salzburg // the hills are alive
well the time has finally come for me to share my favorite day of the entire trip...the sound of music tour! knowing we were going to be in austria, i could not leave the country without visiting the location of one of my favorite movies. so after our night at the ballet (and visiting one more museum for my mom in the morning), we hopped back in the car and drove the three and a half hours to salzburg listening to the sound of music the entire way. it was dark upon our arrival but we knew we were in for so much fun when we checked into the hotel sacher. even through the minimal lights, the view from our room was stunning! after ordering room service, we immediately went to bed because we had an early wakeup call.
at 8:45 on the dot, we were picked up by wolfgang: our driver and tourguide for the day! we found him with the help of american express and everything was already planned for us....it was a welcomed relief to give up the title of trip planner for the day! as soon as we hopped in the car, the sound of music soundtrack was playing and i knew we were in for the best day ever. the first stop was schloss leopoldskron (shown above and try to say that three times fast) which was one of two exterior shots used for the von trapp house in the movie. after eating breakfast here, we walked around the grounds and i, of course, pretended like i was a von trapp myself. one of my favorite scenes from this location was maria and all of the children falling into the lake...though i definitely thought about it, i was not about to "accidentally fall into the lake." we then hopped back in the car and headed to the mirabell palace and gardens where the majority of do re mi was filmed. it just made me want to run around and dance...so i did obviously!
i didn't even care about all of the crazy looks i was getting because let's be honest, i was having way too much fun! we then headed to the abbey where maria tried to be a nun (in the movie and in real life) and after climbing up 500 stairs to get there, we were able to take a peak inside the chapel.
most of the abbey, though, is blocked off simply because of those pesky tourists that kept bothering the real life nuns. they have to ruin it for everyone don't they! but we then headed to the gazebo where liesl sang sixteen going on seventeen and i literally fainted with excitement. but yet again, the doors were locked because some american tourist broke her leg while dancing around and sued the city. pshhh. that didn't stop me though from recreating the scene as best as i could!
just down the street from the gazebo was the second exterior shot used for the von trapp house. this is also the walk maria took when she first arrived singing i have confidence! oh and yes, there was another sing-a-long here too as i strutted down the same path. don't worry though, at this point i think my weirdness and craziness was starting to rub off on our tour guide wolfgang and he started to join in!
and the tour could not be complete without singing the hills are alive atop the mountain. although the real location where maria sang the opening scene would have been an all-day hike in itself (and i did not bring the proper shoes), i settled for the location of the picnic from the beginning of do re mi and my life was then complete. just as a warning though, you will get very dizzy if you spin too quickly haha! by this point my mom and i were nearly running out of energy but we had one last stop before the tour was complete: the church where the captain and maria got married. in real life, the von trapps got married in the church of the abbey (above) but in the movie this church looked better for hollywood.
this tour was seriously one of the highlights of my year and i would do it all over again and again in a heartbeat! thank you so much to panorama tours for a truly unforgettable day!
didn't catch all of the live action on my instastory or maybe you just really want to watch it again? don't worry, below you can rewatch the fan favorite instastory! and now for your viewing pleasure:
cloak: lindsey thornburg (also love this one here)
top: kate spade
jeans: dl1961 (also love these)
shoes: tory burch
sunglasses: gucci
