The Hills Are Alive - EEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Twenty-seven years of anticipation and dreaming led up to this awesome day.  I can't adequately put into words how it felt to finally be in a place I have dreamed of since I was a pup.  When someone asks me where my dream vacation destination is, I always say Austria.  I often get the response, "Australia?"  and I say, "Nope, Austria so I can twirl in the Sound of Music mountains."  Casey kindly let me plan this vacation around my Sound of Music dreams and the seven year old in me came alive as we toured the places I dreamed of for so many years.  Remember my excitement when we visited the Roald Dahl Museum in December?  I felt that same excitement this day.  

Without further adieu, my second best day ever (behind marrying Casey, duh), tied with the Roald Dahl Museum.

Part 1: The Sound of Music bike tour.

Preparing for our tour, Red Bull in hand :)

Casey was so nice to be the photographer/videographer for my big day!

We had picture cards on our baskets with scenes from the movie... something Sound of Music experts like me obviously don't need :)

First stop: the sight of the Salzburg Music Festival where the kids were singing when they made their daring escape.

And here's me making my daring escape :)

This place was awesome.  They carved the entire thing out of the mountain - not using mountain rocks, carved it out of the mountain.  It was pretty amazing.

Flicking water like Maria when she sang, "I Have Confidence."

Fun fact: The studio didn't make it widely known that they were filming a movie in Salzburg, so when they put a Nazi flag on this building for a scene, the people of Salzburg freaked out (and rightfully so - it was only 20some years after WWII).  Some went home, packed up their things and left the country and some left the country immediately without even stopping at home.  Salzburg placed strict limitations on the studio after that.

The cemetery where they hid at the end of the movie.

Nonnberg Abbey

and the "real" Maria watering her garden!

Pretty abbey.  We weren't allowed to go in but standing on the outside was good enough.

Fun fact: Nonnberg Abbey got a bad reputation during the filming of The Sound of Music.  The extras dressed in nun costumes hiked up their skirts and smoked between takes, and for years people thought they were the real nuns.

"Eeeeeeeeeee!  I'm biking where Maria walked!"

The back of the Von Trapp house.  They used two houses in the movie, one for the front and one for the back.  This one was stunning.

Just hanging out in the trees where the children played.

The front of the house :)

The group.  The girl next to me in the bright blue shorts loved the movie as much as I did.  She started a sing along on the way home and that was my favorite part of the tour.

Dorks trying to pass the time between sights.

The gazebo, one of the things I wanted to see most on the tour.  I was pretty much in awe when I saw it, as you can see in this picture.  I just wanted to touch it and dance in it and sing, "I am 16 going on 17..."  Unfortunately, some mean old lady was in there singing, "I am 80 going on 81" and she tripped, broke her leg and sued the city of Salzburg.  They had to lock it up so nobody else got hurt.  Mean old lady ruined one of my dreams.

But don't fret!  I still got to do the awesome Liesl squeal outside the gazebo - "Weeeeeeeeeeee!"

Pit stop for delicious grapefruit beer - half grapefruit, half beer, pure deliciousness.

Hohensalzburg Castle and me

Sound of Music Bike Tour - dream come true.

Part 2: Untersberg Mountain, aka Maria's Mountain

This is the mountain where Maria supposedly sings in the opening scene and the one she refers to when she's talking to the Mother Abbess.

The mountain and the views were incredible.  Being up on this mountain made us realize (again) that we are happiest in Colorado.  Maria obviously wants us to move back to Colorado, too :)

Part 3: Twirling and Mirabell Gardens

This is the part of Salzburg that I've always dreamed of.  I wanted to go on the bike tour and up the mountain, but twirling like Maria in a big open field was my biggest dream.  We have about 473 pictures of me twirling, but I won't bore you with all of that.  Here's my favorite one.

In my dreams, I always had the perfect twirling dress on, but sometimes it's not easy to find what you want in Dubai.  I had to settle for this long, untwirly skirt.  With or without the twirly dress, the happiness level is still the same.

Elation!

Now on to the gardens.

Mirabell Gardens were in the big "Do a Deer" scene.  They sing on the mountain and then tour the city in their curtain play clothes.  Casey and I actually walked through this garden our first night in Salzburg and didn't even realize it was the Sound of Music garden.  We obviously had to go back to take pictures.

Tree tunnel.

Can you find me?

Yes I did march around the fountain like an overenthusiastic fan.  It would have been cooler if I had seven kids marching behind me.

And, finally, the stairs where they ended the song.

And a cute lady in her traditional dress.  

Fun fact: These stairs are the most photographed in Europe according to the tour guide.

After the Roald Dahl Museum and The Sound of Music tour, I'm all out of childhood travel dreams.  Shout out to Casey for letting me plan a trip to Sound of Music land and enthusiastically photographing every second.  Thanks, love!