Austria! Salzburg!

We finally made it to Austria and, before heading to Vienna, spent a couple days in Salzburg.  Salzburg is a beautiful town on the edge of the Alps and the Salzach River flows right through town.  Salz is the German word for "salt", and Salzburg was settled because of the salt mines near it.  

Of course, one of Salzburg's more modern claims to fame is its association with the von Trapp family and hence, The Sound of Music.  The actual von Trapp family fled Salzburg during WW2 and much of the 1965 movie was filmed here.  Being a pretty huge fan of the movie, I was excited that we were able to go on a Sound of Music tour.

Here are some of the movie locations we visited:

--Schloss Leopoldskron, used as the back of the von Trapp mansion in the film.  Also where they filmed the scene where the children fall into the lake.  The front of the mansion was filmed at a different location.  Trivia fact: the front of the house was a different color than the back of the house.

--The famous gazebo.  This has changed locations throughout the years, mainly because so many tourists flock to it.  Unfortunately, you cannot go in the gazebo. Too many people would try to reenact the "16 Going on 17" dance scene, and some were injured.

--Wolfgangsee.  We took a beautiful drive through the countryside to get to this lake.  This was shown in one of the opening shots over the Alps.  Scott and I mostly enjoyed the opportunity to get back into the Alps.  We even got to have a pastry stop at a hut, just like old times.

--St. Michael's in Mondsee.  This is where they filmed Maria's wedding scene.  A beautiful church, although not quite as big as they make it seem in the movie.

Scott and I happened to come across a hockey schedule while in Salzburg, and since they happened to be playing the night we were there, we decided to check it out.   It was pretty fun, similar to the WHL games we go to in Seattle.  Go Red Bulls! (oh yeah, the founder of Red Bull is from Austria)

After Salzburg, we headed east on the train to Vienna!