Austria Part II – Salzburg

I’ve wanted to go to Salzburg for a very long time so this is definitely going to be a highlight. Since I was about ten years of age I’ve never wavered when asked what my favourite movie is… yes, you’ve guessed it – it’s The Sound of Music … cue music and bring it on!!

We arrive to Salzburg in the evening after a busy day site-seeing (see Part I) so we relax on the balcony of our huge Airbnb house for an hour with one of those bottles of wine we’ve brought with us. After a quick freshen up we intend to eat in a nearby tavern but it’s closed so we continue into town and get to check out the city centre by night…

We have our first hot meal after the heuriger food and I go straight for the wiener snitzel. It does not disappoint. I’m on a local red wine and the girls are drinking the Augustiner at a really cool tavern called Barenwirt

A quick photo opp on the bridge on the way home and it’s beddy byes time as we have a big day tomorrow…

This morning we wake to rain which is not ideal as today is our Sound of Music “Fraulein Maria’s bicycle trip” around Salzburg. It’s a torrential downpour as we arrive to get our bikes but by the time we get started the rain has gone… hooray!! We set off on a city tour taking in the main locations from the movie. These are the steps from “doe-a-deer” with the fountain in the background:

While we are in the city there’s not much singing going on but we do manage a few re-enactments along the way”.. this is Ralph running through the tunnel:

And when Maria is on her way to the Von Trapp home for the first time and she stops to give a little splash in the fountain:

Next stop is the cemetery where the family hide from the nazis..

It’s a small, interesting looking cemetery almost built into the side of the cliff. I do love a good cemetery.

There’s a little market around the corner with a really good pretzel stand which of course we sample..

Onwards up a very steep hill that half the tour group manage to stay on their bikes for and we reach the convent… remember that scene when the children come looking for Maria because they miss her… and Gretel wants to show her her sore finger – ahhhh. And the church that you can see through the gates is the actual church the Captain and Maria got married in, not the big one where they filmed it for the movie.

There’s a beautiful look out point over the city and to the mountains from here…

Once out of the city the guide plays all the big numbers from the movie on a little boom box which we share among the baskets, and we get to sing along, amusing many random passers by. The two ladies behind us in the photo below were from Australia and they thought they had booked a regular city tour – they’d no idea it was specifically a Sound of Music tour… but they got into the spirit fairly quick!

At the Von Trapp’s house which is now student accommodation we line up on our handy bikes. This was purely a movie filming location, the Von Trapp’s never actually lived here!

Oh and again… in case you haven’t already noticed we are in our second matching t-shirts…. This one is at the lake where the children fell in outside the back of the house.. that’s it on the other side of the lake –

It’s now a conference centre but you can zoom in and see the patio where they filmed the scene of them playing ball and meeting the baroness (who by the way was a totally fictional character who never existed)… she seems to have joined our little holiday mind you… 😉 Baroness Renee!

After that amazing morning – seriously best city tour EVER [big shout out to Fraulein Maria’s bike tour company – book it if you’re ever in Salzburg], It starts lashing rain again so we take shelter in a bar and reckon we deserve a beer with a spot of lunch..

Tonight we are eating at what is allegedly the oldest restaurant in Europe. Established in 803, St. Peter Stiftskulinarium is located in the old town close by the concert hall which was also in the Sound of Music. We enjoy the fine dining and a very tasty meal.

The old town is lovely to wander around at night. There’s lots of shops, restaurants and bars and it was quite bustling.

Next morning before leaving Salzburg we decide to visit “The villa Von Trapp” which was the house where the family actually lived. It’s a hotel now and was closed to the public as we arrived early in the morning but true to form the baroness (aka Renee) sweet talked the manager and he let us in to take a tour around the house and gardens which included viewing the dining room while a few patrons were still having breakfast!

There were lots of photos hanging on the walls and the guest rooms are named after the children.. their real names though, not those used in the movie!

From here we get on the road and head for the border – Slovenia next.

Cheerio Salzburg!