Day 29- Sound of Music Tour and Castle

Today as you can see by the title we did the Sound of Music tour. So for those SOM junkies, see if you can recognise any of the photos. The bus tour lead by our hostess Naomi (dressed in traditional Austrian costume) took us to different sites where some of the movie was filmed. Unfortunately a lot of the movie was filmed in America- Universal Studios. But the places where some scenes were filmed were still great to see. The bus took us through parts of Salzburg and then in one outer town, with beautiful views of one of the 69 lakes here in Austria- the photos don't really give it justice. Of course no SOM tour is without music on board, although the bus was a little quiet with the sing-along. Maybe everyone needed a few Stiegel beers each to get them started. The von Sakovits Family did their bit and really enjoyed the sing-along (without the beer). Once in the small town, where the church is where Maria and the Captain got married, we sat down for hot chocolate and apple strudel. The weather wasn't being very kind to us today....rain, rain and more rain. So our tour seemed more like "Singing in the Rain" rather than the Sound of Music!!! Still we all enjoyed it and loved hearing the music, while driving in beautiful Salzburg.  

Later on in the day, after getting dry and having a bit of a rest, we walked to St.Peter's Monastery. It was in this graveyard where the von Trapp Family attempted to hide themselves  from the German soldiers as they were trying to flee Salzburg. We also passed Nonnberg Abbey where the nuns lived and still do. The gates in this picture is where the children plead to the nuns to see Maria. We then took a short stroll to the cable railway that takes you up to Hohensazburg Fortress. This is the castle in the photo. 

This is central Europe's largest, completely preserved fortress dating from the 11th Century. Here we looked through the museum, the torture chamber and the World of Marionettes. Once back down the mountain, we wandered through the streets and came across another landmark from the sound of music. t was here in the Residence Square that Maria walked by the 17th century fountain singing "I have confidence," on her way to the Captain's house.She splashed some water from the fountain. The residence in the aboveground was also used as the palace where the Nazi flag was displayed as the soldiers marched across the square towards the end of the film.
We had such an exciting day and finished it off with an Italian meal of pasta and pizza.