Salzburg - The Sound of Music

I wasn't as excited about visiting Salzburg as I was about seeing Prague. After all, Karin did schedule us for a 3.5-hour-long bike ride visiting the spots where The Sound of Music was filmed.

When we arrived, the city was lovely, fresh, and clean with bicyclists flying by everywhere. You certainly had to have “open eyes”, or you would be run over walking into a designated bike lane where they seemed to be going faster than you would go on a German autobahn.

After we grabbed a quick and delicious poppy seed ham and Swiss cheese sandwich, we made our way to the dreaded start of our bike tour. My mind started racing: can I keep up on this bike version of an Autobahn? Our guide was a young Swedish man who was brought to Salzburg for his love of a lady, soon falling in love with the city itself. His passion and upbeat spirit brought joy to the 13 bicyclists he was guiding along, singing and replaying scenes from the musical.

Salzburg is not only the city of The Sound of Music, it's the birthplace of Wolfgang Mozart. As we snaked our way through the city, I thought, shouldn't we see the Alps of Austria? As I pedaled my new mode of transportation, I became immersed in the harmonious interplay of landscape, architecture, art, and culture. It seemed very traditional yet modern, all within a surprisingly small area, which only added to the charm.

After a long uphill climb and a sharp bend to the right, there stood majestically, the Austrian Alps. I was so in awe seeing the alpine landscape, the rolling meadow, and the beautiful flowers that before I knew it, our guide Joseph said we were at our last stop before the conclusion of our tour. I wondered how 3.5 hours could pass so quickly. Was I wrong? Was this adventure, the one I questioned even going on, becoming one of the most memorable parts of my trip? Who knows, but it was certainly something I would recommend if you ever find yourself in Austria.