A Few of my Favorite Things

When we arrived in Salzburg, Austria there was only one thing on my mind, "The Sound of Music." The famous story of the Von Trapps took place in this sleepy but beautiful town. The movie based on this story starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer was also filmed here in 1964.

Both Steph and I had seen this classic film several times and were very excited to go on the "Sound of Music" tour. During our tour we visited numerous sites from the "Sound of Music" including Maribel Plaza (where Maria and the kids sang "doe a deer, a female deer..."), the gazebo where Maria and the Baron first declared their love for one another and of course the church where the wedding scene took place.

Most surprising were the number of differences between the film and the real life story (DISCLAIMER: these revelations may burst your bubble/bum you out - you have been warned):
- The oldest Von Trapp child was a boy named Rupert, not a girl.
- Most of the real life children had different names.
- Maria was not studying to become a nun at the abbey. She was a teacher and cleaned up after the nuns. She was sent away to take care of a sick Von Trapp child, after a doctor said her own health was failing at the abbey.
- The Von Trapps did not leave Austria until 11 years after their marriage (and two more children). They took a train to Italy and then hiked to Switzerland.
- The mountains they climbed in the final scene of the movie were in the direct of Germany (!) and not Switzerland.
- The Baron was 25 years older than Maria.
- The Baron's first wife died of Scarlett fever.
- In the movie the lake, the back of the house and the front of the house were actually at three different locations.
- The interiors were all filmed on Hollywood sound stages.

Towards the end of the tour we of we took a scenic drive through the Alps. Instead of skiing down the majestic mountains we sped down on an Alpine slide!:



Photo One: A scenic view of the Alps just outside of Salzburg
Photo Two: Stephanie riding down the Alpine Slide just outside of Salzburg
By Jaya Bird