If you're gonna go, though, go all out. This wasn't just any guided tour--no, no. We had a 2pm reservation for The Original Sound of Music Bus Tour.
Part of me died inside booking the tickets, but Annie was excited and I was glad for the break from walking for once.
Unfortunately, we somehow lost track of time on the way out of our hotel in Munich, so we had to run (again!) to the train station to make our departure to Salzburg. It was a two hour train ride. We took a bag of bakery pastries with us, and arrived around 1pm, found a free tourist map of the city, then went wandering.
We walked south from the train station through what seemed to be a main street running parallel to the river. We first located our tour bus's departure point, then split a cinnamon roll as we walked around downtown Salzburg.
The first sight we found was Mozart's youth residence, now an overpriced museum, then walked toward the river for great views of the city's huge fortress and nearby cathedral spires.
ABOVE: Mozart's youth residence.
We headed back through Mirabell Gardens, which were beautiful and a big tourist draw for the city--in addition to being where some of "The Movie" scenes were shot.
Finding our bus, we boarded and took off at 2pm with a peppy old guy named Rinehardt (dressed in lederhosen) as our guide. He pointed out some local landmarks, then we made our first stop at Leopoldskron Castle where the Von Trapp house was located for the movie. It was a lovely location at water's edge of a pond, though we were stuck viewing it from the other side of said pond.
There were ducks.
Boarding again, we set off for Schloss Hellbrunn, where the "Sound of Music Pavilion" was located. Despite the fact that the grounds of this place were huge with a cool castle and fancy trick fountain, we only spent ten minutes looking at a glass gazebo before boarding again.
It was the gazebo where a romantic song scene was filmed: "16 going on 17" (as I learned later when the driver starting playing it...and then again on the train ride home when Annie turned on the movie on our iPad).
At this point, the tour took a slight turn for the worse. When we returned to the bus, we discovered there were two selfish American girls in our seats, so Annie and I had to separate, with me sitting in the very back of the bus for the longest leg of the trip.
I wasn't happy, though Annie seemed amused by my seething anger.
We aimed out of town toward the Austrian lake district. It was beautiful, but the sun beamed directly on my head and neck (me being in the back seat and all), and that, combined with how little we'd eaten and with my anger at our stolen seats...made me really light-headed and nauseous. Annie further up the bus wasn't faring much better: she had a giant migraine for most of the trip.
ABOVE: Austrian Lake District to cure what ails you.
But I digress. After a brief stop 30 minutes later to photograph a lake town, we rode another twenty minutes to the church where the movie's wedding scene was filmed.
The rafters on the inside were painted pink, which was unique. The center aisle was long and narrow, but the most striking aspect we noticed were the three skeletons encased behind the altar. I thought it was hilarious for the die-hard Julie Andrews fans to notice that and be shocked.
ABOVE: Dark windows into young women's nightmares.
Outside again, we had roughly forty minutes' break before our return trip. We found a small bakery and bought a few salami & cheese strudels, which were delicious and helped our nausea/migraine, respectively. Then we walked along a beautiful tree-lined avenue to the water where a small boardwalk was set up.
We saw crystal blue glacial water again, and saw water sport businesses set up along the lakeside. This contrasted with, say, Como, which had beautiful water views but few if any discernible outlets for enjoying the water.
The church was our last stop on the tour, so we drove back into Salzburg and were dropped off in front of the Mirabell Gardens. It was odd that no mention was made of the Gardens by our tour, but we figured things out ourselves.
ABOVE: Steps that were sung over and danced up.
ABOVE: The Pegasus Fountain
We saw the "Do-Re-Mi" steps, and the Pegasus fountain, then walked by the covered walkway--all sites from the movie.
Crossing the river, we found Mozart's Birth House, also an overpriced museum.
We moseyed through the central plaza to find the Dom, Salzburg's Cathedral, then found the path that led up the hill to Hohensalzburg, the city's fortress, which we expected to afford us great city views.
We arrived at the entry gate at 6:45, and learned that we could enter for free at 7pm. Since we only climbed up there with hopes of good views, we waited out the fifteen minutes--which we needed to catch our breath anyway--then entered.
The place was set up as a Medieval looking village. Various shops lined the fortress walls, all closed down at this hour, but we surmised that the place may employ period actors during the day to make you think you're transported in time.
ABOVE: One place I really wish was open. Grog, anyone?
We saw great views of the Salzburg skyline...
...and Annie got to see the Nonnberg Abbey, the convent that occasionally housed Maria in the movie.
ABOVE: The Austrian Alps also trailed off in the distance.
When we'd seen our fill, we descended from the fortress to find dinner in the Old Town. By chance, we found a place in our price range that was apparently recommended by Rick Steves. Annie ate Vienna Schnitzel, and I had Vienna sausages over sauerkraut with potatoes.
"Mmmmmm, schnitzel and sausages..."
After dinner, we ambled back along the river, which was lined with kiosks and shops hawking Mozart balls. They appeared to just be chocolate-covered nougat or something, but they were everywhere. I'm not sure why they were treated like such a delicacy, but to each his own.
ABOVE: Mozart balls were very popular.
We crossed the bridge, then made our way back to the train station. We boarded the 9:15 train, arriving in Munich after 11pm--and after watching The Sound of Music in its entirety.
We had not yet bought our train tickets out of Munich, so we fruitlessly searched a ticket terminal for cheap tix to Paris. We ended up with reserved seats on a fast train in the morning, but for a staggering 274€. That's over $400, which hurts to even think about. Can't win 'em all.
Salzburg July 19 Album:
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| Salzburg: July 19, 2011 |
Location:Salzburg, Austria
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