We Sang The Sound of Music Soundtrack with Complete Strangers
Austria
11.05.18 - 14.05.18
Austria was unlike anywhere I have ever been. I woke up after driving overnight on an uncomfortable, tight, sleepless bus ride to see mountains upon mountains in every direction. There were rolling hills that climbed into snowy peaks. In the distance, there were hang gliders; I wanted so badly to see their view.
Before this trip, Austria wasn’t even on my radar- at all. I never really gave it much thought, it wasn’t somewhere that I had longed to go to, but my best friend Ella was living there for her school year and I had to see her. So, off to Austria we went!
Ella lives in the picturesque town of Salzburg, Austria. This town is famous for being the birth place of Mozart as well as being the iconic setting for the musical classic- The Sound of Music.
Salzburg can be summarized as breath taking.
It is surrounded by mountains, art, creativity, music, history and unbelievable views. For a place, I originally knew nothing about, it was my favourite stop on our trip. I highly recommend visiting Salzburg if you want a taste of Austrian culture.
Salzburg, Austria
As I mentioned before, Salzburg is famous for being the setting for the film The Sound of Music. So of course, Sydney and I had to do a tour. When we got on the bus, we were the youngest people on the tour. Our tour guide was dressed in traditional lederhosen and she had a spunky personality. The tour brought us to both places where they shot scenes from the movie and places where the real Von Trapp family once lived. We visited the iconic gazebo from my personal favourite scene of the movie, when they sing “I am sixteen going on seventeen…” We went to the Von Trapp house, the abbey that Maria left, the church that Maria married Captain Von Trapp in, and the garden where they sing “doe a deer”. It also took us through the mountains, and the soundtrack from the movie played the entire ride- only Sydney, our tour guide, and I sang at the top of our lungs.
I am sixteen going on seventeen…
We left Salzburg and spent a day in Vienna, which was rushed but surprisingly fun. We had NO idea what to do there, so we wandered. We wandered onto the grounds of a HUGE palace, with gardens that literally never ended. They went on for miles, and there was even a zoo somewhere in the midst of it. It was beautiful, and if we had had the time and money we would have done the tour, but the free access to the grounds was pretty great.
Arber & Benjamin
We eventually made our way to the museum quarter of Vienna- there, we met Benjamin and Arber. Sydney and I were walking by the Opera house when two gentlemen dressed in Shakespearean/Mozart attire stopped and asked us if we wanted to buy tickets for the ballet. Now, getting asked to buy tickets for shows happens a lot when travelling, but for some reason, we ended up listening to what they had to say and joking around with them. They were insanely kind and funny…I laughed so hard my abs hurt! We had made friends in the span of an hour, with two men dressed in leotards. Still to this day Arber and I are friends!
The most expensive chocolate cake I have ever eaten
We walked around aimlessly in Vienna, and we asked a local what a traditional/famous food found in Vienna would be. They told us of a Sachertorte- a type of chocolate cake. Sydney and I went to the restaurant that made the original recipe of the cake and split a piece of cake (8 euros each- we wanted tea too but the cake was too expensive). Although the price was high, the taste was incredible!
Austria is a spectacular, hidden gem. It gave us some of the best moments of our trip, with stories that I’ll never forget and people whose paths I hope to cross again someday.
Links to excursions:
Vlog of our visit to Austria
