Mon 27 March 6° Salzburg

Very fresh, crisp morning but sun shining brightly. Judith and Kent from next door, very chatty and friendly. After lunch mini van picked us up for Sound of Music Tour, dropped us off at huge 84 seater coach, which was full, 1 Australian, 3 Kiwis a skattering of English and the rest American.

First point of interest Mirabell Gardens, the do ra me song, from the distance, not allowed in anymore. Second stop Leopoldskron Palace and Lake, back garden view in film where they were filmed in the boat on the lake , they fell in when they saw the Captain. This scene was apparently  shot twice.

From here to Hellbrunn Palace where the gazebo was filmed for Ralf and Lisl  song 16 going on 17.

Tour continued to Nonnberg Abbey where the real Maria was a novice in 1920s and where she and captain Von Trapp were married in real life.

Then up into the mountains and Lake District where panoramic shots were filmed around lake Fuschl and Lake Wolfgang at the beginning of the film to highlight the beauty of the region to the world.

At this stage the sound of music soundtrack was being played on the coach so we could all sing along in the mountains as we drove.

The headquarters of Red Bull is up here, a glass domed building set in a lake  with a large sculpture of a red bull in the water.

Final stop was in the village of Mondsee,   this is where they filmed the wedding at St. Michael's church.

We had 3/4 hour here to walk around, went to cash machine as the campsite only took cash no card transactions. Bought an ice cream, quite icy, not creamy like we are used to. Pretty little village to wander around.

Back on the coach they played a dvd  of the making of the movie introduced by Julie Andrews and narrated by Lisl .  Very interesting story and as often happens  Hollywood took poetic licence and altered the story somewhat.

Warning, spoiler alert !

The ending for instance where they supposedly walked across the mountains to Switzerland and freedom, in reality they escaped by train to Italy then went to America and settled in Stowe, Vermont.   Their fame as singers grew and with many people visiting the ranch, they built accommodation and eventually their ranch grew into a unique family lodge resort.

A great day, perfect weather and ended with some of the 80 people singing Eidelweiss as tour came to an end.

Back at Bessie we had a cool beer in the last of the sun, but it soon cooled down.

We were at Camping Panorama 2km from Salzburg.