The Hills are Alive in Salzburg, Austria
by Esther K. Choy
We climbed one of the bridges over the Salzach River and were treated to a panoramic view of the entire countryside. One afternoon we walked up the hills to a castle for the Mozart concert and encountered a group of Polish teenagers singing old church hymns under a tunnel. Their crisp and faithful voices rang throughout the castle and transported us back to a church service in the medieval era.
During our visit the weather was surprisingly cool with afternoon showers and a few thunderstorms. Because of the nature of this great city, that did not put a damper on our vacation. Instead, we found ourselves running through the rain to museums and coffee houses simply enjoying each other’s company. The rain actually enhanced our vacation and left behind an array of low-hanging clouds and rainbows cresting the hills around us.
Finally, on a sunny afternoon, we embark on “The Sound of Music” tour. Having grown up with the film, it’s been my lifelong dream to see the settings of the movie firsthand. We leave on a Wednesday afternoon from the city and head south to Leopoldskron Castle, a rococo building built by Archbishop Leopold Count Firmian in 1731. It was used as the founding location for the very first Salzburg Festival in 1918. Almost forty-five years later, film director Robert Weiss used the castle as the backdrop of the von Trapp family house. To this day, the lake in front of the castle is still as peaceful as it seemed when the von Trapp family drank pink lemonade together on the veranda.
Yes, it’s just as beautiful as it looks in the movie.
The gazebo, where the scenes “Sixteen going on Seventeen” and “Something Good” were filmed, was not originally a part of the castle. The film studio built it and left it behind as a gift for the city. Over the years, too many trespassers climbed over fences of the neighboring houses to dance their versions of these songs on the gazebo. Eventually, the gazebo was moved to nearby Hellbrunn Palace.
The bus takes us to Mount Scharfberg, which was the backdrop of the “Do Re Mi” scene. The tour choreographs the movie soundtrack perfectly between the stops. The last stop was the Mondsee Cathedral, where the wedding of Captain von Trapp and Maria was filmed. Yes, it’s just as beautiful as it looks in the movie.
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