Far over the Misty Mountains cold

I'm sitting in a quaint little village in the alps, drinking a big cup of tea, and and staring out the windows at the sun shining down on the mountains in the distance. Go ahead, picture me in a little cafe, or in a castle or in our room, even. In reality, though, I'm sitting at McDonalds. And for all of you who don't like McDonalds, well, change your mind because they're the only ones who offer free wifi here. Also, they serve good tea, at least here. So I'm happy.

As much as I loved Rome, these past few days in the mountains have topped it all. I mean, there's snow here. What could be better?

Mom and Dad in front of the Sound of Music Gazebo

On Saturday we went to Salzburg to see the Sound of Music sites. It was cold and rainy, and we didn't have as much time as we would have liked, but it was still really nice. The bus tour itself wasn't as nice as would be expected, but Ellie and Abby and I had a good time mouthing the words to the music in the background, and laughing and chatting and finally being able to rest. We stopped at a little cafe and had some delicious apple strudel.

But by the time the tour was done it was too late to see any of the Mozart sites. Since Mozart is one of my favorite composers I was rather disappointed but Mom and Dad promised we could come back after church the next day.

Recognize this from the movie?

The next day was much nicer, the sun was shining and it wasn't even that cold. Okay, it wasn't cold at all for me but I like 50s and 60s. We went to the house the Mozart family moved to when he was 17. They didn't let you take pictures in the house, so I can't share any with you. After that we drove on to Reutte, which is a small city in the alps where we have been staying these past few days

Yesterday we did archery and went to the ruins of an old fortress. It totally feels like I'm in Middle Earth here. There's a mountain that looks exactly like Caradhras, you can almost see the beacons on the tops of the mountains, and the castle ruins look like Osgiliath. The castle was built on the top of a mountain and the half an hour walk uphill it took to get there was worth it. The view was unbelievable, and my siblings ran around pretending to be soldiers of Gondor, and I ran around with them, sometimes pretending with them and sometimes trying to capture everything in a picture. But more on that later.

Also, I want to thank everyone who's commented in my blog. Thanks so much, guys! I may not be able to post again for a few days do to the fact that the only place we have Internet is McDonalds, but I hope this super long post makes up for that. :)