Salzburg Day 2: The Sound of Music and Monk Beer

The hills are aliiiiiiive... with The Sound of Music!

Oh yes, you knew it had to be done.  When in Salzburg, why not take a Sound of Music Tour to see some of the historic sights of the film?!  

  

 

Mel was blissfully singing along to the soundtrack for the whole bus ride, while DJ enjoyed hearing some of the historical facts of the areas we passed - especially when the tour led us through the lake region to the town where they filmed the wedding scene.  

 

After the tour, we went on a mission to find Augustiner Braustubl, a 1,000 seat beer garden within a monk-run brewery.  They pride themselves on following the Purity Law of 1516 and brewing their beer with only 4 ingredients:  malts, water, hops, and yeast.  No preservatives.  

Finding this place felt like a bit of detective work because there are no huge signs pointing it out.  But we came upon a wooden door where it should be and saw 2 people come out so we figured we could venture over the threshold.  Upon entering, we were greeted by a large and eerily quite hallway leading to stairs. 
 

We almost turned back, but then we caught a whiff of food and a faint sound of voices.  The further we walked, the stronger the smells and sounds grew.  We couldn't believe that such a nondescript doorway led to a HUGE indoor eating area...

 

next to an even HUGER outdoor eating area!

The system is pretty cool.  You get food at any of the stalls along the hallway and then head to the outdoor area for your monk beer.  You pay at the archway for the size mug you want, 

 

rinse it out, 

 

and go to get your pour. 

DJ was ecstatic to find that one of the stalls sold pork knuckle (which he tasted for the first time in Germany years ago), 

 

so we shared a plate of that while marveling over the coolness of the whole place. 
Definitely a brew to remember!