Climb Every Mountain

"Climb every mountain, ford every stream, Follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream!"

Well, I finally did it. I went on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, Austria. While you were back home celebrating PRIDE, I was following "every RAINBOW"and boy was it fun. I did the tour but I also found some places on my own and of course we sang along the way on the bus.

"I Have Confidence"

The scene when Maria sings and ends up at the gate of the von Trapp residence was filmed on this path. It leads to neither of the houses used in Salzburg as exterior shots of the house. Remember she has her suitcase and guitar? You remember...

Next we saw the gazebo for "16 going on 17" and "Something Good".  This is the one from the exterior shot of the house on the lake.  The scenes were actually shot in Hollywood and a much bigger replica was used.  This has now been moved to a public museum/palace in Salzburg for all to enjoy at the original house is now a hotel.

On our way to the third stop we went past the exterior house that was used for Maria to ring the doorbell at the end of "I Have Confidence" and when they were rolling the car out at the end of the movie.  I didn't get to take a picture.  Then we got to the exterior house used for the scene when the kids fall into the water and when they are on the terrace having drinks and I believe also when Maria returns to them.

We got to see the Abby from afar but I didn't get a good shot.  They only part of the movie that was actually shot here and not on a soundstage in Hollywood is when the kids come to the gate.  The picture isn't worth posting.

Finally on the tour is the church where the Captain and Maria get married.  You never see the outside in the movie but it is set in a huge tourist destination of sorts.  The inside is beautiful.

We also saw a lake that appears in the opening sequence.  It has two boats on it I believe before Julie Andrews begins to sing, "The Hills are alive..."

That was the tour, then I added a few things that I found on my own.

Remember in "Do-Re-Mi" they are by a fountain?  I was walking through the Mirabell Gardens on my first day and was like, "Oh, this is the fountain." 

Also in "Do-Re-Mi" or is it "My Favorite Things" when they are riding bikes?  This is the bridge they go over.

I think my favorite find is from the scene at the end when they are escaping and Ralph finds them in the cemetery.  This is at St. Peter's church which was right by my hotel.

 
The filmed in May and June and apparently it rains a lot.  I had 3 days of sun, which is rare.  When I was on the salt mines tour, our guide pointed out where Maria actually sang the opening scene.  This was the final scene shot before returning to Hollywood to complete all the inside shots.  They were in Salzburg for 11 weeks and it was supposed to be a 6 week shoot, due to weather.  In the photo you can see a little green patch in the middle of darker trees.  This is actually in Germany, not Austria, for this scene.

Did you know that the real Family von Trapp didn't escape by climbing over the mountain?  They actually hopped a train to Italy to escape and the oldest child was a boy, not a girl and he was more like 27 than 17.

I didn't "Solve a problem like Maria" but I did "Climb every mountain' on my Sound of Music tour.  It was fabulous!