Day 5 - The Sound of Music Tour

A Little Cheese Mit Your Strudel?

Unlike the tour of Dachau, I felt no deep seeded moral imperative to take the "Sound of Music" (SOM) tour in Salzburg. But just the same, I knew I just had to do it.

Sound of Music was my grandmother's favorite musical and when the film came out in 1965, she took all the grandkids to see it. I'd played tunes from that musical in various bands and orchestras throughout my life and no matter how "gay" my sons call me, I LIKE musicals, dammit!

Besides, the SOM Tour gave us a chance to take an intimate - 6 people - guided tour of Salzburg and the Lake District. We'd get to see some small non-touristy (allegedly) Austrian villages, lunch by one of the lakes and a luge ride up in the mountains. To get all of that, even the most self-conscious would endure a visit to the places where they shot the movie and listen to "Do Re Mi" as you bounced through the high Alpine meadows.

Our guide, Cathy, a young Viennese woman who'd moved to Salzburg and learned her English in Scotland, began the tour by telling the six of us that this would be as cheesy a thing as we'd ever done and it also would be a great time. She was right on both counts.

We began the day with some outstanding views of old Salzburg (see slide show below). Then we visited Leopoldskron, the palace on the lake that was one of the two homes used as the Von Trapp mansion in the film. Following that, we saw Helbrunn Castle and the gazebo where they shot the song "Sixteen Going on Seventeen." I was beginning to feel a little goofy by then.

We then headed out to the Lake District, taking the "scenic route," a narrow one-lane road, through idyllic farmlands full of cows and goats, etc. Cathy gave us a ton of great historical information along the way; one of the better guides I've ever had.

Also, she had the drive timed perfectly. As we climbed into the mountains, she pushed the play button on the CD player at the right moment so that when we emerged into the high meadows, Julie Andrews began singing "The Hills Are Alive..." I couldn't help laughing. The cheese had set in for the rest of the day. While it is positively beautiful up there -- looking, smelling, sounding -- mixing it with the soundtrack from SOM was somewhat volatile. I turned back to the Canadian men whose wives had dragged them onto the tour just to make sure they hadn't slit their wrists. (They were fighting over the razor blade!).

Watching them cringe was as fun as the tour itself.



Before we hit Lake Wolfgang (named after you know how), we stopped for a luge run. Thank God Genevieve voted to go because the four Canadians were rather sheepish about it. But three of them did take the ride. It was a LOT longer and HELL OF A LOT higher than the one I'd taken earlier in the week at Tegelberg, but a great ride...maybe when we get to Innsbruck we can take a real bobsled run. (RIGHT!)

Next, we saw several of the lakes in the Lake District, starting with Wolfgangsee, which we viewed from a balcony of a cafe. It was still only about 11am, so we got cakes and strudel. The Canadians had their chocolate cake with beer... go figure! I had a strudel, but frankly the one we had at the cafeteria at Dachau was much better. (What a day that was!)
The lovely lakes led to the village of St. Gilgan, home of the Basilika Mondsee, the church where they filmed the wedding of the Captain and Maria. An interesting church -- they LOVE their churches over here -- and the first time I'd ever seen a mummified bishop in a glass case. Pretty weird and quirky, just like the whole day was.

And totally delightful.

Next stop -- INNSBRUCK! Enjoy the photos and the video!