Salzburg to Vienna

As I said in the previous blog, we were staying in the Villa Von Trapp, the original homestead of the Von Trapp family of the Sound of Music fame.  I took some photos in the morning as it was getting dark when we arrived the night before.  Hanging in the entranceway was a family portrait of all the children...

This was the front of the house.  We were up on the 3rd floor in that attic window above the front door (I think!).

This is the back of the villa.  On the far left is the dining room where we had breakfast.

It was a frosty morning as you can see on the grass.  This is the view of the mountain from the lawn.  The sun was just coming up.

Rabbits were on the lawn - I have no idea if they were wild, or whether they were pets.  They didn't really let me near them, had to use my 300mm lens.

Using the same lens the view from the dining window...

We checked out then headed to the meeting point for the Sound of Music Tour - a bus trip that Anne had booked for us a few weeks prior when we were planning the trip.  On the side of bus was a painting of the characters of the movie.  The tour operator pointed out that Julie Andrew doesn't look like she's singing here, but looks like she's about to sneeze!!

It was a beautiful morning.  Gorgeous autumn colours everywhere, and I took some grab shots out of the bus window by holding the lens onto the glass.  Not a bad shot really considering the bus was moving at the time. This is the Hohensalzburg Fortress which atop the Festungsberg mountain, and one of the largest medieval castles in Europe.  Construction began in 1077 and expanding in following centuries.  We didn't get to go up in the end as we ran out of time.  A reason to revisit Salzburg in the future!

Our first stop was the Schloss Leopoldskron (Leopold's Crown Palace)  The palace was used as the inspiration for the terrace scenes at the rear of the Captain's villa overlooking the lake, where Maria and the children stood up in their boat and fell into the water.  These first two images are of the lake itself, and as I said before it was a stunning morning...

 And this is the back of the palace itself.  We really couldn't have had a better morning.

Another grab shot from the bus as we were driving to show you how incredibly green and beautiful Austria is..

Our next stop on the tour was the Schloss Frohnburg (Frohnburg Palace).  This is the former summer residence of the Prince-Archbishop, dating back to 1680, and was used in the film as the Von Trapp residence.  (If you look at the Von Trapp Villa above - there's a slight resemblance!!)  The road leading to the palace below, was where Maria stepped off the bus singing 'I have Confidence' as she skipped her way through the gates and across the courtyard to ring the bell.  The actual Von Trapp Villa was not used for the film at all.

The glass gazebo used for the film where Rolf and Liesl sang 'Sixteen going on Seventeen", and Maria and the Captain sang 'Something Good" was constructed for use in the film.  It was left on site after the film was completed and later moved to the grounds of the Hellbrunn Palace.  (just on the other side of the image above).  It is now locked and not available to the public, because an 84 year old woman went in there one evening, decided to do the dance, fell and broke her hip.  The gazebo is now considered too dangerous for the public!

I couldn't resist taking a photo within the grounds of the palace of the lovely autumn trees and pathways...

Back on the bus.  It is now 10.30am and what a perfect time to be drinking Austrian beer, singing songs from the Sound of Music on our way to our next destination....

Lake Wolfgang, (Wolfgangsee) and the town of St Wolfgang east of Salzburg the location of the Schafberg sequence in the film...

Beautiful Autumn trees...

Schafberg (Sheep mountain) where one sequence in the film showed a little red cogwheel train climbing up the mountain with Maria and the children on board.

Another grabshot from the bus...

In the film there was also a bicycle ride when Maria and the children went sightseeing.  This is Mondsee in the Lake District east of the city.

Mondsee Church which is the church that was used filming the wedding scene of Maria and the Captain.  In real life, they actually got married in the Nonnberg Abbey, but it is closed to the public and so filming wasn't able to be done there, instead they used this church which is really lovely...

Inside..

Mondsee village - really pretty and colourful.

We stopped for 'lunch'.  Anne and I shared an Apple Strudel seeing we weren't able to have one the night before.  It was very yum!

 Village shops.

We had about half an hour to kill before the bus took off back to the city, so Anne and I walked down to the lake edge.

Then back to the city - and some more grab shots from the bus...

After the tour, we walked over to Mirabell Palace - and these are the famous steps used in the Do-Re-Mi scene of the movie.  Note the Fortress in the background.  Very hard to get a photo here as it was so busy.  Plus I saw the dumbest scene, a guy using his iPad as a camera!!  I couldn't believe it!

The Pegasus Fountain behind the palace, which is a symbol of Greek Mythology.  It was here Maria and children marched around the magnificent winged horse.

The Ivy covered archway - a long rose and ivy covered arbor on the south side of the Mirabell Gardens.  Maria and the children had fun dancing and running races while exploring the gardens while singing Do-Re-Mi.

The gardens were beautiful - lots of people just sitting and enjoying, and walking there on this perfect day.

 The Dwarf garden where the children patted the dwarf while singing Do-Re-Mi.

Me on the Do-Re-Mi steps...

We then picked up the car from the carpark and started driving to Vienna.  I was sorry to leave Salzburg - it was such a gorgeous place.  We stopped off at Melk at John and Beths (Brother and wife), recommendation.  It was getting cold and I was hungry, so we had a quick bite to eat from one of the cafe's there, and walked through the town...

Above the town is an amazing Abbey, which unfortunately we didn't have time to go and view it.  It is fairly old - founded in 1089. 

After a half hour whistle stop, we carried on to Vienna.  Traffic got heavier and heavier as we got closer!!  We stayed in Wombats hostel in Vienna which was excellent - very clean and quiet.  It was across the road from the market - so we walked across there and had Schnitzel for dinner.  Our appetites still weren't perfect,  and the serving was too much, (two pieces of Schnitzel), so once again plastic bags came to our rescue and we popped the meat into the bag, and popped it in the fridge over night.  After we ate, we wandered down the main circle seeing massive buildings which we recognised as Museums on our walking tour the next day!  We finished up in a Museum cafe with a hot chocolate and some torte before heading back to the hostel!  I can see I need more time in Austria!