The Sound Of Music at Salzburg

Day 12
April 19, 2009
Salzburg

I grew up watching "The Sound of Music". We had a betamax tape of the movie, so I got to watch it multiple times during my childhood. I even used the film for my movie report back in grade school, twice! I was also able to watch a local production of the musical a few years ago. So, when the chance to go to Salzburg came, en route to Munich from Vienna, I grabbed it and forced my friends to come with me on the "Sound of Music" tour. And of course, I watched the film one more time a few days before I left Manila.

On April 18, we arrived at Salzburg at 10 PM on a Saturday night, after a 2.5 hour train ride from Vienna. We stayed at Hotel-Pension Adlerhof, which was just 2 blocks away from the train station. Our room was spacious and simply-furnished. The tour van picked us up early the next morning and brought us to the starting point of the tour, where Mary, the tour guide, and the unmistakable tour bus were waiting for us.



Mary had got to be the best tour guide ever. She was very funny and informative that I think Marlon fell head over heels in love with her (In our succeeding tours, he kept wishing Mary was the tour guide).

Our first stop was at the Leopoldskron lake, where Maria and the seven children went boating and then fell off the boat. Across the lake was the Leopoldskron Castle, which was used as the back exterior of the Trapp mansion. Apparently, another mansion was used for the front exterior, which we quickly passed through during the tour.





We then went to Hellbrunn Castle where the glass pavilion, used in "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" sequence, was reconstructed for the tour. It was transferred there from Leopoldskron Castle since tourists are not allowed near the castle.





Outside Hellbrunn Castle was the street where Maria danced her way through and sang "I Have Confidence in Me" on the way to the mansion.



We had a quick stopover to see Nonnberg Abbey, where the nuns sang "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria" at the start of the film. It was actually here where the baron and Maria married in 1927.



We had another stopover for a breathtaking view of St.Gilgen and Lake Wolfgang, the scenaries shown at the beginning of the movie.



Here are more views from the bus:





We then went to Mondsee Cathedral where Maria and the baron wed in the movie. I am not sure if the church interior was used in the film because it looked really small compared to what was shown in the film.




We had a quick lunch at cafe Braun, famous for its Apple Struddel, which was really really good and should not be missed when visiting Salzburg.



The last stop was at the Mirabell Gardens where Maria and the children were seen dancing around the statue of Pegasus, the winged horse, and throughout the gardens singing 'Do-Re-Mi'.






We spent the rest of the afternoon on Austrian Lakes and Mountains Salzburg Sightseeing Tour, where we went to Lake district and St. Wolfgang.