The Aussie in Austria

So the Sound of Music tour was amazing. They took us everywhere they filmed scenes from the movie. You name it, the gazebo, the house, the trees the kids climbed, the church where Maria was married, the Abbey, the gardens where they learn to sing Do Ri Me, we were there! There was also singing on the bus and lots of picture taking...again, don't judge me.

There was a lot of trivia about the movie too. The end, when they climb the mountain to escape. That isn't Gretel that the Captain is carrying on his back, it's a double. During filming she didn't like the food so they feed her bananas and cake and she got a bit chunky. The Captain told the director, "I'm not carrying that fat kid!" So funny.

They also took us to the lake district outside of Salzburg, which was beautiful. Castles every where and shockinly blue water.

One the tour Katie and I met an awesome girl from Australia who was staying in our hostel. The three of us really hit it off and we ended up spending the rest of the day and evening hanging out together. We, post-Sound of Music, climbed up to this huge fortress on a hill in Salzburg. It was a wonderful view of the city. We then wandered around the city, saw the house where Motzart was born and then bought groceries for a picnic.

We ate our lunch on the bank of the river that runs through the city. Then we walked for awhile and found the Augustiner Brewery, which is this awesome beer garden run by monks. You get your own mug, wash it off so it is cold and then they pull your beer directly from a giant barrel. It was so cool.

Our new friend Jen added a great dynamic to the conversations and it was a very cool night. She's a lawyer and knew a lot about American and world politics and had so much fascinating info about Australia too. She's also a big reader so she had gerat suggestions. It's really amazing how simple things like the weather or who you are with can really color your whole view of a city you visit. We would have loved Salzburg no matter what, but the fact that the weather was brilliant and we spent the whole day with a great new friend definitely affected how I will remember the city.

Later we walked back over the bridge to our hostel and saw Salzburg at night. It was pretty incredible. All of the castles and churches were lit up and the city was dark. We grabbed a late dinner at a restaurant and then headed back to the hostel. (luckily our new Australian friend Jen was a great navigator).

Salzburg was wonderful. It was a city small enough to walk, but so rich with history. It had great beer, fun people and, of course, the Sound of Music!

ps

I've been trying to upload photos, but most of the hostel computers have the actual modems locked in metal boxes so you can't get to the USB plug ins. I'll keep trying though!