Sound of Music in Salzburg (a.k.a. Alligator in Austria)

The first time that anyone checked our passports on this trip (apart from the airport) was on our train from Hungry to Austria. And when they did, we didn’t even get a stamp or anything. Because of this, our passports are pretty empty for such an extensive trip. Disappointing, but at least there are no long passport control lines. When we arrived in Salzburg we did not fully know how to get to our Bed and Breakfast. But usually all you have to do is find someone in charge and they’ll help you out, which is what happened with us, and we got on the right train to take us 1 stop out of town. The next challenge was a steep hill that we had to hike up to find our stay. It was worth it though because, being up on a hill, our bed and breakfast had a great view of the mountains. That evening we found an old monastery/brewery where we had schnitzel for dinner and a couple of good brews. It was like the Hofbrauhaus, but a little less boisterous.

The next morning was the 27^th of March, which is Mandy’s birthday. For her birthday she wanted to go on the Sound of Music tour, so that’s what we did. It was a 5 hour tour where they took you around the parts of Salzburg where the scenes were filmed and also out to the country to see some lakes and to the church where the wedding scene was filmed. Along this bus tour they also played the soundtrack. We saw the gazebo (of course) but it was not next to the house it was shown next to anymore. People were coming and making noise there late at night and the neighbors complained so they moved it out of the city more. Also, they usually keep it locked because a 90 yr. old woman fell off of a bench and broke her leg a while back, so you can’t dance around it anymore. But you can look at it at least. They told us that the house in the movie is actually 3 separate houses. The front is one house, the back is another, and the inside was filmed on a set based on the house the filmed the back of. We got to see the front of the one, and the back of the other, but we didn’t get to go up to them. Something about them being privately owned made them keep us away. I’m sure we saw some other movie things too, but I can’t remember. Ask Mandy, she’ll know.

That afternoon we did some sightseeing touristy stuff. Much of the shopping in Salzburg is on one street which we actually stumbled upon. Each store has its own hanging sign and you can even buy traditional Austrian garb there. Mandy’s favorite store was the Salzburg Christmas Store. They had about five hundred million Christmas eggs. They also had tons of other Christmas stuff, and dare I say, maybe even a larger selection from Bronner’s in some categories. Call me a heretic, but it’s true. In the evening we wanted to go hear some type of live performance since it didn’t work out in Budapest. The Festival Halls had the Mozart Orchestra playing. We thought we’d give it a try hoping it wouldn’t be too expensive. Turns out they had student tickets for 10 Euros a piece. What a deal, because the concert was excellent. A visiting cellist played a piece with orchestra accompaniment for about 30 minutes and it was memorized. Brilliant. We felt a little underdressed for the concert, since in the morning we hadn’t planned on this opportunity. We had jeans on and every one else was in a suit and tie or a dress. We sat low in the seats to not attract attention. After the concert we had to catch the train back towards our bed and breakfast. We figured we would have to wait a long time because our train left only ever hour. But, as we were walking back, we realized we could maybe make the earlier train. We got even closer and realized we then might not make it…so we started to run. We ran 3 blocks and then through the train station…And…we made it. With about 4 seconds to spare. It was a good day.

The following morning we visited the Natural History museum in Salzburg. Yeah, not the normal thing to visit there, but what the heck, we gave it a try. We were pleasantly surprised at how good it was, or at least that it was well worth the 3 Euros we each paid to get in. They had 60,000 gallons worth of aquarium with some really interesting creatures. On another floor they had a really good reptile exhibit. Who would have thought we would see Alligators in Austria? Those were the highlights. They also had a bunch of different rocks and some dead ants (the insect exhibit wasn’t doing too well). Later we returned to the touristy area, and of course, back to the Christmas store for another look. This time we found Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day eggs too. This store was big. Everything else we thought of doing was going to cost money, so instead we just sat on a bench by the river and soaked in the Austrian sun for a while, looking at the mountains. I think the mountains were our favorite part of Austria once again. Just beautiful.

Pictures coming soon.