The hills are alive.....

Salzburg is renowned as the city of Mozart's birth and is also host to a famous five week music and drama summer festival. If you're a fan of The Sound of Music, you will also recognize beautiful scenery that was used to film the movie.   Our November 2012 weekend to Austria included a one day trip from Vienna to Salzburg.   We left Vienna by train early on Monday morning and two and a half  hours later we were in Salzburg.   We had decided to take a bus tour of the city which included  an audio tour of the history of Salzburg as well as sights (and a sing a long!)  that were used in The Sound of Music movie.  The great thing about the bus tour was that you could tune your earphones to either the history of Salzburg or the Sound of Music sights.  I decided to listen to the history of Salzburg tour since I certainly had the Sound of Music songs memorized years ago.  I was happy with my choice until we arrived at the first place where the Sound of Music movie was filmed.  

Schloss Leopoldskron~  the Sound of Music rowboat scene

This was the house and lake that was used for the rowboat scene where all of the children fell into the water.    I quickly switched to the Sound of Music audio tour  and sang along for the rest of the tour.  So much for my history tour of Salzburg.  

Do a deer, a female deer...  Steps where Maria taught
 the children Do, Re, Mi.

The gazebo from the Sound of Music

 Between our Sound of Music/History of Salzburg bus tour,  Christmas markets, Hohensalzburg Castle, Mozart's birthplace, beautiful cathedrals and walking around the city, the day went quickly. 

Salzburg's Advent markets were just as spectacular as the Vienna markets. 

Pretzel from the Advent Market in Salzburg

I remember when the Angel Choir sang "Kling Glockchen"  for our Christmas Concert. It was one of our favorites!

Nutcrackers of all shapes and sizes

Mirabell Gardens

 I'm sure when the summer flowers are in bloom, Mirabell Gardens are beautiful.  You can see Hohensalzburg Castle in the distance. Hohensalzburg Castle is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe.  Construction began in 1077 and it was enlarged and renovated up until the 17th century.

Riding the funicular to the top of Hohensalzburg Castle

The view from the top of Hohensalzburg Castle

After we toured the castle area, we went back down to the city center to the Salzburg Cathedral.  




  Salzburg Cathedral is a 17th century Baroque cathedral and it still has the font where Mozart was baptized.  

Main organ in the Cathedral  

I loved the horses and carriages!

Statue of Mozart in the city center

Mozart was born in the old town of Salzburg and you can tour the house and see portraits of the family and instruments that were played by Mozart.

Old town Salzburg

Our day ended with a long walking tour around the old town and then a walk back to the train station to catch our train to Vienna.

A pretzel is a great treat for a 3 hour train ride.  Especially the pretzels from the Christmas markets in Salzburg.

Our quick, one day trip was a whirlwind tour of Salzburg and we didn't begin to see it all, but it was a glimpse into Salzburg's rich musical heritage and history.