The Hills Are Certainly Alive....updated

We are a bit behind with posting as we have been flat out.

Today  I was dragged on a tour about a little movie that was made in Salzburg.  This one made me do it, and quite frankly I hated every second....until we got on the bus.  What a very cool experience and some wicked trivia learned today.

Clyde enjoyed the bus-ride-sing-a-long too...

Did you know that the opening sequence was actually flimed in Germany?  I also learned that Hollywood made some rather interesting changes to the REAL story as the Von Trapps actually caught a train to Italy and didn't actually walk along a hill top into Switzerland - that would have been one hell of a walk, however that final scene was also filmed in Germany.  The scene where Maria and the larrikin children were on the lake and tipped out of the boat - the water was icy cold, with the scene having to be filmed a number of times as Gretel, the poor dear, nearly drowned.

The best bit that I learned is that Maria, bless her cotton socks, when running late proclaimed that she was atop her favourite hill (Untersberg) was over 1700 metres high and 10km from the Abbey - however she made it back to the Abbey in about 3 minutes,  Yup, there certainly was something wrong with Maria as the hike is about 4 hours, or 15 minutes via cable car, on top of a 15 minute drive. Bloody  wacko!

Here's the Abbey.

Look familiar? Clyde recognised the gazebo, but alas no one was allowed to dance around on the internal seating.

 

The tour also took us to Mondee.  The scenery along the way was gorgeous.  Mondee was the location of Maria and the Barons wedding.

There is heaps more to talk about and I hate to say that I think I am hooked on this movie now. Damn it.

More to come, now it is time to sleep.... with the musical stylings of Edelweiss on contant repeat in my head.  Got a story about Edelweiss too but we can save that for tomorrow. The country side on the way to Mondee is incredible. The clean and fresh surroundings, not to mention the rather yummy strudel.

Mondee is a pretty little town, a good place to stop for lunch.

Since hearing that Maria trotting down a "hill" we decided to visit said hill. It's an ear popping experience and as mentioned, completely surprising that Maria made it down in one piece. It would have been quicker to watch thr full movie.

The view was stunning with one side being Austria (left of picture) and the other Germany (on the right). The cable car trip is not good for vertigo sufferers.

Salzburg from the top.

So, Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) .... It is a flower that grows only on the top of mountain cliffs.  To demonstrate pure love, gentlemen callers would try to pick a flower and deliver it to the lady they love. Many died attempting this feat. I believe this is why Austria has good population control.