Salzburg, City of Mozart and The Sound of Music

Cosmo and I walking in Mirabell Gardens

Ashley: Salzburg was another amazing little town, very small and walkable like Prague and sort of Budapest (if you don’t count the citadel). I chose to stay at the Sheraton Grand Salzburg because it is right next to the Mirabell Gardens and I thought Cosmo would enjoy walking there. It was also one of my favorite hotels and the easiest to get to, as I literally walked 700 yards from the train station.

On the way here on the train, the lady I met from Hungary said it rains a lot. I asked “Velleicht nicht im sommer?” (Perhaps not in summer?). She replied “Es regnet immer” (It rains always). That was the theme of Salzburg. It rained every single day I was there though never for the entire day. There was sunshine and some blue sky every day as well. The first morning we woke up to rain. The Grand Sheraton Salzburg was also the only hotel I did not have high status with and did not get a free breakfast, so with no motivation to get out of bed, I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Cosmo: We got up in the afternoon and it was sunny and dry outside! We went out for a walk. The garden was right outside our hotel back patio. Ashley was sitting on a bench holding my leash as I explored some bushes when a lady came up and asked “Is that Cosmo the adventure cat?” which took her quite by surprise. Turns out we had met her friend in the elevator and she recognized Ashley from the picture her friend took. Ashley dragged me out of the bushes for a meet a greet. I got Churu so I didn’t mind.

visiting kid meeting Cosmo

lovely elevator in The Grand Sheraton Salzburg

Does this mean no men with small children?
Beware men stealing kids?
No men with angry kids?

Mozart's forte piano

local artist.. the only one I found with hand painted pictures

Ashley: I walked to dinner across the river the first night and had wonderful schnitzel! I also bought a watercolor from a booth with signs saying “100% handpainted, not prints” from a lady in the square for 40 euros. The next day many people were selling much more detailed pictures for much less, like 20 for the same size, however I suspected they were all prints. When I took two similar ones to compare them (prints will be identical), the guy grabbed them out of my hand and told me to go away, when just a few minutes ago he was saying how they were acrylics that he had done himself. As they say, if the price is too good to be true then it’s probably not.

Cosmo: Morning walks around the gardens are nice though Ashley keeps making me take annoying poses with cat statues or near some movies locations. I caught another mouse! Yes, I know I’m great hunter. It was more interesting than the other mice since it put up quite a fight and even charged me once! Then a dog came along and I had to hide from it so the mouse got away. But the important thing is that I caught it in the first place. I also loved going up the mountain where I got to wander the hills a bit while Ashley sang some song to me about the hills being alive with the sound of music. I think Ashley was glad to have a chance to use her warm jacket since it was very cold up there.

the fake paintings that are really prints

the real paintings lady

Cosmo on cat statue

Cosmo wandering the mountain where
they shot some of the Sound of Music

Ashley: The free walking tour was a decent overview of the town, but infinitely more helpful was its website with suggestions on places to eat, what to see, and how to use the 24-hour Salzburg card. I also signed up for the much touted Original Sound of Music Tour. I hopped on the bus to discover…it was a singing tour! My stomach dropped. I was told in my 20’s that I’m tone deaf and I have done my best to spare others the pain of hearing me sing. Luckily I did not have to sing alone so I could just sing quietly. It was a lot of fun so I’m glad I didn’t know before or I would have done a different tour.

This one is the “original” and it was super entertaining to hear stories given to them from the original Maria von Trapp and also from the cast of the movie who all seem to work with this company as there are photos with them and even a video from the actress who played Lisle on the 50th anniversary. Did you know that the house where they filmed the outdoor patio scenes were actually two different locations? One was a house (not on the lake) where they shot with the house in the background. The other was between two houses where they built a patio with the lake in the background. So when they shot scenes with one actor having the house behind them and the other having the lake behind, each actor would have to do their lines as if someone was there next to them and then they pieced together the different clips. Two other interesting facts: most Salzburg residents have never seen The Sound of Music and yet 1/3 of their tourists come here because of the movie. Also Edelweiss was not a national song they all know. It was written by Rogers and Hemmerstein for the movie so most Austrians haven’t even heard it!

kasnoken which is a cheese and pasta dish with bacon and grilled onions

cheese sausage

Cosmo walking on the river bank

view of Salzburg from the fortress