...I suspect I may be the luckiest kid in the world

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Tourist-ing it up with the Sound of Music! (Salzburg)

The hills were alive with the Sound of Music in Salzburg last weekend.

I probably should start this blog with a warning. I'm not going to pretend that the Sound of Music setting didn't form rather a large part of wanting to visit this Austrian city - it was.
I admit it.
And so I took the tour. Had I know about it, I would have also taken the Fraulein Maria's cycling tour of Salzburg where you sing your way through the city.
(Seriously, there is such a tour!)

And so, WARNING: Some Spoilers may follow. Also, some references to the Sound of Music.


We spent a lovely 33 hours in Salzburg and I took in the biggest gulp I could.
These hours included, but were not limited to:


Reinforcing my hardcore status. Rain with lighting bolt symbols was the forecast for the weekend. Undeterred, Steph (my accomplice) and I decided we would go hardcore and see everything anyway. We bought awesome yellow ponchos to support our hardcore status.



Climbing
every mountain and fording every stream.


Visiting
Mozart's birth house. He was born in Salzburg (but rumour has it that he wasn't too fond of the town).


Meeting
Mozart. 'Cept he was the younger, more hip version of Mozart. He even had an IPod, and he juggled, did some interpretive dance, and fire-twirled to the music. He is pictured here with his IPod.



Following
every rainbow, and searching high and low.


Embracing
tourism and the Lonely Planet. I would just like to take a short moment to give thanks with a grateful heart to Lonely Planet, without whom I would have been lost on the weekend. (Oh, and for Steph - great map following!)


Eating
Lonely Planet recommendations. Living in Zurich really limits my eating-out possibilities (hence the 'I could live off cheeseburgers' label) and on the weekend I got to eat.so.much.good.stuff. Who would have thought Italian Restaurant owner with credentials from the Love Boat could make such good Pizza? Who could have known that the all natural-vegetarian-vegan-organic-bio-healthy-kill-me-now Indian Restaurant would be so good?
Lonely Planet, I lift my glass of water to you!


Singing
'These are a few of my favourite things' whilst eating Italian ice cream x 3.


Smiling
for Japanese(?) tourists in the Mirrabel Gardens. As featured in the Sound Of Music. We did not share a common language, and so when they gestured towards me with their camera I assumed they wanted me to take a photo of them.

However, it soon became clear that this was not the case. I was dragged into their photo (I still have the bruise marks on my arm to prove it!) and made to smile. Seriously. And then a line started to form....and a new bunch of people surrounded me and grabbed my arm held on tight. I saw my life flash before my eyes and knew I had to get out of there. I think maybe they thought I was Julie Andrews. My singing did kind of sound like her. And I was doing all the right dance moves in the correct places around the garden so I guess it was an easy mistake to make.

Uncanny resemblance.....?






Practicing my moves for the Sound of Music 2. Here I am doing my audition piece on the water fountain. Unfortunately, Steph cut me out of the picture, but you get the idea.



Listening
to the Sound of Music soundtrack on the bus as we drove through the hills out of Salzburg. It was just one of those ironic moments in life where you just want to laugh at yourself. A year ago? - I never would have dreamt that I'd be living in Switzerland, on a weekend trip to Salzburg, on a Sound of Music bus, listening to 'How do you solve a problem like Maria....'


Seeing all the places from the movie was pretty cool. You may not be able to see it, but behind my head, Julie Andrews -aka Maria Von Trapp - and the kids are falling out of the boat and Gretl is almost drowning because she didn't know how to swim. You may not also be able to see it because it may have happened 45 years ago.




Biking along the Salzburg River during the late evening. We had to wait until almost 1AM for our train, and so why wait at the train station when you can ride along the river? I love the summer months when it stays light for so much longer!




And, at the end of the 33 hours, it was time for the train home. Rather unfortunately, a supposedly sweet older lady was sleeping in my reserved seat. (Unreserved seats are never mentally the same!) Also unfortunately, it was 1AM and, unfortunately, I was feeling too nice. In the spirit of the unfortunate I think she slept the whole trip. I know this because I didn't. She was also warm under her blanket. (Note to self: Bring blanket next time!)

So Long, Farewell Salzburg!

7 comments:

  1. Ah! Salzburg would have been so much cooler for me had I known anything about Sound of music, but alas I did not. I still found it beautiful! Love your blogs, they make me laugh eveyr time! I miss you Kylie!
    Love and Stars
    Sabrina

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  2. The Sound of Music is hands down my favorite film. As a child, the husband was apparently forced into watching it over and over again with his little sister, so there was no way I could get him to come along with me on the tour - so I went by myself! Loved the tour, especially singing along on the bus. Did you see where Red Bull was invented?

    Glad you took a chance on Salzburg despite the rain...

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  3. That is really and completely cool. Was it the soundtrack I sent you by chance??

    :-)

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  4. Hey Kylie,
    While looking up life in Zurich, I came across your blog and read a bit. Sorry if that's creepy, but I found it helpful and enjoyable since I'll be headed to Zurich (also 15 minutes south, I'm told)to be an au pair in 4 to 6 weeks! Thanks again!

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  5. I didn't even take the photo I supposedly cut you out of......hahaha your just bitter cos I haven't even seen the sound of music :) xx

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  6. Sssshhh Steph!

    Looking forward to meeting you Claire when you come to Zurich! If you get in touch I can show you round when you come!

    Katie Katie - yes it was the soundtrack and yes it will live forever!

    I did see the Red Bull place Amanda - very cool! And good on you for going by yourself!!

    Brina! I miss you!!!

    Katie Bain, t'would be nice if you were me, cos then we'd both be here!

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