The Events of Thursday, July 7, 2011

                I was dying, slowly suffocating under the immense pressure of sticky heat. My bed squeaked and groaned as I tossed and turned, trying to get cool and comfortable. Finally, it was too much for me and I climbed out of bed and opened the door of our room. Cool, fresh air immediately relieved my hot and sweaty face. The room that I am sharing with my three siblings is in truth a walk-in closet. 

                There is a small window on the far wall that let in light, sounds, and smoky smells from our landlord's workshop. The sickeningly smoky fumes were overpowering to our sensitive nostrils and we closed the window. However, now the room was unbearably stuffy. Last night, as Mommy left us to sleep, she closed the two small closet doors to our little closet, and we became like four kittens in a cardboard box without holes – four very hot kittens.

                Finally refreshed, I left the doors wide open and went back to bed ... to dream of Daddy getting arrested in some foreign country. The charge was that he had a full grown beard and was laughing at a memorial to a Communist leader. We went to live in a palace that was supposedly the prison and we could only see Daddy twice a day; when he went in to shower and when he came back out again. Another thing that was weird was that besides the foreign guards, the palace was full of other American families whose dads had beards.

                My bizarre dream suddenly came to a halt with my abrupt awakening. Don't you despise it when it feels like you just fell asleep and what seems like just five seconds later, someone wakes you up?!! By 9 am, we were on the road winding up and then down the "Alp" where our temporary home is located, through mountains, via dark tunnels, to Salzburg. We parked under Mirabellplatz and strolled through lovable Salzburg to Mozart's Wohnhaus.

                In 1773, the Mozart family moved to the "Dancing Master's House", when Wolfgang Mozart was 17. We purchased a combo ticket for this and Mozart's Birthplace, which we will be visiting tomorrow. Then, armed with an audio guide, we marched up the stairs. A model in the first room depicted how the residence would have been furnished and set up in the mid-1700s. We saw two pianos and a harpsichord that Mozart actually practiced and performed on when giving private concerts in his own home (a sign of status). 

                As a child, Mozart and his sister, Nannerl, who was also an accomplished pianist, toured Europe, playing for high courts and royalties as child prodigies. It was said that young Mozart had his cheeks kissed by more empresses, queens, princesses, duchesses, and countesses than any other boy in all of Europe. Wolfgang Mozart not only mastered piano and violin, but also a number of other instruments. In addition, he composed operas, orchestral, and chamber music from the early age of five. Mozart and his family were never in Salzburg for long, as their father, Leopold Mozart, saw his children's talent as a God-given way to achieve wealth.The Mozart family was never very wealthy, however, and when Mozart died in 1791, he left a wife and two young boys, as well as numerous debts. But, as one of Mozart's friends stated when he heard of his death, there will not be another man like him in a hundred years.

                We left Mozart's Wohnhaus, crossed Makartsteg Bridge, and walked along the Salzach River to Fisch Krieg Restaurant. Here we purchased some warm "fishwiches", which were a heated battered fish patty and lettuce between two crisp buns coated with warm tartar sauce. We took this warm bundle back across the bridge to the Mirabell Gardens. As we munched on our "fishwiches", we soaked in the warm sunshine and all the surrounding beauty. The gardens were beautifully laid out forming bubbly and colorful swirls of pink, red, purple, and yellow flowers through the manicured green grass. Nearby, a guitarist softly strummed his instrument, playing a variety of pieces from Mozart to Scott Joplin. After finishing our meal, we admired the misty fountain and neighboring flowers. Then, I led my family across Mirabellplatz to find the Panorama Tours kiosk. We purchased our tickets for the Original Sound of Music tour, used some nearby free restrooms, and then hopped into line.
                When the huge tour bus pulled up in front of us, a buzz of excitement went through the waiting crowd. On the side of the bus under the words:The Original Sound of Music Tour, were enlarged images of Maria and the Van Trapp children singing Do-Re-Mi together. Even though we were pretty much first in line, a group of 27 got to get on first. However, we managed to get some good seats together in the back half of the bus. Our lively English-speaking guide, Peter, introduced himself and the driver, Ferdinand and we began our journey into the world of the Sound of Music. The first exciting event was when the air conditioning came on. In response to the cool air hitting our faces, there were groans of utter delight and hands reaching up to adjust it just so. Can this tour get any better?

                In the brochure, it said that the tour began in the Mirabell Gardens where the majority of the filming for the Do-Re-Mi song took place. However, the first and last disappointment of this tour came and went when they told us about the gardens, without actually visiting them. We drove through Salzburg with Peter pointing out objects of historical, "touristical", or "Sound of Music-al" significance.

                The first actual stop on the tour was Leopoldskron Palace and Lake. We fanned ourselves with the SOM brochures as we gazed at the still lake reflecting the beautiful back facade of the palace. Peter told us to gather around so we could hear his "wonderful speech." This was the location of the famous boating scene and all the scenes that took place in the Captain's backyard. They only used the back of the palace for filming (we will see the front of the house they used tomorrow). We learned that they had to film the boating scene twice and the second time, Gretel, the youngest Van Trapp who couldn't swim, nearly drowned! They jumped in to save her at the very last moment and they had to make do with the two shots they had taken because, I'm sure, poor Gretel wanted nothing more to do with boating on the lake.

                On the way back to the bus, we passed a huge waterpark that looked very appealing on this hot day. Peter pointed out a fat, old man on the high dive. He looked like he was in his 70s and when he saw our bus, he turned towards us, his huge beer belly bulging over his gross black Speedo. His big face grinned and he waved wildly. Then, this very old man stood on the edge of the high dive, jumped, twirled like a ballerina, turning a full circle before splatting on the water below in a great belly flop.

                Our next stop was Hellbrunn Palace and Gardens. The tree lined lane called Hellbrunn Allee, which was near the palace and grounds, was where they filmed the Captain driving with Uncle Max and the Baroness. Maria and the Van Trapp children were high in the trees above yelling and laughing. The Captain, in response to the Baroness' inquiries, stated, "Those are the local urchins," blindly referring to his own children.

                In Hellbrunn Gardens, we were able to see the glass Gazebo where they filmed I am Sixteen Going on Seventeen. They only used the outside of this gazebo for the filming, as it was too small to dance in with all the filming equipment. They used to have it open for the enjoyment of Sound of Music fans. However, when an eighty year old lady fell and broke her hip while trying to leap from bench to bench like they did in the movie, they locked it permanently. We weren't quite sure whether to believe Peter's stories or not as he joked so often and told so many unbelievable stories!

                On our next drive, we passed Nonnberg Abbey, where the "real" Maria was a novice and where the Captain and Maria got married in real life. It was also the sight of the filming where Maria started her walk to the Van Trapp mansion and where the children came to see Maria after she left. The next part of the drive was quite long, so Peter put on the Sound of Music soundtrack. Caitlin, Abby, and I sang along with Peter, Ben and Mom stared out the window, and Daddy snored quite comfortably in his seat.

                Salzburg's Lake District's amazing scenery lay out around and beneath me from where I sat on the soft green grass. Directly in front of me were Lake Fuschl and Lake Wolfgang where the beginning shots of the movie were filmed. To my immediate left was a tall mountain that dwarfed all the rest. Untersberg sloped softly up on one side and then fell away sharply on the other. Untersberg was the site of the filming for the opening song of the movie with Maria singing,"The hills are alive, with the sound of music...." It was also where they filmed the very beginning of the Do-Re-Misong. The cog train that Maria and the Van Trapp children used to reach the top in the movie has since been replaced with bright red gondola cars.

                Peter yodeled to get us back in the bus and then with a bus full of happy Americans and a few jolly Brits singing Do-Re-Mi, we bounced through the majestic countryside to Mondsee. The tall, dark evergreens provided welcome shade as we marched into the center of town. The Mondsee Cathedral loomed authoritatively at the top of the main square. This was the location of the wedding scene in the Sound of Music. The cathedral was simply, but beautifully decorated in a swirly Rococo style. We stood on the steps that Julie Andrews and Sir Christopher Plummer climbed to reach the altar where they were married in the movie.

                Next, we looked through some gift shops. As Peter had told us, one was a quality gift shop and the other was a junk one. We visited the quality one first. The highlight here were little wooden Austrian mountain men called "smokers". One of the wooden men was actually smoking as an example, the smoke curling from his stationary little wooden pipe, blackening his poor little wooden nose. There were also pressed Edelweiss. These small white flowers are a symbol of love in Austria. They only grow on the highest mountains on the most dangerous ledges. Therefore, if a young man gives a young lady an edelweiss flower, it means that he truly loves her. I ended up buying my Austrian souvenir at the quality gift shop. It's a pressed edelweiss flower and other wild Austrian flowers in a sheet of frosted glass. Behind the glass is a cup for a tea candle and a mirror behind that to reflect the light. And it was under four Euros!

                The junk shop was not even worth going inside. Outside the entrance was a small stuffed beer. Abby pressed the"Drücken Sie mich!" (press me) button and it yodeled and then belched loudly. That was enough junk to last us for a while, so we walked down to the lake. Abby and I encouraged the rest of our family to dip our toes together in the freezing waters of Mondsee Lake. It was very refreshing after our hot walk and when it neared departure time, we reluctantly withdrew and dried our feet and walked back to the bus. Just as we did so, it started to rain. On the ride back to Salzburg, we watched a portion of the 40th Anniversary Film for the Sound of Music, narrated by the actress who played Leisl in the movie.

                Upon arrival to Mirabellplatz, we thanked the joking and yodeling Peter and the good-natured Ferdinand and headed to our parking garage to go home. We had a "linner" of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cherries before hitting the hay with the songs from the Sound of Music running relentlessly through our tired brains.