Salzburg on Sunday

One of the chief attractions in Salzburg for English speakers is all things "Sound of Music". All those of us who have watched the movie and listened to the music seem to be fascinated with where the movie was filmed. The Germans and Austrians do not feel the same and many have not seen or even heard of the English Julie Andrews version, which is very American but used many sites in Salzburg. 

Our guide book says the tours are very schmaltzy but fun. We chose the 4 hour tour on Monday afternoon and it really was a lot of fun, probably because our tour guide was a delight with a singing voice you would not believe. We had coffee with her at the end of the tour and had a good chat. Ana just finished her masters degree in vocal baroque music. She is Portuguese and speaks German, English, French and Portuguese of course. 

We left the tour kiosk with a full bus of 69 along with the driver and guide. We were taken around to many of the sites where the movie was filmed; we saw clips of "behind the scenes" film and she told us about what scenes were shot here and why. The cathedral which was said to be the site of the wedding was not, as Salzburg would not allow the filming to take place in the city, so it was done in the small town of Mondsee which has a gorgeous big church. We had some walk-abouts at various sites to take pictures and hear the history. And we got to have a singalong on the bus! The Brazilian woman sitting behind us (with a son living in Toronto!) sang every word of every song and was so excited she could hardly contain herself. Same as the guy beside us, from India but living in the states. Very cosmopolitan bus load. 

The outside of Leopoldskron Palace was used as the family home for all the outdoor shots and the boat that tipped over with the kids in it was in this lake. The gazebo was also in the side garden but was later moved to the Hellbrunn Palace below.

The gazebo was moved and the door locked because of tourists who would go inside and jump from bench to bench as in the movie. And of course someone fell so it had to be changed. Now the tourists can come to this huge estate built in the 1600's as a hunting lodge for Prince-Archbishop Sittikus.

It also has wonderful gardens and play area, and for a price you can visit the palace and amazing fountains.

Our guide Ana explaining why the gazebo is kept locked.

The roadway Julie Andrews danced down towards the house which was used for the inside shots. 

We stopped at a lookout over Lake Wolfgang and town of St. Gilgen.

We had some heavy rain for the last stop of the tour in the town of Mondsee, and so the local street market was a bit of a washout.  

We finished the tour at the Mirabell Gardens where the family jumped up and down the stairs singing do-re-me. We did not!  Touristy or not - the whole tour was lots of fun and we were both glad we had done it.

Dinner just had to be Wiener schnitzel and Austrian wine at a restaurant recommended by one of our hotel staff. Julie Andrews sings "These are a few of my favorite things" - with schnitzel and noodles but out guide says it is never served with noodles, always potatoes as ours was, along with cranberry sauce.