The Hills Are Alive....

With the Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg :)

Oh yes...We did ride in this bus!

The old classic and family favorite "Sound of Music" was filmed in Salzburg and the surrounding Lakes District. The original story was written by Maria Von Trapp and was based on real events from her life. So...let's see...where to start.

Maria begins the movie singing "The Hills Are Alive" on the Hundsberger Mountain. That would be the large, snow-covered peak you see in the background. It's approximately 30 km outside of Salzburg.

Then she runs down to the abby, which is in the heart of Salzburg. It's the tan building in the background with the red onion-shaped tower. Amazingly, Maria makes this run in just a few minutes...she is FAST!

We have an interesting piece of information about Captain Von Trapp's house in the movie. It's actually 2 different houses. The front is filmed as the large estate hiding behind this row of trees. Remember when Maria is singing the "I Have Confidence" song and then comes up to the Von Trapp estate & is overwhelmed by the size of it? If you click on the pic, you'll see the large yellow house. (On a side note...these are the trees the children were playing in when their father returned to their house with the Dutchess.)

The back of the Von Trapp house in the movie was this white house sitting on a lovely lake. How come I never noticed the front of the house was yellow and the back was white?

Let's see...what happens next...Oh yes. "I am 16 Going on 17." Maria becomes the governess and the children don't take very kindly to her at first. Liezel, though, decides Maria isn't so bad after she helps cover up her escapades with Ralph in this gazebo. Actually...this is the gazebo they used to film from the outside, but the scene where she's jumping from bench to bench inside was filmed on a Hollywood set.

So, before long, the children decide they love Maria and they  go out exploring Salzburg and learning how to sing. They run through town and into Mirabell Park where they pose at these statues. 

They play around this fountain. 

And run through this tunnel. 

Cisco and I got into the spirit...Yes we know how nerdy we are :) But check out those hops!

Then they walked up these stairs singing the "Do-Re-Me" song. 

Next it's off to the Lakes District where Maria and Captain Von Trapp got married. This is one of the lovely towns we passed on our way to the site. Pretty spectacular, huh?

And here is Mondsee, at the church where the wedding took place.

Remember when Maria was walking down the aisle? That was so dreamy.

So the happy Von Trapp family decide they wanted to leave Austria to flee the Nazis. But first, they need to attend a singing competition. Now...this isn't the actual theater...but it lreminded me of it :) And we actually couldn't get into the real theater.

The Von Trapp's win first prize in the competition, which gives them the time they need to escape. They go to the "abby" to hide for a short time. But actually, where they are is this cemetery. Remember when Ralph sees Liezel and you think he's going to do the right thing and let her go, but his Nazi training takes over and he blows his whistle on the Von Trapps? Yeah...that was a good part. 

Well...they are able to outrun the Nazis thanks to some of the sisters at the abby who remove some car parts from the Nazi automobiles...phew! Then they head into the mountains for a long walk to cross into Switzerland. 

They make it...and live happily ever after I'm pretty sure :)

So - here is the main discrepancy between the real story and the movie.

The Von Trapp family did not actually hike into Switzerland to escape the Nazis. They packed up what they could into camping bags (as they often went camping) and pretended they were going for a weekend camping trip. They got on a train to Italy and that's how they really left Austria. From there they made their way to America and made what money they could with their singing act. They ended up being very popular (after many years) and had enough money to buy a large property. It's still around today - called "The Von Trapp's Hunger Mountain Inn." It's a bed and breakfast in Vermont & is apparently lovely :)