AUSTRIA: Salzburg – The Sound of Music

Needless to say after my time in Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich I was kind of Hitlered out. What better way to flush the Third Reich out of your system than a visit to the city that was the inspiration for the movie “The Sound of Music”.  I was a child of eight when the film came out, and I saw it in the world-renowned Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

It was truly a phenomenon and is the highest-grossing musical of all time, as well as being one of the highest-grossing films of all time. It ran in some theaters for over a year from its release, so I had to go on the “Sound of Music Tour”.  Afterward, it was a thrill to watch the movie on my laptop and see all of the locations that I’d visited. Oh yeah, and Mozart was born there too.

Old Town Shopping Street

Mozart’s Birthplace

RESTAURANT ZUM EULENSPIEGEL – Fantastic Place To Eat Opposite Mozart’s Birthplace

THE SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR

Okay maybe it was a little cheesy, but the tour guide had been doing it forever and delivered acerbic jokes with verve and panache. He wore lederhosen and made a particularly funny joke about it. They are leather and you can’t wash them so a lot of stains tend to accumulate. So the joke goes something like this.

A guy walks into his doctor’s office, and the doctor tells him that he needs to get a blood, stool, urine, and semen sample from him. The man promptly removes his lederhosen and places them on the doctor’s desk. Rim shot…….. I’m here all week…..try the fish.

Von Trapp Mansion and Lake

The lake shots were done here, but the facade of the house was done with a different building. The famous atrium was on the property, but it became a nuisance from rabid fans trespassing to visit it.

Here is where it now resides.

Location of the famous “I am sixteen going on seventeen” number.

Another good reason for going to Austria

A sign warning against the likes of Michael Jackson.

The Church where Captain Von Trapp & Fraulein Maria were married in the movie.

Mirabell Palace and Gardens

This is the location where a lot of the Do-Re-Mi song was filmed.

Fräulein Maria and the children walked around the edge of this fountain.

They also danced past this odd-looking gnome statue.

They frolicked through the length of this archway.

Maria reaches triumphantly outward to both statues’ hands in this spot to finish the number.

She also hangs out with the kids in their drapery play clothes in this area with the beauty of Salzburg in the background.

Hohensalzburg Castle in the distance.

Hohensalzburg Castle

CHEST MADE OF GUNS AND GUN PARTS

Back To Town

Very Cool Instrument

Global Warming in Action

VERY COOL NIGHT – The club was just a hundred meters from my hotel.

An amazing funk band comprised of kids from 12-20 years old. James Brown would have been proud to have these kids backing him. The 12-year-old with the trombone was sensational, but the instrument was bigger than him. This bunch is all in music school in the same class. They were eight pieces in all with an additional two singers. What a night. I met the proud parents of a couple of band members. It’s how I got the info on the group.

                                                    Hallstatt

The Lake

The Boat

The Skipper

The Castle Across The Lake

HALLSTATT FROM THE LAKE

Gasthof Simony From The Water

Gasthof Simony From My Table

Fresh trout from the lake with dill sauce.

Town Square

Just enough time to feed the Swans before heading back to the bus.