“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.” - Albert Einstein
Salzburg, Austria
While my parents were visiting me in Germany, we decided to depart from Munich and take the two hour train ride to Salzburg. Salzburg is famous because it played a large role as the scenery for The Sound of Music. The trains in Germany are so well organized and convenient that taking day trips like this is very simple!
Salzburg is an internationally renowned city center's because it is so well preserved.
It is famous for its scenic backdrop of the Alps. It is even more famous because it is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the 18th century. Salzburg sits on the northern rim of the Alps, so it rains equally as much as it is sunny. Salzburg is an extremely old city- dating back to the Roman Empire. The name 'Salzburg' literally means "Salt Castle" and it gets its name because of the many barges carrying salt on the Salzach River. A lot of the buildings in Salzburg actually had to be built into the mountain, to prevent collapse.
Unfortunately, only a few scenes in The Sound of Music were really filmed in Salzburg. Many of the buildings were recreated sets in Hollywood, based off of places in Salzburg. The scene in the gazebo where they sing "I am Sixteen" really was filmed here, but they had to take down the gazebo because so many tourists would break into the garden at all hours of the day and sing the song. I thought that was pretty funny.
The picture to the left was used in the movie, but they don't tell you which scene. Still, it's cool!
We really had no idea we were going to Austria when we came here. I know that sounds ignorant, but the weather channel said "Salzburg, Germany". The weather was absolutely beautiful and we could not believe it when our tour guide told us it rains for half of the year. There were very fancy tours specifically for the Sound of Music, but we did not have enough time to do that. We took a small bus tour around the city and got to see many cool buildings, but the tour guide did not know much about the Sound of Music. Fun Fact: most Austrians have not seen the movie. The Austrians won't watch it because there is no real Austrian music in the movie and they don't ever drink beer in the movie. I asked my German friends about this and they had also never seen the movie.
There is also a big U of I program in Vienna, Austria. The pictures look just as beautiful. While I was in Florence, I actually ran into people who were studying there. The study abroad coordinator for their university has a son studying abroad in Champaign and is good friends with my brother- small world!
This may be the most beautiful place I have visited so far. Since the weather was so nice, my parents and I were able to sit outside in a courtyard and eat lunch. It really felt like a movie. We were in a courtyard in 60 degree weather, eating lasagna with the mountains as a backdrop. I want to live like that every day!
It is famous for its scenic backdrop of the Alps. It is even more famous because it is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the 18th century. Salzburg sits on the northern rim of the Alps, so it rains equally as much as it is sunny. Salzburg is an extremely old city- dating back to the Roman Empire. The name 'Salzburg' literally means "Salt Castle" and it gets its name because of the many barges carrying salt on the Salzach River. A lot of the buildings in Salzburg actually had to be built into the mountain, to prevent collapse.
Unfortunately, only a few scenes in The Sound of Music were really filmed in Salzburg. Many of the buildings were recreated sets in Hollywood, based off of places in Salzburg. The scene in the gazebo where they sing "I am Sixteen" really was filmed here, but they had to take down the gazebo because so many tourists would break into the garden at all hours of the day and sing the song. I thought that was pretty funny.
The picture to the left was used in the movie, but they don't tell you which scene. Still, it's cool!
We really had no idea we were going to Austria when we came here. I know that sounds ignorant, but the weather channel said "Salzburg, Germany". The weather was absolutely beautiful and we could not believe it when our tour guide told us it rains for half of the year. There were very fancy tours specifically for the Sound of Music, but we did not have enough time to do that. We took a small bus tour around the city and got to see many cool buildings, but the tour guide did not know much about the Sound of Music. Fun Fact: most Austrians have not seen the movie. The Austrians won't watch it because there is no real Austrian music in the movie and they don't ever drink beer in the movie. I asked my German friends about this and they had also never seen the movie.
There is also a big U of I program in Vienna, Austria. The pictures look just as beautiful. While I was in Florence, I actually ran into people who were studying there. The study abroad coordinator for their university has a son studying abroad in Champaign and is good friends with my brother- small world!
This may be the most beautiful place I have visited so far. Since the weather was so nice, my parents and I were able to sit outside in a courtyard and eat lunch. It really felt like a movie. We were in a courtyard in 60 degree weather, eating lasagna with the mountains as a backdrop. I want to live like that every day!