Salzburg

Salzburg was on the agenda for this particular day.  We had to catch a 5:30 am train out of Vienna to get to Salzburg in time for our "Sound of Music" bike tour.  That was fun....  We ended up getting to the train station and could not find the train we were supposed to take.  Of course, there was no one there to ask..typical.  So, we hopped on the more expensive train that we knew was headed to Salzburg...at least we were gonna get there in time!

I loved Salzburg!  A sweet city with lots to see and do...we had a great day.  It was cloudy but didn't rain!

So, first up was the bike tour where we got to bike around to different scenes from the movie.  This was probably the first time I had been on a bike since I was 12!  Before we left we all had to introduce ourselves and say when the first time was that we saw the movie.  I had to admit, shockingly, that I had not ever seen the movie! And still haven't...eek!  Well, I wasn't the only one.  There was a husband that had been dragged on the tour as well.  Not that I was dragged (right, Windy?), I was a very willing participant.  :)

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The Horse Pond where Maria and the children come skipping and singing on one of there adventures.

The group pretending to skip down the stairs...our guide made us pretend we were in the movie a lot.  I tried to escape the "scenes" a few times.

Salzburg Cathedral

St Peter's cemetery where some catacombs date back to 215 AD.  The most rich and prestigious were buried here.  It was used as a reference for the cemetery set in the movie.  It's the oldest cemetery in Austria.

The cemetery is behind the oldest church in the city.

These pretzels were amazing!  We just had a small one, but it was so yummy.  She was nice to take a pic for us!

The Nonnberg Abbey...This was the real setting for the abbey used in the movie where Maria thought she would be a nun forever.  It was built by the patron saint of Salzburg, St Rupert, in 714!  It's the oldest convent in the world.

These are very old paintings on the wall inside the abbey.  The only way to see them is to put a coin in a machine that turns a light on for a few minutes.  

Windy and I "stuck" behind the gates.

Salzburg Fortress

The grounds where Maria danced and sang her famous song "The hills are alive..."  Our guide said it was difficult doing this scene because they used a helicopter to record the scene from above Julie Andrews.  The wind was so strong that it kept knocking her down to the ground.  I thought we'd be on top of some mountain for this scene....movies I guess :)

Leopoldskron Palace and Lake.  Many scenes were filmed here and this is the lake that they all fell in....so we all had to recreate that, below....

Frohnburg Palace...where the von Trapps reunite after their honeymoon

The famous Gazebo.  It was originally built next to Palace Leopoldskron but had to be moved after several avid fans attempted to break into the grounds to recreate their favorite scene.  The gazebo used to be open but now is closed after someone got hurt again, recreating the scene.  People definitely love this movie....need to watch it

And then our tour ended at the beautiful Mirabell Gardens.  Where Maria and the children come skipping through....Do Re Mi

Our fun group!  We all chatted a long the way and had a good time!

Our guide Claudio photobombing!  He was great and full of info!

The bike tour was so fun!  So glad we did it Windy!!!

Our bike tour was over and after a great lunch, we started our walk around Salzburg.  Again, sweet little city that was nice just to stroll through....and shop a little, of course!

They are starting the lock bridge craze here too

The shopping streets were so pretty.  Even the McDonalds was fancy.  This is the birthplace of Mozart, so there were violins everywhere!

We rode the funicular up to the fortress for some great views

We had a terrific time in Austria!  Nice people (an older lady even asked if we needed help while we were looking at  map....doesn't happen in Belgium!) and great food!  Thanks for talking me into this one Windy!

And Daddy took the kids to eat Japanese while mom was gone....They love that place!