We found the front of the building, but it is private property so we had to find a way around to the back. We walked a pretty long way (basically all the way around the lake), but once you see the building emerging from the bushes across the lake, it makes the walk worth it.
There are a LOT of tour buses taking people to the Sound of Music sights. We're pretty glad that we got there before everybody started showing up. On our walk to Leopoldskron, we were marveling how quiet and quaint the area was... until all the buses started to descend on the area! Here's one of the buses... and Angel singing to match up to Maria:
We got lucky with the sunny day. The fortress Hohensalzburg is very pretty and you can pretty much always see it no matter where you are in Salzburg.
Along our walk:
Our next destination is the mansion used as the Von Trapp family home. Angel really REALLY needed to go to the bathroom at this point and was getting frustrated because there are no public WCs around here and we were lost! A really nice Austrian guy stopped to help because he saw that we were lost, and pointed us in the direction. I asked him if he happened to know where the nearest bathroom was, and he pondered it for a minute and said 'yes!' He gave us specific instructions of where it was and although he jogged on ahead of us (the whole area is full of joggers and bikers), he stopped every few minutes to point again and then stopped in front of the building we were to go into and pointed again. I LOVE Austrians! Here's the building he told us to go into (really posh!), where they make Austrian dresses and costumes:
Alas, we finally made it to the Von Trapp mansion!
Here's the dork doing Maria's jump and singing "I have confidence" (and Angel is never lacking in confidence *ahem* pompous...):
Here are the trees we think the kids climbed in the movie:
On the way to Hellbrunn, our next destination:
Schloss Hellbrunn is where the gazebo is located that was used in the movie, where Liesl and Rolf sing "16 going on 17." The interior was recreated on a larger scale in Hollywood.
"Wheeeeeeee!!!!!":
Our walk up to Nonnberg Abbey, where Maria was a novitiate.
The gates of Nonnberg Abbey was where the children came to plead for Maria's return:
The view from Nonnberg Abbey is amazing. It also helps that is was a sunny day!
"More strudel, Herr Detweiler?"
"How many have I had?"
"Two."
"Make it an uneven three!"
Haha actually this is the first strudel we've had since we've been in Austria:
It tastes like good ole apple pie, which we guess is a descendant of the struuuuudel.
We bought a marzipan pretzel at one of the stalls in Kapitalplatz:
Kapitalplatz has a life-size chess board where Salzburgers (citizens of Salzburg) go to play chess by moving the actual pieces across the board:
Angel is obsessed with the MozartKugeln. Furst is the confectionaire who created the original MozartKugeln, but in the years gone by, somehow Kraft Foods got their hands on the concept and started mass producing under the brand Mirabell. Mirabell is now the largest producer of MozartKugeln (and the one Angel always buys). She wanted to try what the "original" tasted like and for 90 cents, she said it was really good but not worth the price, as Mirabell's is cheaper and more fun to eat... Mirabell's has FOUR layers versus Furst's THREE layers.
We also bought a chocolate bar filled with champagne ganache inside:
We stopped by St. Peter's church, where the catacombs that were the inspiration for how the Von Trapp family hid from the Nazis during the suspense scene at the end:
"I have confidence..." Residenzplatz on a sunny day!
Mozartsteg is the bridge that Maria and the children ran across when they sang "Do Re Mi," but for Hollywood, it was covered in vines:
The observation deck Monchsberg is high above Salzburg (we're estimating at least 18 stories).
The elevator ride is 1.8 euros to go up, and 2.9 euros for roundtrip ticket :P. Otherwise you spend 30 minutes hiking back down :T. This is where Maria sings "I have confidence" ...AGAIN. Angel says it's a really long scene, taking her from Nonnberg Abbey, to many different sights around Salzburg, and finally to the Von Trapp Mansion. I wouldn't know, having seen it only once compared to her thousands of times. Although even if Jen watched it thousands of times, she still wouldn't know.
The horse fountain is another shot used as background when they sing:
I wish I were there too :-)
ReplyDeleteI did!
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