The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Music

Our train ride to Salzburg was awful. I am sure that you are asking how in the world a train ride can be awful. Let me give you a small bit of insight - 4 small children all speaking German and behaving very badly does not equate to a pleasant 3.5 hours in a small compartment while moving across the Austrian countryside.

Anyway, by the time Jessie and I finally made it into Salzburg and to our hostel the two of us were starving. We asked at the front desk where we should go, and were informed that because it was bank holiday very few things were going to be open. So, off we went, in a random direction. Luckily, we stumbled upon a Chinese restaurant that was open, busy, and smelled delicious - always wonderful signs. I had been craving Chinese food for weeks, so no complaints escaped from my lips.

The next morning, after a yummy breakfast at the hostel that was called "the Austrian backpackers special" - aka scrambled eggs with bacon and veggies mixed in - Jessie and I were picked up in a van that took us to the starting point for the SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR! Please excuse our dorkiness, but the two of us were beyond excited for a day of reliving the memories from the movie. The website for Panorama tours gives the following description for the tour "All you ever wanted to know about this timeless classic. "The Sound of Music" starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, the Movie, the Broadway Musical, the sights were filming took place, both in the city of Salzburg and surrounding area, the true story, facts fiction and trivia."

The tour was essentially everything that I could have ever asked for and more! Our tour guide was really funny and seemed to know practically anything that you could ever want to know about the filming of the movie. The first stop on the tour was the lake that the Von Trapp fell into while they were out boating behind their house. From there, we were able to see the Abbey (which is actually the Abbey where the real Maria Von Trapp was from). One of the best parts of the day was when we were taken to see THE gazebo. Yes, the one that Liesl and Rolf danced around during the singing of "I am Sixteen Going on Seventeen." Be jealous - very jealous.

From there, we had a bit of a ride into the hills of Salzburg to see some of the views that were used in the movie. The bus was able to stop right on a the hill that overlooked Wolfgang lake. This was the view that was used for the last scene of the movie. The view was really something right out of movie - it was one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen. Because it had just snowed, there were still bits of it in sight, and the colorful fall leaves were still showing their colors on the trees. It was essentially perfect.

The next stop was a small town called Mondsee where the church that Maria and Captain Von Trapp got married in at the end of the movie. We had a bit of time to wander around there, so besides seeing the church (and walking down the aisle like Maria), we were able to stop into a famous pastry shop called Braun's for some strudel and coffee. We also had the chance to go and "climb" the trees that the Von Trapp children climbed up in the movie. I would have loved to act like a monkey, but I know that I am too much of a klutz to even dream of doing that...

Back in downtown Salzburg our final stop was the Mirabell Gardens where the scenes for "Do-Re-Mi" were filmed. We marched around the Pegasus statue like the children, and we ran down the hedge arcade just like Fräulein Maria. Jessie and I took pictures with the gnomes, and jumped up and down the stairs just like they did at the end of the song. If you want to relive the movie version - you can watch it here.

After we had our fill of acting like our favorite Von Trapp children and enjoying Mirabell gardens, Jessie and I wandered for a bit and then headed back to the hostel to get our stuff so we could once again get on a train and go back to Vienna to spend our final day in our new favorite country - Austria.