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Published: November 17th 2010
Up until my stay in Salzburg, my time spent with music was relegated to what was played in cafes or pubs, music shared with fellow travelers (which was excitedly recorded in my travel notepad), my time spent wandering and listening to my iPod, or random encounters with street performers. Considering Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart and famous for its role in
The Sound of Music, I figured there would be no better time for a musical journey.
I had been wanting to go to a classical music concert and had looked into it in Prague and Vienna. Each place I went, I would ask in the local travel information center about locations, times, and prices. When asking in Salzburg I was pleased to find out that there was going to be a concert that night in the Mirabelle Schloss, which houses the office of the burgermeister (mayor), and the marble hall where the performance would be held was not open to the public unless they went to one of these concerts. On top of this, the room where the event was being held, was the same one that Leopold Mozart would bring his son to play for the Salzburg
nobility. The best part of the deal was that I would only have to pay sixteen euro ($22) as opposed to the full price of 35 euro ($48). I was sold.
I put on my one pair of nice pants (slightly wrinkled) and one of my well-used button down shirts and prepared to join high society. The concert venue was certainly elegant and the crowd was definitely a mix of tourist and concert aficionados. I was likely visibly excited when a middle aged couple came in more dressed down than I was. The trio, with a pianist, violinist, and cellist was fantastic and the program highlighted their accomplishments. For example the pianist was essentially a child prodigy from Japan and now holds an important position at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg. What really hit home the skill of the musicians was that during the first piece (Mozart's Fantasy in d-minor) I was watching and listening for about three or four minutes before I realized that the pianist was playing completely from memory! It was a blast to watch the handwork of all three especially since it was such a small room which allowed me to see every key depression
Leopoldskron Palace
Used as one part of the Von Trapp houseand every subtle gesture of the bows. I am sure I stuck out like a sore thumb in the audience, being the tall lanky tourist with a big grin on his face. Luckily I made sure to follow the example of the others in the crowd as to when to clap because I was going to applaud after one of the pieces and noticed that nobody else was making the motion. I guess it is customary to wait until all of the pieces by the selected composer are finished before clapping. Overall, I felt as though I was privy to an experience that not many travelers choose to take on.
In complete contrast to my more individual encounter during the concert, the next day was filled with one of the most popular tourist draws of Salzburg, a
Sound of Music tour. There is definitely a big cheesiness factor to these, but they do bring you out to the Salzkammergut lake and mountain region, which was my main goal. In preparation, the night before the tour, I decided to watch the daily showing of
The Sound of Music that played at my hostel. This did little to quell my feelings,
Mirabelle Gardens
"Do-Re-Mi" was sung here since I realized that the movie itself was quite cheesy, but since I had not seen the film for many years it was interesting for me to pick out some of the discourse and allusions to the history that made the story so interesting. For example, it was easy for me to see why the director chose to pan to Baron Von Trapp's Austrian Flag hanging proudly during the dinner party since it would be such a prominent display against those in support of the German Nazi Party. This was definitely not something I would have picked up on the first time I watched.
These feelings of interest were furthered the next day when the tour guide compared the film version with the true story. *On a side note, the tour guide was named Helmut, how cool is that?!* Helmut claimed that about two-thirds of the story is accurately shown. It is correct that Maria was in the convent, although she was there for only a very short time, and was actually a teacher beforehand! Baron Von Trapp and Maria did indeed fall in love and marry although the timing of it was much earlier since Maria had two
View of Moon Lake
#1 Favorite Picture thus Far children of her own that escaped with them. The actual location of the Von Trapp family house was actually just 150 meters away from the train station and this is how they escaped to Italy (not Switzerland as it is claimed in the film). The best inaccuracy in the film is that if they went over the mountain shot in the film, it would actually have led them to Bavaria, Germany and right into the hands of the Nazis... It was of particular interest to me that the family ended up in Stowe, Vermont since I had just recently visited there for the first time. The biggest surprise to me came when Helmut explained that after the Von Trapp family deserted the house Heinrich Himmler (the leader of the Nazi military police force: the SS) chose to live in it during the war!
Some of the shooting locations that we visited on the tour were the Mirabelle Gardens where Maria and the children sing part of the song “Do-Re-Mi”; Stift Nonnberg the abbey where both the real Maria and Julie Andrews were residing before being shipped off; the Leopoldskron Palace which was used as the front entrance to the
Von Trapp house (and most famous for being where Maria and the children tip over their canoe in the river); the gazebo used in multiple scenes including the song “16 going on 17”; and the Salzkammergut lake and mountain region which is flown over in the opening to the film. I also toured through the cemetery at St. Peter's Church which was used as an inspiration for the final flight scenes and where Baron Von Trapp is confronted by Rolfe. You can see all of these in the posted pictures.
Although some of those pictures show some great locations, my most favorite spot in Salzburg was saved for the final day of my trip, when I toured Festung Hohensalzburg, the fortress overlooking the city. It was here that I finally achieved the view I had been craving ever since I could see the mountains in the distance when arriving at the train station. There really is no way to describe it, check out the pictures and especially the 360° video from the top of the observation tower.
Videos:
Salzkammergut – The Moon Lake:
Salzburg – Mirabelle Gardens:
Salzburg – View
from Pedestrian Bridge:
Salzburg – View from Fortress Observation Tower:
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