One of my favorite parts of our trip was our Sound of Music bike tour.
Because who doesn’t love the Sound of Music?  Maybe we are just nerdy but we love that movie.
We loved it so much growing up that we even performed the “so long, farewell” song for missionaries when they would come over to our house in England when my Dad was the mission president and we had to head to bed.  
I was somewhere between four and seven years old but I still remember that.
So in anticipation before we left on the trip my family and I snuggled in and watched the first half for family home evening (that sucker is long I tell you!  We couldn’t get in the whole thing).
I thought it was so funny how excited the kids were to watch it, particularly Lucy.  She was giddy in anticipation of all the parts she remembered despite the fact that it was a long time ago that we watched it so I guess it sure made an impact on her!
We arrived bright and early and got ready to tour Salzburg.

Our tour guide was awesome.  He was an American (named Tom if you ever want to find him and have the same awesome tour) who met his wife in Austria.  Totally not the type you would pick out to be a Sound of Music fan, yet he loves it so much he even had a “Sound of Music wedding.”  Still not sure quite what that means, but he knew a ton of cool stuff and was such a great guide.

Some intersting facts:

1) Most Austrians have never seen The Sound of Music so they can’t really relate to all the joyful tourists singing Sound of Music songs through their streets.

2)  The singing must have gotten a little annoying because apparently you’re not allowed to sing the songs in the city.  Ha!  (so we didn’t…he waited to blast the music from a little speaker until we reached the countryside)

3)  They filmed the movie not that long after the Nazis really were invading that beautiful land (it was filmed in 1965).  So when they came and hung Nazi German flags on the buildings as movie props it created quite a bit of unrest among the locals (with good reason).

I loved seeing all the stuff from the movie so much we watched the whole thing again for FHE when I got home.  Everyone was pretty excited to join me and found it pretty amusing that I kept taking pictures of the screen as I showed them the correlating pictures I had taken over there.

Here’s the horse fountain:

Remember this part?

We biked up the hill to the Nonnberg Abbey.

…which had an incredible view.

Here’s my picture of our television watching the movie:
This is the spot where the kids rang the bell to try to get Maria to come back:

(they have since removed the bell since so many tourists wanted to ring it:)

Our own Maria:


…and the real Maria.

They told us on the tour that they had to cut out part of the bar for filming one scene and accidentally didn’t weld it back in time for another scene.  I kind of thought that was an old wives tale until I paused it when we were watching and saw Tom was speaking the truth.  See that bar cut out in that picture above?  
Outside the Abbey was a perfect spot to read the morning paper.

This scene was close to where that last picture was taken.  See the fortress up on the hill behind?  
That’s the fortress I posted about yesterday.
They used two different houses to film the Von Trapp house in the movie.  One house was used when they filmed the front.  Another was used when they filmed the back.
Here’s the back:

A little better picture:

Here’s the pathway/road where all the kids were up in the trees:

It lines the street leading up to the house they used to film the front of the Von Trapp house in the movie.

Here’s Maria heel-clicking en route to meet the family:

…and here are my sisters doing their own rendition:

And here is the house:


…which has actually been turned into a Mozart conservatory now.

Julie was biking around trying to keep baby Dean asleep in the little carrier rolling behind her but she still made the pic ๐Ÿ™‚

Then here we are at Lucy’s favorite part of the movie (“Sixteen going on Seventeen”…she was so excited about that part that she had remembered so well from before).

This was gifted to Austria after the movie and has been moved a couple times since then.  Right now it’s right outside Hellbrunn (on yesterday’s post).  

We were obviously as excited as Lucy was about that little scene:)

Dean was also pretty excited about it in his little lederhosen we gave him.

The place where the family hid at the end of the movie was inspired by the grounds at this church:

And here is the fountain where the kids danced in part of “Do-Re-Mi.”

…and the gardens too:

We couldn’t go in this theater where they performed before they escaped, but here’s a pic. of how it looks:

Here they are there in the movie:

Ok, all that is grand and good, but let’s take a look at the prize-winning pic. of the day:

My mom is the best ever.

Now if you think I’m crazy for loving this so much, (and you’re laughing at me like Elle was that I was so excited to watch it again when I got home), go watch the movie and come back here.  

Because believe me, you will be pretty excited too.

That is one heck of a good movie!
Ok, so on to the very end of this grand MFME adventure in Munich over HERE.

Similar Posts

22 Comments

  1. Loved this! The Sound of Music is a family favorite of ours too–we often sing the songs on road trips (well my husband gets a little tired of it haha :). My niece lived in Austria for two years and would send us pictures of all these places so they felt so real to us. Glad you could experience it!!

  2. I've never been more jealous of someone! This looks so fun. I was obsessed with this movie as a little girl, watching it weekly. I still know every single word. I can't wait until my little girls get into it (I hope they do… every kid goes through a Sound of Music phase, right?). Taking a Sound of Music tour is definitely on my bucket list!

  3. I've loved many of your posts over the years but this one might be my new favorite ๐Ÿ™‚ One of my earliest childhood memories was seeing The Sound of Music in a theater and my family sat in the balcony (it was a re-release…I wasn't alive when it came out the first time.) I also used to own the movie on VHS…it was so long that it was on TWO tapes! ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. All the songs come flooding back into my head as I read this "Do Re Mi" and the song I sing almost daily reminding myself that "I have confidence in me" Such a beautiful movie and Salzburg is deliciously breathtaking! Thank you for sharing! ๐Ÿ˜€

  5. I saw SOM again recently and I'm impressed by how well it has aged. It was still relevant, still inspiring and still so beautiful! My kids loved it. It is a favorite. Your trip looks amazing. Thanks for sharing. ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. This is my all time favorite movie! Thanks for sharing the movie still shots and then your family pictures – that was really fun to see the similarity! I think I'll watch that movie again! I have it, of course!

  7. I love this! Three weeks ago I got to visit the beautiful church in Mondsee, Austria where Frรคulein Maria's wedding was filmed!! Not a week after returning home, I made my kids watch the movie with me! It's a lifetime fave.

  8. Love this! I read Julie Andrews's biography a few years ago, and it said that the opening scene was filmed from a helicopter. The helicopter was close enough that she kept getting pushed down by the wind the blades were making. Apparently, she got pretty frustrated and let loose a few swear words. I thought that was so funny when I read it. ๐Ÿ™‚

  9. This is brill.:)

    I've been a huge fan of The Sound of Music film ever since it was released when I was aged about 5. My Mum & I went to see it about 3 or 4 times.

    I owned it on VHS & have added DVDs as new versions have been released.

    Did you & your sisters do the dance routine on the steps that the children did? Great pix of your Mum as Maria by the way.:)

    I still watch this great film at least once a year & also when they show it on the telly, mainly at Christmas or Easter.

    Apparently, they're showing a live version on Christmas day here. It'll be great but I still prefer the original one & the children.

    I've been to a couple of Sound of Music sing-a-longs, which were great especially the one in London. Fans dress up as nuns, brown paper packages tied up with string (Are any of you singing the song now.?:)) & other fun things from the songs etc.

    Last year my brother & sister-in-law went to visit Austria & brought me back a lovely SOM calendar. When it's finished this year I'm putting it in my memory book.

    I'm so glad that Lucy is especially becoming a fan of this brill film. It's one that covers all generations.

  10. Salzburg is one of my most favorite cities in Europe! I went on the Sound of Music tour as well, and we had to pose in all the same settings! Must be the thing to do! ๐Ÿ˜‰

  11. Absolutely amazing! One of my all time favorites. If you have not done so already you will have to track down a recording of the 50th Anniversary special that Diane Sawyer did with Julie Andrews this past summer. I believe it is on Hulu.com. I also had to buy the 50th Anniversary edition on BlueRay!!! This trip looks amazing and I hope the posts never end!!!

  12. This is the best post yet!! I'm so glad you saved this day and posted it all alone!! What a great experience to have with your mom and sweet sisters (and SIL's) my sisters and I are planning our trip starting now!! Thanks for the inspiration!! (Would you recommend this time of year?)

  13. This brings back great memories of my few days I spent in Salzburg 21 years ago. I had a 2 month old baby and nursed her in a corner of the fortress. I didn't know you weren't suppose to sing the songs in the city because I belted out the "the hills are alive with the Sound of Music" from the top of the fortress. It was great fun watching the movie again after coming home and feel apart of the movie. Thanks for sharing!

  14. We don't live far from Austria and so I'm excited to go do this bike tour once it gets warm again…or at least not cold. That's one of my all time favorite movies as well. That's trip looks so fun!

  15. Oops. I didn't know about the singing in the city rule. I broke that more than once when I went to the same places. Soooooo beautiful. There is also a really great Sound of Music museum in the city that we really enjoyed as it teaches you about the real vanTrapp family and how their life differed from the fictional. Really great. How fun to go with your sisters!

  16. We did this tour in 1989, and it was so wonderful! All the kids (except the baby who was 3) still talk about it – and yes, we always watch the movie!

  17. I am so glad you found this tour–it is one I recommend everyone to do when visiting Salzburg. Your pictures are so familiar and make me miss Germany that much more. Saudi Arabia isn't nearly as green, scenic or beautiful. Glad everyone enjoyed it so much!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *