May 24: Sound of Music Tour

Today was the day all the Sound of Music fans were waiting for. Today was the Sound of Music tour around the town of Salzburg and the surrounding towns. The day got off slightly rocky because our tour guide was late. But only by about half an hour or so. Well he got there eventually and we were off. Our first stop was the manor that the sound of music was filmed at. We were only able to look across the lake at the house, because the house is now a 5 star hotel. On a lot of my study abroad experiences, it seems like the wealthy are more and more pushing culturally significant places out of everyone’s reach. Like gorilla trekking in Rwanda, where everyone at the main camp, over 100 people, were white Westerners. I just get bothered by this kind of stuff. 

But I’ll save trashing the 1% for another day. After the manor we drove to a palace/garden that Austrian Royalty used to use. Here is where the Gazebo used in the movie is currently housed. It’s here because it brings all the rowdy tourists out of the way of locals. Which I don’t blame the locals for because at this garden Peyton broke his rib trying to climb up a tree next to the gazebo for a picture. (He’s fine, I think)

After the palace, we took our bus for quite a ride. We went into Germany to get a glimpse of the field where the intro to the movie was filmed. Sadly, we didn’t get to get off the bus and twirl in the field. But something that I did get to see which was much more up my alley: The Eagle’s Nest. This was Hitler’s command center, located in he mountains of Bavaria. We didn’t get close, but we could see it sticking up one of the nearby mountains. After this little excursion we took our bus to Mondsee to see the church where they got married at the end of the Sound of Music. The town was very small and cute, with colorful buildings and small shops. The church we went into was very impressive, as I feel most European Catholic churches are.  The we’re selling holy water out of jäger bottles, which I though was very questionable. At the church I bought a cross for my grandmother and then we walked down to a small coffee shop in the center of town. Our guide told us we had to get apple strudel and ice cream, so that’s exactly what I did. The ice cream and straddle was very good, and I’m glad I got to eat it at least once while I was in Austria, because when in Rome... 

After the café, we took our bus back to Salzburg for our last hours there. It was a nice change of pace. Instead of running around trying to fit stuff in we just walked along the streets of Salzburg and shopped. We all got some new clothes so we could fit in with the Europeans and their fashion conscious style. After shopping we got a fancy Japanese style dinner because I had been craving Japanese ever since we touched down in Vienna. I got some peppered beef noodles and they were delicious. The city of Salzburg is really a gem in the mountains. It’s so beautiful, but different than the beauty of Vienna. 

After dinner, we all met at the city center to board our handy Dr. Richards bus to take us to Dorfgastein. I didn’t get much information about this city before this, and I had no idea what to expect there. When we arrived, we were greeted by beautiful mountains and cozy homes. Dorfgastein is probably the smallest city we’ve been to since we got here. It’s honestly a true small town. But the first interaction I had here was with the cashier at the Spar. She was really rude to Kirsten and I but that was only one person. I’m not going to let it color my impression of this whole town.