The Hills Are Alive
Editor’s note: If you haven’t watched “The Sound of Music” at least five times, this post will probably bore you.
We knew it was a totally touristy thing to do.
We knew that Austrians don’t know as much, nor care as much about “The Sound Of Music.”
We knew that choosing to go on a tour bus with strangers who might not want to sing the songs as loudly or lovingly as we did was a risk.
We didn’t care. The tickets for this tour were among the first we booked.
Our bus left from Mirabellplatz (Mirabelle Gardens is where the children singing on the steps in the movie takes place.) at 9 a.m.
Buds and I headed out at 7 a.m. to explore the closest options for the bus and to get breakfast at the grocery store.
Logistics deciphered, we scooped up the rest of our crew and headed out for our four hour tour.
We thought this accordion bus we took was so cool:
It looks like Yessa’s in someone’s living room.
We had a little time to explore a small church near where the bus would be loading.
I loved these colors in the stained glass.
On the bus and we’re off.
Ann Marie was our guide. She’s a Canadian who has lived in Salzburg for 16 years. Her English was a fascinating mix as someone who learned English in Austria.
There were actually people on the tour who had never seen the movie.
They were Austrian.
We voted to throw them off the bus, but we were overruled.
The tour took us to various sites from the movie, recognizing that Hollywood magic cobbled together places that weren’t actually together, and changed the actual story significantly.
We still loved it.
This is the lake where the children and Maria fall out of the boat wearing curtains.
And if you’ve never seen the movie, this makes no sense.
On to the gazebo:
The convent:
When we were on the bus our guide was passing around pictures of the family and of filming, sharing fun facts, and we were singing and watching parts of the movie.
We headed off into the hills to the lakes region. This was absolutely gorgeous. I would gladly go back here.
This led us to Mondsee (Moon Lake), where we had an hour to explore and view the cathedral where Maria and the Captain marry.
We meandered around, enjoyed some gelato, then settled back in the bus for more singing on the journey back to Salzburg.
Once we returned we headed to Mirabelle Gardens to see those special steps.
It was a great way to see many beautiful spots, sing some of our favorite songs, and create more memories.
