Maria's S.O.M. Bicycle Tour

(second of two blog entries today)

Happy 4^th of July, everyone. I hate not being home for the festivities, but late June to early July is the best summer travel time in Europe. Prices are a bit lower and crowds are a bit less.

Today was our one day in Salzburg and it was mostly cloudy and ominous-looking, but it only rained a little. Not too bad. We had to get going early to get to the bike tour starting point by 9:30. There are many “Sound Of Music” tours in Salzburg. Most are by bus and are hideously expensive. “Maria’s S.O.M Bicycle Tour” was a much cheaper and definitely more fun option. Despite the popularity of the tours, most locals know nothing about the movie. It’s a mystery to them why all these Americans (with some Canadians and Brits thrown in) are so crazy about some old movie. We aren’t that crazy about it, either. We’ve seen it many times, but didn’t base our trip on seeing where it was filmed. But as it happens, it also gives you a great overview of Salzburg.

“Maria” (whose real name I have forgotten) was a 20-something college student and one of five “Maria’s” who alternate leading the tour. In the top photo, she is the one facing the camera (in the distance, though you can’t really see it on the tip of the mountain, is Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest spookily keeping an eye on Salzburg). She is a native who until a few months ago had never seen the move, either. But she was a very good guide. Our group was just our family and four others – two Canadians and a young couple from North Carolina. The tour lasted 3 ½ hours and included over a dozen stops at various sights where scenes from the movie were shot, including the gazebo (middle photo). Naturally, only exterior shots were done in and around Salzburg. Almost all interior shots were done on a Hollywood sound stage.

It was fun seeing those real-life places where a few scenes were shot. But I think the biggest benefit of the tour is that it got us away from the main streets of the city and showed us a lot of real-life Salzburg and the nearby countryside. Doing it on a bicycle is a very different experience than doing a tour on foot (exhausting) or a bus (too separated from reality). I would highly recommend it. This is the first trip we have ever rented bicycles on and we have already done it three times. I don’t know if we will have an opportunity to do it again, but I hope so.

Once the tour was finished, we went to see Mozart’s Residence. Mozart lived in Salzburg until the age of 21 and wrote a great deal of music here. However, his family traveled (showing off the child-prodigy) much of the time, eventually covering almost all of Europe. Unfortunately, the museum was dull – mostly showing off period instruments and long-winded audio commentary. Then we walked to the cathedral and walked around the interior, built upon the foundations of an older church, c.760 (bottom photo, looking up to the dome).

All this was finished by 3:30. Then we came back to our B&B where the children got to frolic in the small pool in back. This was their first chance to swim on the trip (after 2 ½ weeks already) and we promised them we would make time. As I sit here in the shade of a tree by the pool, Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest is shrouded in ominous-looking clouds. Take that, mein Führer…