The hills are alive

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Today I took my Sound of Music tour. I arrived early and took the time before the tour started to walk around Mirabell Gardens. I had been there before but the area is so beautiful and the flower arrangements were constantly changing that it deserved another look.

The beginning of the tour had to be a bit disappointing for anyone who hadn’t done a walking tour of the city. It was in a small van with the driver merely pointing out some of the city sights from the movie as we drove around. I had already seen most of these on my walking tour the other day so it wasn’t a big deal to me but I’m sure others had to be wondering why we couldn’t stop.

Once we left the main part of the city, we drove back to Leopoldskron, the lake which served as the background to the terrace scenes of the movie Von Trapp house. It was nice to see this again because it is so stunning.

After that, we went to Hellbrunn Palace, another stop I had already covered. But we hadn’t visited the gazebo used in a couple scenes of the movie. The gazebo had been built especially for the movie on the grounds of the Leopoldskron Palace but had been given to the city after filming was completed. The city decided to make it a part of Hellbrunn so all could see it.

Our next stops were Fuschl and Wolfgang lakes, two of the backdrop lakes in the opening scenes. I definitely didn’t recognize them but they were both very scenic and peaceful.

Finally, we headed to our last stop, well outside the city. This was the Church of Mondsee, the church used in the film for the wedding scene. Apparently, someone from the production team drove around Austria looking for a magnificent church to use for the setting of the wedding scene, since the real life church wasn’t particularly good looking. That someone did a good job.

The church’s interior looked even more regal in person than it did in the movie. Its black and gold altars throughout the sides of the pews and the black and gold organ in the rear completely contrasted the bright white ceilings and pink trimwork. At the front, a staircase consisting of 14 steps led to a wooden gate at the main altar. On the main altar sat eight candles with pink flowers surrounding them. Its backdrop was a series of biblical scene carvings which stood out against the black, gold and silver relief.

Outside, the church’s pastel yellow façade with white trim and clocks on its dual towers left no doubt as to which was the finest building in the small town. Across from the church were a number of shops and cafes, which were housed in Austrian style buildings.

In one of the buildings sat a café where I grabbed a quick snack after walking down to the lake and back. The snack was a warm apple strudel with white sauce, an Austrian specialty. It was good but doesn’t compare to my Mom’s apple pie, which is similar enough of a dish.

We returned to Salzburg with the soundtrack from the movie playing in the background. Seeing the church in all its majesty made the tour seem worthwhile, even if the beginning was a bit lackluster.

After getting back to Salzburg, I parted ways with the people on the tour and walked back through the city. I came upon the base of the Hohensalzburg Fortress. I decided this would be as good a time as any to climb its hill and take in the captivating views of the city. After a long set of steps and a stroll through some wooded areas, I finally started to get close to the fortress. I got as far as I was allowed to go when I approached a ticket booth. I had heard the inside wasn’t all that exciting and there weren’t many views from the enclosed walls so I decided to skip paying to go in. But I didn’t miss out on any of the views of the city as the pathways provided all I needed.

Next, I stayed on the hill to visit the Nonnberg Abbey, where the nuns were housed in the movie and some still live today. The abbey was where the actual wedding took place. I could see why they decided to go looking for another church. This one was very old but would not make anyone say “wow” if they saw it on the silver screen.

I made my way down the hill and decided to have another snack. I came upon a stand that was selling bosna, a type of sausage sandwich which originated in Salzburg. Bosna consists of a toasted white roll with bratwurst, onions and a sauce that is a mix of mustard, ketchup and curry spices. The guy working the stand asked me if I wanted it spicy or really spicy. I, of course, opted for really spicy. They must have tender palates around here because really spicy wasn’t even as spicy as most mild wing sauces.

After my snack, I ran across one of the many shops that sells these Mozartkugeln chocolate balls. They were created in the 1890s and named after the composer. I had heard of these from the tour guides and they mentioned there were red and blue wrappings. The red are commercially produced, cheaper and easy to find while only two stores sell the hand made blue balls.

I decided to try one but all they had were red. These were mediocre at best. I heard the blue are much better (albeit not a difficult task) but I’ll have to find one of those shops to try a blue one.

I came back to the hostel and, after some time on the Internet and talking with a few Aussies and a guy from Doylestown, PA, I grabbed dinner at the hostel.

Afterwards, I met a few others while Chris, the Doylestown guy, was looking for a spare battery charger for his camera. I had told him to ask around and see if someone has a similar model. With this many people in a hostel, someone had to have one. He succeeded with the second person he asked. This guy actually had a spare charger, battery and USB adapter which he sold to Chris.

Once Chris got his camera needs situated, we headed out to grab a couple beers at a pub in town. Along the way, I took him to my kebab guy since he hadn’t eaten. He agrees with me that these are the best kebabs around. Now the kebab guy really loves me since I brought him business. If he feeds me kebabs for free I might start hanging brochures in the hostel.

After Chris had his kebab, Cameron, another Aussie from Melbourne, met us on the way to the pub. The pub was an Irish place called O’Malley’s and was one of only a few places that had anything going on. The others had flashing neon and strobe lights inside. I avoid those types of places like the plague.

Inside O’Malley’s was a mostly college-aged English speaking crowd. We each grabbed a beer and headed to the back. After some talk about our travels thus far and where we planned to go next, we were ready for another round. We grabbed some more beers and found a table in the back. It was next to a group of college kids, one of whom was from Iowa on a study abroad program. We had some laughs with him as we discussed sports around the world and harassed some of the girls he was with (they had it coming for trying to tell us they were Swedish).

We wrapped up after our second round and went back to the hostel. We all have big plans tomorrow. My big plans are a salt mine tour near Berchtesgaden. It’s my last day here tomorrow so I have to make the most of it.

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Photos

Fountain at Mirabell Gardens
The fountain at Mirabell Gardens which Maria and the children dance around during Do Re Mi.

Me at Leopoldskron Palace
Me in front of Leopoldskron Palace and the lake that served as a backdrop to the rear of the Von Trapp residence in the movie.

Outside Church of Mondsee
The exterior of the church used in the movie.

Inside Church of Mondsee
The interior of the church used in the movie.

Main altar
The main altar at the Church of Mondsee with its candle and floral arrangement and stunning backdrop.

City views
Views of the old city from Hohensalzburg Fortress.