Hop on hop off bus with a theme: The Sound of Music

The end of Do Re Me steps

Since we've been planning this trip, Mandy has spoken about doing The Sound of Music bus tour with one of the Salzburg providers. It's been going back and forth given what a massive fan she is of the film and the number of times she has made me sit through it. Even to the point where I actually found the Julie Andrews dress from the opening scene and 'The Hills are Alive', which was actually filmed in Germany, for sale so I could make her wear it while doing the tour (payback).

However, just before we left she decided that she didn't want to do that as we only had 3 full days in Salzburg. So everything was disregarded and I was delighted, until. We arrived in Salzburg on the Monday and commenced our average 10,000 steps, except in a new city, by walking around and seeing the sights until the Tuesday when someone chirped up and decided that Thursday was looking bleak and we should do the tour on Wednesday. So, tickets booked conveniently on the way home and a day of playing the waiting game. Boy, was I racking up points with this, on top of the Prague Dinner River Cruise. And the 18 day Xmas Markets River Cruise in December 2027 from Budapest to Amsterdam with Mrs. Claus. I just should shut up & be thankful I hear from some corners.

A crisp morning with blue skies & vapor trails

A crisp morning of 4 degrees welcomed us before breakfast, shower, shave, food and we were gone. Two blocks to walk to the bus and off we headed around the mount that Hohensalzburg Fortress sits and over to the lake we saw yesterday from said Fort. We saw the palace that they used for the rear external shots of the family home but none of this house was included in the movie, just the rear facade, garden & lake. See photo below.

We drove on to another location, complete with a singalong on the bus of 'Sixteen going on Seventeen', which was the front of the family home where Julie Andrews skips down the road, guitar & suitcase in hands, going to her first day of work while singing 'I have Confidence' (yes, there was a singalong but no-one knew the words). At the end of that road is, which will be finished next year, the Sound of Music Museum. Beside this is the rotunda where the external shots for 'Sixteen going on Seventeen' was shot, but not the internal shots. They were filmed at a bigger rotunda built in a film lot in Hollywood, with bigger benches and gymnastics throughout the song. We headed back to the bus, which was themed accordingly, of course, and headed through the outskirts of Salzburg passing the monastery where the relevant convent & nun scenes were shot, and some not permitted. Nonetheless, we carried on heading to the countryside into the lakes district, our aim, the village of Mondsee to see the church where the wedding scene was filmed.

But first we had to pass the Red Bull Headquarters in the lake town of Fuschl am See, a building designed like a volcano; it truly is a stunning building . Unfortunately it flashed by us so use the link to see the building & surrounds.

A few kilometres further and we pulled into a bus park on the edge of Mondsee where we disembarked and walked into the town centre, which was dead quiet except for a few coffee partakers at cafes. The church is quite resplendent complete with local girl trying to make a living taking photographs for tourists; we had a lovely chat with her, she was very sweet.

Cup of tea at the Café Braun, itself over 100 years old. A stroll back to the bus and we head back to Salzburg via the freeway, entering the city with a last hoorah singalong of 'So long, Farewall'. Once the bus is parked outside the Mirabell Castle & Garden, we disembark and make our way to the camera location for the final shot of 'Do Re Me', above the stairs in the Meribell Gardens, where most of the song was shot (see photo at the top of the blog).

I still can't work out if they are enjoying the tour or in agony: the image on the side of the bus, Mandy at the wedding church, the lake at Mondsee.

Mandy had arranged a hair beautification process for the afternoon so I walked into the station precinct to try & buy a belt, once purchased I came back to the hotel, went to the rooftop and entertained myself with the iPad. Mandy joined me later then we headed to the Pitter Keller restaurant in the basement. We had it to ourselves, unsure if anyone actually knows it exists. Sure enough, 30 minutes later and it was becoming crowded, our time to leave & head to bed.

Thursday

Woke up this morning to 1 degree & snowing outside our room. The flakes weren't quite making it to the ground but it was pleasant nonetheless. Breakfast soon, little to do today as the rain has set in, nice day to do nothing. Zurich tomorrow & will write more there.