Fa, a long, long way to run

Yesterday I was all about the Sound of Music. The bike tour that I originally intended on going to was booked on a first come first serve basis, and I've never been the first one to get to anywhere so i missed it. Instead, I took a hop on hop off bus tour. There were two benefits to this particular bus tour...air conditioning and a constant stream of the Sound of Music soundtrack.

I started my day at the gardens. They were perfectly manicured and beautiful.


In the gardens Maria and the children run around singing thew famous Do-Re-Mi. They splash in the fountain before continuing to frolic around.


Unfortunately, my backpack and purse kept me from being true to the part.

After I left the gardens I headed to the Schloss Hellbrunn. Apparently, the archbishop prince that built it thought that he was a jokester. He installed many trick fountains all around the property.


Water shot out of everything. There was no where safe. He even installed it in the seats of his table so that he could surprise his guests during dinner. I'm sure people loved him.

On the property there were normal fountains.


And there were very odd ones.


He even had giant moving vignettes with hundreds of moving pieces that were powered solely by water.



But the best part was in the park of Scholss Hellbrunn. After the Sound of
music wrapped they gave the gazebo from the movie to the city. Salzburg actually didn't want it and moved it around many times before leaving it here.


The doors were locked or I would have acted out the whole scene. This is where Lisle sings "I am sixteen going on seventeen." I had a few minutes at the gazebo by myself before more tourists arrived. I sure did walk around it singing. Sadly, "I am thirty going on thirty one" doesn't have the same ring to it.

We also went to one of the two houses that were used in filming. Neither one is open to the public, but we were able to visit the lake that was used for scenes looking away from the house.



We didn't get to see the movie version or the real life version of the Von Trapp residence. Bummer.

Finally, we stopped at the Mozart footbridge. Maria and the children sang Do-Re-Mi while skipping across the bridge. I felt like the only way to do it justice was to skip across it too.


People were looking at me like I was stark raving mad. I don't know if they were more concerned with me skipping and singing or with the fact that i set the self timer on my camera. Who cares. I'll never see them again.

I caught the train back to Augsburg around four so that I could be back around seven thirty. The trains went smoothly and when I got back to Bobingen I hopped on a bus to take me to Grossaitingen. I would then walk the rest of the way to Leslie's house. Being one who pays super close attention to where they are going, I missed the stop. I didn't stress about it because I knew the way through the fields at the next stop. From there it went downhill fast. I got up and pushed the button to get off but the bus driver never stopped. So I pushed it again at the next stop. Nothing. The bus driver was on his phone which was much more important to him. When I finally was able to get off the bus I was in a village called Schwabmunchen.


I Was 7.4 kilometers from where I needed to be. I wasn't upset. I figured I'd just hop back on a bus heading the other direction and be there shortly. Oh, how wrong I was. I got off the bus at 7:30ish and sat there 30 minutes before I checked the schedule. The bus didn't come back by until a little after 10. I could sit and wait or walk and be back at Leslie's in a little over an hour. I went with walking. When I was about 5 kilometers away a mega storm started rolling in. There was thunder and lightning but no rain. Fueled by pure adrenaline, I started a mix of power walking/running that would have made Flo Jo proud. I was hauling through fields and villages praying that I could get back before the rain started. It didn't work out. About 2.5 kilometers from Leslie's torrential rain started. It was falling in sheets. With it came pure darkness. I can't believe I didn't freak out. I kept thinking that I should start crying but I never did. I had enough water on my face as it was without adding any tears. When I finally made it to Leslie's I was a drowned rat.


I had to pour the water out of my shoes and ring my clothes out. They are still sitting on the front porch. Im not sure they'll ever dry out. It was quite an adventure. I'm not sure it's one I would relive without better preparation, so today I am just relaxing.

Location:Salzburg, Austria