The Hills Are Alive

One of my favorite experiences this summer was going on The Sound of Music tour in Salzburg. Not only did I get to spend the morning listening to the music of my childhood, but the scenery was breathtaking!

There are several tours to choose from but our family opted for the morning half day tour. We spent the morning touring different places used for filming the movie both in Salzburg and outside the city.

Some of the sights we had seen the day before when we walked around the old town area and we didn’t even realize it! There was the main square, fountain, church cemetery and at the top of the hill the one and only abbey.

Our bus tour continued outside the city limits where we learned the Von Trapp’s family home was all part of a Hollywood creation. They took two homes and filmed one for the front of the house and one for the back. My favorite Sound of Music tidbit I learned was that Harvard University now owns one of the house properties that we saw. Who would have thought! A Massachusetts connection all the way in Austria, very cool.

As the bus continued we sang along to familiar movie tunes and took in the lush green countryside. Next stop, the pagoda where Liesel and Rolf famously danced and sang, “I am sixteen going on seventeen”.

The final stop in the countryside was the church used for the wedding scene. Who knew that the wedding was not shot in the abbey, but a church an hour away!?

Back in Salzburg, we ended our tour strolling through the gardens best known when Maria and the Von Trapp children sang, Do, Re, Me ending on the steps.

The whole day felt a little bit surreal. There were so many moments were I stopped and thought, I can’t believe I am actually here, seeing places from one of my favorite movies. If you ever find yourself in Salzburg I would highly recommend The Sound of Music Tour. There is nothing quite like it!

Katy