La Dolce Vita: Salzburg, Austria: "The hills are alive with the sound of music..."

My roommate Ashlee and I went to Salzburg, Austria this past weekend and we loved it!! It was quite a trek getting there though, a 15 hour journey each way, so we were exhausted by the end of the weekend. Flights to Salzburg were really expensive, so we took a 12 hour overnight train from Rome to Munich, Germany. From there we waited an hour to take a 2 hour train from Munich to Salzburg, and repeated the process to get back to Rome on Sunday. We really only had about 30 hours in Salzburg, but it was definitely worth it!

We arrived in Salzburg around noon on Friday. We weren't able to get into our hotel right away, so we started exploring Salzburg a little bit and got some food. Unfortunately it was overcast, but the sun eventually came out in the late afternoon. We went back to the hotel and showered then headed to Stiegl Brewery, which is just outside of Salzburg. Stiegl has the largest beer exhibition in Europe and has been brewing beer since 1492! We went through the museum then sampled the beer in their tavern-like restaurant. We were enjoying ourselves so much we decided to stay and have dinner there, which was delicious. I had goulash soup, which is a traditional German/Austrian dish, and a nice roasted chicken salad, which was great because I really haven't had any salads this whole semester. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, since we were tired from the long trip and had to wake up pretty early for our Sound of Music tour on Saturday. The hotel showed The Sound of Music movie every night, so we watched that in anticipation for our tour then went to bed.

On Saturday morning we took the bus to the meeting point for our tour. We had a charming tour guide, who was very funny and dressed in a traditional Austrian dress. First we went to Leopoldskron Castle, which is the palace that's used as the back of the von Trapp house. The pond behind it is where Maria and the children fell out of the boat after the Captain comes home. The Venetian Room in the palace was reproduced in Hollywood and used as the ballroom for the big party Captain von Trapp has for the Baroness. Next we went to see the gazebo that was used for Liesl and Rolf's song "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" and Maria and the Captain's song "Something Good". The gazebo was originally located on the grounds of Leopoldskron Castle, but the city relocated it to the grounds of another castle so tourists can visit it. We also saw the actual von Trapp villa, which was used as the front of the house in the movie. It is now a monastery of some sort so we just saw the outside. Then we saw the Nonnberg Abbey, where Maria was planning on being a nun until she fell in love with the Captain. We weren't able to actually go into the Abbey because it is still an Abbey today, but we got to see it from the outside. Next we drove out to the "Mountains and Lakes" district, which is about a half hour outside of Salzburg. The landscape is gorgeous, with little lakes and snowy mountains interspersed along the countryside. The shots at the beginning of the movie were taken in this district, and it's even more beautiful in real life than it is in the movie. Then we went to a little town to visit Mondsee Cathedral. This is the church where Maria and the Captain's wedding was filmed. It's in a charming town, and we had some free time to explore before heading back to Salzburg. We sat at a table of an outdoor cafe and had apple strudel, which the area is famous for. It was such a beautiful day out so we were glad to take advantage of the perfect weather. Then the bus took us back to Salzburg and the tour ended. Ashlee and I then went to Mirabell Gardens. In these gardens Maria and the children sang "Do-Re-Mi" and danced around the fountain. Flowers had just been planted in the gardens so it was really pretty. It was cool to see all the places where the classic movie was filmed. Our tour guide played the soundtrack while we were on the bus, so naturally the songs were stuck in our heads all weekend.

I actually never knew that The Sound of Music was based on a true story, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that. Of course Hollywood does not portray it exactly as it happened, but the movie is based on a Broadway musical of the same name, which originated with Maria von Trapp's book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. The real von Trapp family did leave Austria when Germany took over, but not by climbing over a mountain into Switzerland as the movie shows. They took a train to Italy, then on to London, and finally went to America. The family did all sing together, under the name "Trapp Family Singers" and toured the world after becoming popular in America. There were 10 Trapp children in total, the 7 from the Captain's original marriage and 3 that Maria and the Captain had together. In the 1940s the family settled in Stowe, Vermont, looking to live somewhere with a landscape similar to Austria. They ran a music camp in Stowe when they weren't touring, and in 1957 the singing group disbanded and the children took to different interests. The Trapp Family Lodge is still an operating Austrian-style mountain resort in Stowe, Vermont and is run by one of the Trapp grandchildren. I hope to visit there someday to bring my Trapp family travels full circle!

After the tour Ashlee and I explored Salzburg a little more. It's a very pretty city, surrounded by mountains and full of interesting palaces, fortresses, and churches, all with great architecture. It's also the birthplace of Mozart, as you may know. Before leaving we got some more traditional food: brats and sauerkraut, which I love, and soft pretzels. Then we got back on a train to Munich to head back to Rome! Thanks for reading!

Ciao,
Allison