The second place my family and I traveled while on my midterm break was Salzburg, Austria. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the city, it was the city where one of the most famous movies ever was filmed – The Sound of Music!
I have vivid memories from when I was younger of my family watching this movie or singing to the soundtrack (because, yes, we had that, too) and all of us having this internal unspoken knowledge that we’d have to visit the magical city where it was filmed before we died.
Now we can die happy!
Once our adventures in Dublin ended on Sunday, we arrived into Salzburg late Monday afternoon after a plane, train, and taxi ride. My parents found the greatest hotel right in the middle of Old Town and it was old.
We explored the city for the rest of the day, and then after a much-needed good night’s sleep, the big morning of The Sound of Music tour was upon us! We boarded the bus with high expectations and our singing voices ready.
Here’s a list of the stops we made:
- Filming location of the balcony scenes and lake where Maria and the kid’s capsize their canoe.
Do you recognize that back balcony?? 
Here is that beautiful lake where the kids and Julie Andrews capsized their canoe! 
The cameras to film this were right on the balcony of this palace. Pretty cool! - Hellbrunn Palace Park. This was the filming location of “I Have Confidence” and is where the famous gazebo from “16 Going on 17” stays.
This is where Maria sings “I Have Confidence!” 
The famous Gazebo! 
See the yellow walls? Same ones! 
Beautiful, right?? - Alps Mountain Range – Wofgangsee. This is where most of the aerial views for the beginning film sequence take place. Absolutely gorgeous views.
- Mondsee, Austria. This is where the church that Maria gets married to the Captain in is located. Also, remember that scene where the kids are hanging from the trees when the Captain comes back from his trip? That happened here as well!
Can you see it?! This is where Maria married the Captain! 
You can see the similarities between my photo and this one! Pretty much the same and seriously gorgeous. 
I can see the kids hanging from the branches now! The trees are a bit bigger than 50 years ago (I would know, I tried to climb them). 
So on the right hand side of my picture there was a dirt path, that’s where the scene of children hanging from the trees was taken! - Mirabelle Gardens. This is where the famous Do-Re-Mi scene takes place! It was like we were right there with Julie Andrews hitting that high note.
This is where the DoReMi takes place! 
Mirabelle Gardens are absolutely stunning. I was sad I didn’t get to see them in the summer! 
The rest of our time in Austria was amazing as well, as we explored the city more and tried “Schnitzel with Noodles” (as Maria declares one of her favorites in “Favorite Things). It was a fairytale and one of my favorite adventures to date.
Next up: Northern Ireland
Until next time, readers!