Hellbrunn Palace and the Trick Fountains, then drive to Gmund

We left the RV park in Salzburg by 8:00am. Used all the facilities so that Max has empty holding tanks and a full fresh water tank, and his batteries are fully charged. 

We still had one more attraction that we wanted to see that was included with our Salzburg tourist cards, and we had to make sure we gained admission before the cards expired at 10:40am. Hellbrunn Palace is located south of the city, so it was along our route heading south anyhow.

We stopped at a fuel station to buy the €9.50 ($13.70 CAD, $11 USD) highway toll pass for Austria. 

Then it was another half hour or so to Hellbrunn Palace.

Scenery along the way.

Hellbrunn Palace was built by Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus who was the leader of Salzburg until his death in 1619. It was his summer residence where he entertained groups of people with his Trick Fountains.

Hellbrunn Palace.

At the entrance, we got tickets for the 10:30am tour. It's pretty much self guided with an included audio stick, but the trick fountains are only turned on when groups of people are standing around, so it's in your best interest to keep up with the group.

Also, be aware of where the ground is wet. If you are standing in a spot where the ground is wet, you are also likely to get wet! The fountains can be very random and often you don't know where the water is coming from.

The Roman Theater.

Everybody gathering around.

There is a big stone table and chairs in front of the theater. Apparently the Prince-Archbishop would have all of his guests sit at the table, and then he would unexpectedly turn on the fountains. Of course one stream of water came up from the stool directly where they were seated. Every seat had a fountain... except for the one the Prince-Archbishop sat at. All of the fountains were designed so that he didn't get wet at all!

All of the fountains turned on.

Consider that all of this was built over 400 years ago! The water came from underground springs, but was pressurized by filling gravity tanks higher up. At the time, the tanks were filled by hand, the only difference now is that they are filled by electric pumps.

This fellow is very prehistoric looking!

This ball would float freely in the fountain.

The back of the palace.

Water squirting out of the antlers!

The grottos.

This room was purposely built to give the impression it was about to fall apart.

The Mechanical Theater is the most recent addition to the Trick Fountains. It was built and installed between 1748 and 1752... more than 100 years after the death of the Prince Archbishop!

It contains 142 mobile figurines, with water pressure providing the force to move the figurines.

I took a video for you. Turn up your volume, because it is also water pressure that powers the organ...

The Mechanical Theater at Hellbrunn Palace.

Some people having fun with the fountains.

Water spewing everywhere.

Somebody had quite the imagination.

The fountains were really fun. We enjoyed this part of our day! But we still had to have a quick tour of the palace, and then get on the road because we wanted to do the drive through the mountains before the forecast bad weather appeared. We had such a beautiful blue sky it was hard to believe there was three days of rain on the way.

Hellbrunn Palace.

There is some kind of odd "modern" art display. 

Looked to me like a plane crash, but what do I know??

Ruth, with a stuffed unicorn.

This room was painted in 1612!

Ruth, and the original gazebo used in The Sound of Music scene with

Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

We headed out and got on the A-10 highway leading to south Austria through the mountains.

When I said that the highway went through the mountains, I was serious.

There are quite a few tunnels.

Scenery along the way.

There are quite a few avalanche protectors.

And quite a few castles.

We could spend a lot of time in this area during better weather.

Fantastic scenery.

More snow barriers.

There was one tunnel that was over 6 kms (3.7 miles) long. It had a separate toll charge, I'm guessing because both the free road and the toll road have to use this tunnel. There is no other easy route through the mountains. It cost €12.50 ($18 CAD, $14.50 USD).

We stopped in the town of Gmund to do some grocery shopping. I had an overnight spot planned a little further on, but we decided to stay here. It's just a parking lot, but it's quiet and free and used by motorhomers for a one night stop on a regular basis. Besides, there is a castle here we want to see, and a lot of hiking trails in the area. We are due for some exercise!

Just before dinner, we saw an old rig pull in, and the guy got out and wandered over and knocked on our door. Of course he saw our German licence plate and assumed we spoke German. But it turns out his English is perfect as well. We had a quick conversation, and ended up inviting him over for a drink after dinner. It turns out he has his girlfriend traveling with him, so they both came over.

Kevin, with Yadira and Michael.

Michael is originally from Germany and he met his girlfriend Yadira in Panama. Obviously the discussion centered around travel. He has owned his old rig for about 30 years and has done a lot of overland travel in Africa. I will get photos of his rig this morning before they leave and include them in tomorrow's blog post.

So... that was a busy day! We are taking a day off today just to wander around town and do some hiking.

Yesterday's drive, 151 kms (94 miles).

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