We left Munich around 9:30am on a train headed for Salzburg. Two hours later, with our trusty Rick Steves’ travel book in hand, we arrived and found our hotel of choice rather quickly, only 2 blocks from the train station. This hotel is quite simple in its accommodations, but it has the essentials plus breakfast, so it is enough.
After dropping off luggage, we set off to find the meeting place for The Sound of Music tour of Salzburg. Our guide was an enthusiastic and engaging leader and told us all kinds of fun things about the city and the movie. Apparently 20th Century Fox took several liberties with the story, which is OK for us Americans because we don’t know any difference, but it was rather upsetting to many Austrians. Because of these significant differences, most Austrians refuse to watch the Julie Andrews’ version and prefer the earlier version that was filmed and produced by a German film company.
Having said that, the rest of the tour was a blast! We saw (but did not climb of course) the Unter Berg Mountain where Maria is singing and twirling in the opening number. It’s also the same mountain the family climbs at the end when they escape to Switzerland – except that Switzerland is over 500km away! Funny! When the “real” von Trapp family escaped, they went by train to Italy and then sailed on a boat to England. Somehow that’s not nearly as attractive for movie goers who want a dramatic and happy ending!
We saw the glass gazebo (see picture) when Lesil and Rolf sing “16 Going on 17” as well as the big pond that was supposed to be out back behind the villa where Maria and the children fall out of the boat while wearing their play clothes. We also saw where the gazebo is today – no where near the pond where it once was because too many tourists kept climbing over the wall of the private home where it was to see it – as well as the wall and road where Maria sings the “I Have Confidence” song. The villa that served as the front of the Baron’s home in the movie was nearby, but since it is a private home, we did not get too close. Interestingly, though, when the movie shows shots of them being in the “backyard” with the pond, etc., they used the back of Mozart’s house as “the house” and not the house that is the actual villa on that property.
On the way to the pond, we saw the footbridge where Maria and the children dance and sing in their “curtain” play clothes. We also saw the trees that she and the children climbed when Baron von Trapp returned from his holiday with Baroness Schraeder. We also drove up to the little village of Mondsee to see the cathedral where the wedding scene was filmed. As I walked down the center aisle, I could hear the nuns singing “How do you solve a problem like Maria…” and the bells were ringing in my head.
Due to permission and copyright complications, nearly all of the “inside” shots were filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood with the sets based on castles and palaces here in Salzburg and in Germany. However, there are 2 dozen shots of the city of Salzburg included in the film (as described above). Following the “official” tour,there was one more sight to see, and we were directed to go on our town to the Marianplatz Garden. The Marionplatz was a palace where the ruler of Austria lived at one time. Today it is a museum and has a magnificent and lush green garden inside its courtyard. We saw the dwarf that all the children pat on the head, the fountain, the canopy of greens, and the 2 figures that are pointing to each other at the end of “Do Re Mi.” I could not help myself...I just had to do a few Julie Andrews impressions along the way, including twirling in a meadow, patting the dwarf on the head, and throwing my arms up overhead toward the pointing figures of the statues that frame the gate of the garden.
We found a quick bite to eat after that at a sidewalk cafe, since it had started to rain, and headed back to the hotel. Early to bed tonight. Tomorrow we will venture out again to see the Salzburg Cathedral and the Fortress high up on the hill, weather permitting.
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