I am 16 going on 17

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February 25th 2011

Published: March 11th 2011

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Tan M

Salzburg just before dusk

Leaving Zurich I was excited to know that I was about to head to one of the only locations in the world where it would be totally acceptable to sing “The hills are alive with the sound of music…” at the top of your lungs whilst twirling madly in the meadows. Unfortunately, when I arrived in Salzburg I learnt that many of the locals either don’t know the film and therefore would wonder what exactly you were doing, or do know the film and hate it…interesting!

Not to fear, my hostel had a daily screening of the movie for those that had either not seen it recently or at all (there seemed to be a lot of people dragged to Salzburg against their wishes by their travel buddies). On top of this, the hostel had posters/fact boards about the movie on every available wall - all they were missing was the music from the film being piped into every room. I promptly booked to go on the “Sights of Sound of Music” tour for the following morning. We were taken to a number of the "famous" sights which included the two castles used as the exterior of the house, yes

Water bubbles trapped under ice

I just loved the look of this photo, no meaning to it whatsoever ;)

that's right people, two castles were used: one for the front and the other for the back. We were then taken to Hellbrunn Castle which had nothing to do with the film, but now houses the pavilion where Liesl sings the famous song "I am 16 going on 17". I had visions of being able to run around the pavilion jumping from seat to seat, however this was not to be as it is now locked to the public. Our guide told us that the decision to lock the pavilion supposedly follows a lady in her 80's giving it a go a few years back who fell, broke her hip and then tried to sue for compensation! I wanted it to be a cheesy tour and I was not disappointed, whilst driving around the city streets on the bus the tour guide continuously played songs from the movie whilst walking up and down the bus singing them quite passionately. This obviously got others involved and before I knew it the entire bus, with maybe the exception of a slim few, were singing Do, Re, Me…at the top of their voices.

Given that I only had one full day in

Mozart monument

Salzburg once the tour finished I had some lunch and then decided that I would visit the fortress that sits at the top of the city. It is quite a steep trek up to the fortress (Hohensalzburg Castle) and the funicular that normally transports people up the steep hill was out of action. So, glad that I had had plenty of practice after my time in Sth America, I hiked to the top of the hill to wander around the fortress. From here, you had amazing views of Salzburg, and the surrounding Alps.

On my way back down from the fortress, a little gate beckoned me to turn left and wander through it, and I was not disappointed. I had walked through a side entrance to St Peters Abbey Church and straight into a graveyard. Firstly, the graveyard in itself was beautiful with all of the snow about, but I was amazed at the longevity of the Salzburg people. Many people had lived long lives and now had their resting place in the grounds of an amazing church.

Salzburg has a number of tributes to Mozart, given that it is his place of birth. Unfortunately, I did not