30 July 2008

As I was leaving Prague, I met a couple of ladies from America... Texas to be exact.  They were mother and daughter celebrating the mothers birthday.  She just turned 60!  And we were all heading over to Salzburg just to do the Sound of Music tour!  We had a great time together... singing some of the songs from the movie and sharing stories.  Their names were Kimberly and Betty was the birthday girl.

The ladies were planning on going outside of the city on Wednesday, but instead, I had convinced for them to do the tour with me. :)  They didn’t have set plans, so their schedule was flexible and we scheduled a time to meet up close to where the tour departs.

My host in Salzburg, Laura, is such a wonderful girl!  In the morning, she took me on a little climb up one of the hills, where I saw a really beautiful view of the city... and the castle.

Laura is a film student and is currently working on a documentary about why people come to Salzburg just for the Sound of Music tour.  In Austria, the film was not at all popular, so the locals really don’t understand the phenomena.  She had to watch the movie for school, but still doesn’t understand.  So, while we were on the hill, she set up her camera and she interviewed me.  It was funny!

Shortly thereafter, we were scheduled to meet up with Kimberly and Betty.  I grabbed something from the bakery, since I knew the tour was 4 hours and I would probably get a little hungry.

Betty was so excited to go on the tour.  She said it was her mother’s favorite movie, as she teared up a little.  Laura also interviewed them very quickly before they got on the bus.

The tour was amazing!  Although, I’m sure some of the stories were not true, it was still very entertaining to hear and to see some of the breathtaking views.  No wonder why they choose Salzburg!  We also sang quite a few of the songs on the bus.  I was surprised with the knowledge of the songs from the gentlemen!

Salzburg is also where Mozart was born.  At the time of my visit, they were having the Salzburg Festival, which I believe is where he was discovered!  But I didn’t get to go to that.  It’s too expensive.

My last day there, I went to the farmers market that was set up a couple of streets down from where Laura lives.  It was so great to see all of the locals out and about.

I would love to go back to Salzburg to take my mother on the tour, but there is also a lot more to see that I didn’t realize.  For example, you can go on an ice cave tour.  I’m told it’s the largest ice cave in the world!  I wanted to go up the cable cars to the top of the mountain too, but didn’t have time for that.  Hopefully, there will be another opportunity to go there...