Today, I nearly killed myself with what ended up being an 8 hour bike ride in the 95 degree heat. It didn’t help that the bike I had was one with the small hard seat (ouch, me bum) and a semi-stuck brake that caused me to push extra hard. It was a good workout though and allowed me to generate my own wind, while seeing all the sites in Salzburg that I needed to hit. My goal was to see Old Town and several of the filming locations for SofM. Aside from the above issues, the bike ride would have been wonderful. Everyone here is on bike, so there are a lot of great bike paths to get you though main parts of town which are in the middle of fields and tree lined (some say the same ones from the kids playing on trees scene, but not sure)! Very pretty. Nonnberg Abbey can also be seen from most places in town, as it is situated high on a hill. My first official stop was Hellbrunn Palace which is a ways out of town. This hunting castle was built in the early 17th century by a prince. The facade of the house was used in some scenes as the Von Trapp family home! They also have reconstructed the galls pavilion from the 16 going on 17 scene here, albiet, in a far less charming location : ( But I still got to see it!!
Next up, was Nonnberg Abbey. After biking to the bottom of the hill, i locked up my bike, and hiked up to the top of the hill it is situated on. The Abbey is within the walls of the Hohensalzburg Fortress, so a bit hard to get a good look at. They also have most of it blocked off to the public as it is still a functioning convent, the oldest in the German-speaking part of Europe. As we all know, Maria was a novice here and the Baron and Maria were married here in 1927. I couldn’t see many of the locations where famous scenes were filmed, but they did let you in the church (the real one, the movie used a different one), the beautiful outdoor cemetery (which as in other cemeteries in Austria have beautiful flowers planted on top of them).
Leopoldskron Palace was my next destination. The exterior of this palace was also used as the Von Trapp family home. You may recognize it, and it’s lake gate, from the scene where the children startle their father arriving by boat, dressed in curtains : ) This is the lake used for those scenes, including when the children fell in the water. It is not viewable to the public, but the ballroom from the movie was copied from the Venetian room in this palace.
I saved the best for last. Mirabell Gardens, which are beautiful, was where the Do-Re-Mi scene was filmed. You may recognize the top of the gate, the stairs they hopped up and down, the pegesus fountain they skipped around, and the vine covered tunnel they ran through. How cool! It all looked very much the same. The rest of the gardens were also amazing and I think some of the other statues were in the film, with the children climbing on them.
Considering I managed to live, it was a wonderful day I will not soon forget. I certainly thought of my childhood a lot when Stacey and I would sing and perform the songs from this movie, which is still my very favorite. I look forward to watching the movie again when I get home!!
you look so pretty and relaxed lisa
I was gonna say, you’ll definitely have to watch it again when you get home! In stunning 1080p, no less!