we stopped and camped at Grein.

One attraction in Grein is Greinburg Castle, built between 1488 and 1493. The castle was purchased by a Duke in 1823 and is now owned by a family foundation, headed by Andreas Prince of Saxe-Coburg. The ducal family is living here but the castle is also open for visitors.

Further, there is the oldest theatre in all of Austria located in the city

This is where the hardcore bicyclist often starts their pedaling but we only wanted to relax while the laundry was being done. This place had a dryer so we didn't have to hang everything around Lucy .

At the camp was a small cafe serving sausages and coffee and .........................beer.

Mom did not want to get another greasy sausage but bought a beer while I walked around begging at the tables.

This lady and her husband fell in love with me and fed me her entire plate and later she went to buy another one for herself. 

Mom was just hoping I wouldn't get sick..

We both liked this little town a lot and went for a nice walk along the Danube in the morning

The next city we are visiting is Salzburg and on the drive, we saw many castles on the hilltops, (very much like driving along the Mosel River) except for the vineyards

The geraniums are huge here 

Talking about size, I have come to the conclusion that everything is supersized in the USA. We don't see any large pickup trucks, not many SUVs. The roads are sometimes so narrow Mom starts wondering if Lucy will fit, and looks for bus stops, thinking if a city bus can make it Lucy can. A large coffee it's the size of a demitasse cup. Of course, Mom makes her own in Lucy but sometimes stops for an extra wake-me-up on the road. 

When ordering a large black coffee it's called an Americana and the cup is only half full and not very strong.

People here drink espresso and macchiatos. Espressos are good Mom says but that's only one sip and it's gone. 

How the Austrians can sit with that sip forever is a mysterium................

So, we are in Salzburg now and will go to town first thing in the morning.

Everything is great 

Many wet kisses to ya all 

Henry 

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This is our second night in Vienna and it's cloudy but not raining. Just 5 min after we got back to Lucy last night there was a horrible thunder and lightning storm which I consider very scary. Mom is crazy because she thinks it's cozy?

Leaving Graz we made a short stop at these places, but we didn't bother going inside because we had plenty of lunch stuff in Lucy. We have to make many short stops because Mom gets sleepy fast when we're driving on Autobahn

This is an apartment complex by the train station, and Mom said that SpongeBob lives there?

Early Friday morning we took the subway into the Centrum of Vienna, and according to Mom, all you need to say about this city is WOW and WOW. The streets are clean and the buildings and and and .....

We got off the subway at Stephansplatz and since it was 8am we had to start with a Vienna breakfast. A macchiato and a croissant. They called it a French kiss?

St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. 

This breathtaking Gothic cathedral is one of Europe's loveliest. It boasts an eclectic mish-mash of architectural and decorative styles that reflect many renovations over hundreds of years. Most recently, the interiors were modified during the Baroque period.

Construction began during the 12th century, and the flamboyant high-gothic style is readily apparent in the Cathedral's four towers, one of which houses an impressive 13 bells. The enormous Pummerin bell is the second-largest chimed church bell in Europe and is situated in the North Tower. Remarkable views over the entire city can be appreciated from the towers, especially the South, but again no dogs are allowed, which is a rule in every single church, and I would like to know what God has against dogs?

The glory of St. Stephen's Cathedral is its ornately patterned, richly colored roof, 111 meters (364 ft) long, and covered by 230,000 glazed tiles. Above the choir on the south side of the building, the tiles form a mosaic of the double-headed eagle that is symbolic of the empire ruled from Vienna by the Habsburg dynasty.

The city’s history dates back to 500 BC when the Celts settled down on the Danube River. Since then, a lot has changed and nowadays, Vienna is the beautiful capital of Austria and also the first capital city through which the Danube flows. It has lots of rich architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles, gardens, and monuments. All these were defined by its famous and intellectual residents, such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Freud

The first thing Mom wanted to see was the Hundertwasser and that was a pretty long walk, but it was still cool, and not a lot of people yet so it was ok. We got there and it was closed for renovation .....what a disappointment

But a few more blocks was the Hundertwasserhaus which is an apartment house, completed in 1985, after the idea and concept of Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. This is where we should live said Mom until she noticed the mob of tourists in the courtyard.

There we had the best gelato we ever tasted (actually it was my first)

I rested in the small cafe/bookstore for a bit

We saw this banner and this gorgeous monument on our walk there.

Beautiful colorful buildings everywhere 

We walked back to the city center by the Danube River and there was lots and lots of colorful graffiti on the walls on both sides

We walked a lot and when we felt tired we grabbed one of these "taxis". Mom asked the man to stop at a market to buy water, and that worried me a lot so I started to cry. She said she and everyone else heard me in the store and I know everyone felt very sorry for me, but MOm said I should know she always come back

There are so many amazing buildings, fountains, and statues here and no way we could remember them all so here are a few pictures of what we saw

The Parliament building is where the two houses conduct their sessions. It was built to house the two chambers of the Imperial Council. Since its construction, the Parliament Building has been the seat of these two houses and their successors. Quite impressive we thought

After all this walking we had to get something to eat and of course, we had to order a beer and a wiener schnitzel 

The potato salad was delicious said Mom I preferred the schnitzel. 

All the waiters fell in love with me and got the best meat from the kitchen and people walking by stopped and took pictures of me. I'm like a famous movie star says Mom, maybe we should start charging like the street musicians.

In Sweden, there's the tradition of "fika" (coffee and cake) and they have a similar tradition here which is taken very seriously. We found the most famous one named Cafe Central and it dates back to 1873, making it one of the oldest coffee houses in Vienna, and it is housed in a listed historical building. There was a line out the door so we only snuck in to take a few pictures, and here sat this stonefaced man................wonder how long he has been waiting

The cafe is located in the Palais Ferstel building. It was originally built for the Austrian National Bank and stock exchange in 1860 and from 1878 served as the head office of the Austro-Hungarin Bank. 

the Hofburg Palace is a stunning testament to the former Imperial power that once led much of Europe from the Austrian capital and it reminded us a lot of the Versailles outside Paris that we visited last year

The vast complex—extending over 2.5 million square feet to comprise 18 wings, 19 courtyards, and 2,600 rooms—offers a glimpse into both the history and present-day Vienna. It has evolved from a medieval fortified castle into an imperial palace and is now one of the seats of democratic government, making it one of Europe's oldest and most enduring places of power.

The rose garden looked amazing with gorgeous green grass to chase a ball on, but again No dogs allowed

In conclusion, we could spend weeks here if we should see everything but I think it's time to find a place with a much slower pace for a few days. Big cities are exhausting for both of us so now the plan is to follow the Danube to a much smaller place.

Mom says we have to come back here one day....................ok whatever she says but I want to go back to Plitvice Park

We could do that too Mom says.

It's now 9 am time to pack up and continue on 

Wet kisses all Henry

PS. I heard that people we don't know are following us, and it would be so nice to get a hello sometime so we can get to know you.