Chapter 10 Salzburg.

24-10-88 Raining.

Salzburg, The birthplace of Mozart and the Sound of Music.

An unusual view of Salzburg.

On arrival as it was cold and wet, I decided to treat myself, so found a lovely little cafe and indulged in coffee and chocolate cake which I thought appropriate when one is in Austria, even when one is on a tight budget.

The lovely little cafe.

The people at the tourist information suggested a place to stay - the Hotel Dietman very central. Accommodation taken care of it was time to explore. I booked a Sound of Music tour for 2pm,

My ticket for the tour. 8 schillings to the dollar then.

then went looking for Amadeus.

The house where he was born is now a museum overlooking Mozart Square.

Mozart Museum.

Mozart was three when he started to play, at five he began composing minuets, at eight wrote the first three symphonies and at the grand old age of twelve composed his first opera...La Finta Semplice. How about that for genius!!

Mindful of the time I retraced my steps to join the S.O.M.tour. Salzburg like Frankfurt is divided by a river, the Salzach. Old Salzburg on one side and New Salzburg(1700's) on the other. We were shown all around the city then out to the pretty village of Mondsee where Maria and the Baron were married in the movie.

Mondsee and me.

In reality they married in the chapel of the beautiful convent overlooking the city, but the nuns with dollar signs in their eyes out priced themselves, so Mondsee was chosen instead. That's what the guide told us anyway.

The beautiful Mondsee Church

Grand daughter Bree (in white coat) showing nANA jUDY how it is done fashion
wise 22 years later. It's easy to see SHE didn't live out of a little back pack!!

It is a magnificent church, all white and gold inside. We were allotted forty minutes to look around, then back on the bus to see other places of interest. Who can forget the scene between Rolf and Lisl in the gazebo? It looked much bigger than this in the movie.

They were sixteen going on seventeen.

Next stop their home ( in the movie) the mansion where Maria and the children fell into the lake. Unfortunately it is a private home so we had to make do with the view from the road.

Can you see Georg and the Baroness standing there watching the bedraggled group coming up the path? The children dressed in their curtain playclothes. Oh ! How I love that movie!!

Another thing the guide told us as we passed some hills on the way back. The opening scene where Maria heard the bells calling her back to the convent, was shot there - a good twenty miles from the convent.

Well, that was all the time I had to spend in beautiful Salzburg, so after an early night, I was off to a place that took up a whole page of ticks on my bucket list.

VIENNA- CITY OF MY DREAMS!