Linz, Austria & Salsburg, Germany

We traveled over night, arriving in Linz, Austria early in the morning. The weather was a bit different with clouds and threat of rain, but the cool was a bit of relief. Our excursion was a day long trip to Salsburg, Germany. We boarded the buses as soon as breakfast was over and were off.

The drive was 90 minutes and was beautiful, even with the black clouds. Salsburg is famous for three specific things. The first is the setting for The Sound of Music movie and where the original von Trapp lived before moving to the United States. You can only imagine how many conversations occurred around the memories of that great movie, and occassionally with songs breaking out. Many scenes were filmed in Austria, but a lot were also done in Hollywood.

These are the gardens where several scenes were filmed. There are 75,000 plants in this garden and it is maintained year round. It is called a 4 element garden as there are 4 very distinct areas with sculptures, statues, flower beds and fountains.

These are the ‘Do-ri-me Steps' where the scene was filmed of the family learning the do-ri-me song. This is a picture of our whole group that day, and yes, some of us broke out in song after the photo.

This is the Lion of Salzburg, sitting on the corner of the festival hall. The Edelweiss song was filmed in this hall, but the cemetery scene was filmed in Hollywood.

The second famous event was the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was born in this house where he lived with his family on the third floor until he was 25. The Archbishop didn't like Mozart’s opera music sytle. Angry, Mozart moved to Vienna where he was able to write and perform his operas. He died a young man, at the age of 35.

An interesting fact… The Mozart family was very musically talented and it was later discovered that Mozart’s sister was actually the better artist. But she was required to marry and not pursue her dreams of music.

The third famous event was actually more of a scandal. Archbishop Dietrich, who was part of the Midici family, fell in love with a beautiful woman, but wasn't allowed to marry her. So he built the Marabell Castle (shown in the picture) for her and their 15 children, and later gave her a noble title to protect her. The Archbishop petitioned the Pope for permission to marry, which sometimes was granted, but was denied. Years later, his cousin, and successor, had him locked up in a neighboring castle, over a conflict known as the “Salt War". He was in solitary confinement but could see the home of his mistress. He died five years later, never seeing her or his children again. His mistress took their children to safety in the north, where she died 20 years later, never marrying.

This palace was also a filming place for many of the scenes of The Sound of Music.