AUSTRIA

Our last trip of our adventure...except when we head back to the US!!  Friends, Erin and Faust, were traveling and asked if we'd like to meet them in Germany/Austria (I slashed them because our hotel was in Germany but we went to visit Salzburg, Austria).  It was a wonderful opportunity to see them and see where "Sound of Music" was filmed (more or less!!).

View from the hotel

We were up and out early in order to begin our three-train trip to, ultimately, Bischofswiesen, Germany, to meet Erin and Faust.  This village in Germany is about an hour from Salzburg.  They've stayed multiple times in this darling little hotel so they're familiar with the owner and her husband.  It was a quaint, cozy place and in a beautiful setting.

The next morning we were up early again, had a nice breakfast (eggs, yogurt, fruit, breads, everything we could have wanted), and drove the hour or so to Salzburg to catch our "Sound of Music" tour.  We expected it to be mostly seniors, but we were gladly surprised to find many young people...the two girls sitting behind us were from Arkansas,  and we enjoyed visiting with them.

Our guide, Peter, was an elderly gentleman (we guessed early 80's) who had guided tours for 18 years before retiring.  Now he does tours when they need someone.  He was very engaging, funny and informative.  I don't think we've ever done a bus tour like this and it was great, especially for a girl who has trouble walking very much!!

One of the problems for me with the tour was multiple places/locations were used in the movie and I had trouble keeping track of what was what and where was where!  So, if I'm not confirming the accuracy of my information....I am trying to get it right for you!

The above white "home" was the backdrop for the boat scene where Maria and the children fall into the water...it's that water in front of the house they fell into.  The yellow "house" below is part of Klass Hellbrunn where they have the gazebo from the movie.

They filmed the dance sequences in Hollywood in a much bigger gazebo.  This one was used for the backdrop scenes and has moved several times due to vandalism.  Now it's in this estate that houses many activities as well as a fabulous park (more about that later).

The above pictures are from the "Do Re Mi" scene in the movie.  It's kind of fun to think of Julie Andrews and the children going up those very steps singing and here we are standing on the very same steps.  I know, I know.  I'm a geek!!!!

The wedding scene was, again, altered some.  In the movie, it looks as though Maria walked down a really long aisle to meet the Captain.  Actually, the church isn't that large and the aisle isn't that long.  Oh, the mysteries of Hollywood!!  But it is a beautiful church.

We really enjoyed this tour and would recommend it to anyone.  Our guide had put together segments from the movie so as we travelled from one location to another he would play scenes from the movie we were about to visit...with the music, of course.  Evidently, this was something he put together on his own and not all the groups do this.  It made it so much nicer for all of us.  We even had some sing-alongs with "Do Re Mi" and "Edelweiss"!!!!

The next day we went into Salzburg again to visit the Mozart Museum.  I thought it would be more of his home (as you know, that's always my preference), but it wasn't.  It was fine...a museum!  The biggest trick was finding it!  We walked many narrow streets before finding it.  Erin and I didn't really mind too much as we stopped at several little shops!!

The final two sights we visited were the Salzburg Cathedral (magnificent, perhaps the most beautiful church I've been in our whole time in France) and the "trick fountain tour" at Kassa Hellbrunn.

I couldn't believe the sculpted ceilings!

The gardens at Klass Hellbrunn were gorgeous.  This estate was initially built for the Bishop but he never lived here.  It ended up being used as a party house...imagine that!  The grounds are large, spacious and peaceful.  The most fun stop here, however, was the trick fountain tour.  Our guide was great and at each "fountain stop" you had to be on guard for random sprays of water.  The condition of the palace,  as well as the trick fountains,  are original and unchanged from the year 1619!

When guests sat down around the table, all was dry.  If things got boring, the Bishop (sitting on the end stool, would turn on the water at each seat and the tabletop!

Leaving one of the fountain sites, we had to work through this...

How restful is this??!!

At one point, we came to a spot where they had miniature scenes that are moved solely by water.  As we walked up the path, we saw several separate scenes in the wall and at the end was this large, amazing town scene.  It really was the coolest sight!!

One of the miniature scenes along the path

Each day we had lunch out at various places then had dinner at our cute hotel.  The food there was really good and it was quiet and a nice time for all of us to relax and talk about our day (among other things!).  Austria was a beautiful country (the little we saw) and there was so much more to see and do, but our time was short...just a brief respite before heading home.  Spending time with dear friends and observing yet another culture can never be erased from our hearts and memories.

"Auf wiedersehen" beautiful Austria.  Perhaps we'll meet again someday.  Thanks for the memories!