The sound of music... Salzburg June 2018

The hills are alive with the sound of music....

The words of this song resonated with me from childhood. I watched Sound of music at Rex theatre Bangalore in the year 1977. I was just about 10 years old and the movie and the songs left an impact on me. The Von Tropp family. Maria with her musical talents, the city of Salzburg, the fountains, rolling and gentle hills which would blend with the clouds, every bit of the movie was enriched in my mind and heart.

We had a Murphy LP player at home . we would look forward to the weekends, it would be a ritual to listen to the songs and sing along with them. The years passed but the images of Sound of Music did not diminish.
2018... our friends and we decided on a trip to Europe. Austria was one of the destinations. I was excited that I would visit Salzburg and relive my memories of my youth.

Salzburg is on the banks of the river Salzach. The old town is dominated by its towers and churches and the massive Hohensalzburg Fortress. We crossed the river and entered the bustling streets of Salzburg. 

The roads were narrow. There were speciality shops on both the sides and the prices seemed quite steep. Making our way through the crowd we reached the Residentzplatz. It is the largest square in the city . The plaza is dominated by the Residenzbrunne , the  fountain. There was maintainenece work on the plaza hence it did not create the impact I had expected. However it was quite easy to relax here , watching the passerby and terraced cafes and shops.

We walked through the alley that led up the flight of steps to the Nonnberg 

Abbey. It was a steep climb. Huffing and puffing we reached the top for the hill. This abbey was the backdrop for the Sound of Music movie. One of the initial scenes of the movie was captured here. We entered and walked around the courtyard of the abbey. 

As we looked across we could view the majestic mountains. Wow I thought, Maria must have been a long distance runner.. we stopped and admired the views of the mountains . Walking around the church and formidable gates of the abbey on one side with the low hanging clouds above the mountains presenting the picturesque country, I would feel imagine Maria's desire to run to the mountains.

Walking down the path from the nunnery we could see huge structure of Hohensalzburg fortress. We did not climb to the top of the fort and the funicular commissioned in 1892, locally referred to as the FestungsBahn whizzed past us over the 62% incline over 200m length. As we walked down the path to the old city we had some breathtaking views of the churches and citadels. We reached the Mozart plaza and stopped by for some ice creams. We were tired after the long journey and the full day walk. We decided to retire for the day after a quick supper.

The next morning we were enthusiastic to view the Mirabell garden. As we entered the Mirabelle gardens we were awestruck by the majestic mansion and the beautiful surrounding gardens. The large symmetrical flower beds were neatly laid in precise manner offsetting the verdant green of the grass. The highlight of the gate was an impressive pair of Greek statues. The scent of fresh flowers in the air and the vibrant atmosphere was intoxicating.

We were immediately transported to the world of Sound of Music as we saw the familiar steps, pegasus fountain, arches and the gnome gardens. The centre piece of the garden is the pegasus fountain. At the pegasus fountain we could not help but sit and sing the song Do re me.

Walking past the fountains we reached the steps that led us to the rose garden. It was easy to let the time slide by 30 odd years and relive the song over many times. 

There was joie de vivre in the air. The place was crowded with tourists and one could hear many of the them singing the songs joyfully.
The Dwarf garden or the Zwerglgarten is bit removed from the perfectly landscaped one and serves as a charming blemish amidst perfection. Climbing a few stairs we reached the garden which had restored disfigured dwarves with their hunchback and goiters. They were originally installed in 1715 modeled after real life entertainers to the Prince Archbishop, removed and forgotten for a while until 1921 when these were repositioned. 

Spotting an empty stone slab that was vacant, my better half quickly seated himself in the yoga pose and sought a few moments of solitary thoughts while some of us found a quiet corner to catch up on social media.

 Spending some happy moments with the dwarves and clicking pictures we moved to the hedge garden. The partial vine covered green foliage tunnel enticed us to hop and skip along the path. 

It was a pleasurable morning for us young at heart. A deep desire to visit the place where Sound of music was filmed came true. When we left Salzburg there was a small thought. I would love to visit this charming city once more.