The Sound of Money

Today I forced the family to take the “Sound of Music” tour. It was great. We all enjoyed the four hours, though I was the only one who sang along to all the show tunes as we drove. We stopped at most of the spots the filming had taken place but the tour was best because of the many varied places around Salzburg that we got to see.

If you are a fan, you might recognize the pictures. Things I found interesting:
1. The Austrians don’t watch this movie and most don’t know it exists…except if you live in Salzburg where it is known as “The Sound of Money”. Over 300,000 tourists come to Salzburg each year just for the tour. They started the tours back in 1965, the year after the show hit broadway and Americans began arriving asking to see the sights. This company alone has given 2 tours a day, every day of the year since 1965. Cha-ching! The Austrians know the story because it was made into a German movie called, “The Von Trapps”. It has music as well but it is mainly folk music, more in the style of the music the family sang.
2. The strange growths at the tops of trees that we have seen all over Europe are Mistletoe! It is a parasite and grows on sick trees.
3. The gazebo is locked now because so many people were hurting themselves when trying to jump from bench to bench like in the movie.
4. The Von Trapps didn’t actually climb through the Alps to escape. They hiked through their backyard to the train station at the edge of their property and caught the train to Italy.

In the afternoon we toured the Residenz state rooms. The best part of that tour was the banister in the main hall. It had posts that were each created to sound a different tone if hit. The whole railing functions as a glockenspiel! Naturally, we all had to try it out and you can see where everyone else has tried it out over the past centuries as well.

We also drifted through another art gallery but the best part of that gallery was the furniture they had to sit on. I managed to get a picture of one piece but the guard caught me and so I wasn’t allowed to take any more pictures. I bring to you here, the coveted “picture of Residenz gallery furniture”. Just use your imagination to picture the matching couch and chairs.