Oh, the places we will go!: The Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg

As an awkward prepubescent girl, my two idols were Olivia Newton John and Julie Andrews.

Don't laugh. What young girl didn't want to be "hopelessly devoted" Sandra Dee

or "a problem like Maria"?

I had the soundtracks to both movies on big, black vinyl disks.
I would hide away in my room and play them over and over again dramatically acting out each song.
You know you've done it, too. Right? Anyone?

Before our trip to Salzburg, I made sure to express (over and over) to TE just how important
The Sound of Music was to my childhood. After all of the conditioning and begging, he was sweet enough to indulge me in the cheesiest of cheesy bus tours The Original Sound of Music Tour. We purchased tickets the night before from the hotel (37 Euros each) and were assured that we would be picked up the next morning at 9am.

It was a Tuesday morning during off-season, so we didn't expect to be taken to a large bus and to see every seat filled. Great minds. It was a surprisingly young crowd. too.

The bus was clean and comfortable with a bar for beers, sodas and water. We settled in for a four hour tour of all the local highlights from the famous movie.

The music from the movie was played all along the way and we were encouraged to sing along, though I didn't hear anyone else. They were probably singing under their breath like I was. It was still early.

Along with some really bad jokes, our guide was full of information about both the 1965 Hollywood movie and the real-life story of Maria and the von Trapp family. Most Austrians have never seen the movie, but it brings millions of people from all over the world to Salzburg each year. The movie is very much a Hollywood creation and wasn't even shown in Austria until recently.

The tour was one of the highlights for both of us. TE hasn't even seen the movie and had no idea how the sites we visited fit into it, but you really don't need to know anything about the Sound of Music to enjoy the gorgeous views of Salzburg and the surrounding lake district.

Our first stop was the Leopoldskron Lake for a view of the Leopoldskron Palace. If you know the movie, this is the lake where the children took an accidental swim. The back of the palace was used in some of the exterior shots of the von Trapp family home. The famous gazebo was once on these grounds, but too many people were jumping the walls to get to it, so they moved it.

It's now on the grounds of the Schloss Hellbrunn. Unfortunately, it's all locked up so we couldn't go in and leap from bench to bench like Liesl in the Sixteen Going On Seventeen number. This gazebo is much too small to be the one from that scene. It was actually shot on a film set at 20th Century-Fox Studios.

The Schloss Frohnburg Palace was the main building used in the exterior shots of the Trapp villa and is now a music university. Along the front of the Castle is an alley lined with trees along both sides. This was where the von Trapp children hung from the trees on their adventurous day out with Maria.

After a few stops around the city of Salzburg, we settled back into the bus for an hour long trip out into the Lake District stopping for views along the way. Breathtaking. Gorgeous. Fantastic. Magical. There has to be more words to describe such beautiful scenery.

We had about an hour in the lakeside town of Mondsee to visit the Mondsee Cathedral where the Captain married Maria in the movie. The real von Trapp couple were married at Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg.

After visiting the Cathedral, we had just enough time for Schnitzel and shopping. I've been wanting one of these beautiful Black Forest German cuckoo clocks for ages. I think my mom had one when I was little and they're so beautiful. On the bus ride back to Salzburg, the intro to So Long, Farewell came on.

There's a sad sort of clanging
From the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple, too
And up in the nursery
An absurd little bird
Is popping out to say cuckoo
(Cuckoo, cuckoo)

With my new little cuckoo clock resting on my lap, I might have had a moment.

I was suddenly that young girl again, completely charmed by a love story filmed in the most beautiful place and listening to music that carried me there.
Pretty special. Now I just have to figure out the best place to hang my little treasure.

The bus dropped us off back in Salzburg right next to the Mirabell Gardens. This was where many of the scenes from Do-Re-Mi were filmed. Do you recognize the Pegasus Fountain and the steps from the song?