Le Colline sono Vive con il Suono della Musica

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music

Crazy how once upon a time salt was a source of wealth. Greek slave traders often bartered salt for slaves, giving rise to the expression that someone was "not worth his salt." Salzburg, Austria is a town known for many things, but mostly for its salt resources and for being the setting of the movie, The Sound of Music. We only stayed in Salzburg for three days, but let me assure you, it was worth every last bit of our salt!

View of town of Salzburg

We started our trip to Salzburg with a tour of a salt mine. It was awesome! We all dressed in white pants and hooded shirts and began our descent into the mine. This descent was one of my favorite parts. It involved a train ride and a number of long wooden slides. I honestly felt like I was in a real-life game of chutes and ladders. We needed the excitement of flying down a long slide and screaming on a fast train into the dark abyss. We had just gotten off of a 4-hour bus ride after all! We got to wander through the mine, go on a boat ride beneath ground, and watch an informational, cheesy video the whole way through. The videos taught us a lot about the history of Salzburg and the importance of the salt mines to the surrounding areas. European history is pretty fascinating, especially since each separate European country’s history correlates or depends on one another. It’s a concept that’s different from American history where it’s generally “united we stand”. Overall, the salt mine tour was a HUGE success amongst the college kids. We took multiple turns going down the slides. No shame.

I'm sure pretending to be hoodlums was a good idea at the time...

The slides!

Martin took us to the home of Mozart and we toured the building. Afterward he bought us hot chocolate made with Mozart’s chocolate (a Salzburg original chocolate) at the Mozart Café. It was hands down the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted. We ate dinner as a group that night at an outside restaurant. We ordered Austrian cuisine and enjoyed music from a nearby accordion street performer.

After dinner we went to the Irish pub across the street from our hotel. It was literally a 30 second walk. This was worlds different from our usual 40-minute walk from the residence to the downtown scene in Verona. It was great! We met some locals and listened to loud Irish drinking songs the entire night. Just like my Uncle Steve, these Irishmen fell perfectly into their stereotype: loud and obnoxious. However, I liked them and enjoyed the tunes. We even sang along to a couple of songs we knew. It was a clash of cultures, but we all enjoyed our alcoholiday.

We continued our singing habits the next day—We went on The Sound of Music tour. As cheesy as it sounds, we all got on the bus and started singing, “Do, Re, Mi!” and “I am 16 going on 17”… It sounds like my father’s nightmare and my mother’s utopia. I enjoyed it though. We watched the movie a few nights before and were excited to see all the sights where it was filmed. I had already been on the tour with my family when I was younger, but it was still exciting to see everything again. The Sound of Music is a great film, whether you’re a music lover or not. Julie Andrews will forever captivate me.

Any of these sights look familiar?

The crew at the Mirabella gardens

I couldn’t help but think about the time I was in the summer community production of Sound of Music at home. I loved that summer. The cast was so small, I felt like I bonded with my “siblings.” I was cast as Louisa and fulfilled every bit of the awkward coming of age role. I myself was going through it at the time. The main thing I remember about the summer production involved a certain scene. It was the scene where the Von Trapps have just performed in the festival before they flee from the Nazi regime and Austria. It was the only time I have ever really cried in a play before. I remember staring into the eyes of the man that played Captain Von Trapp, my father in the show. As he sang Edelweiss and looked at me, I remember seeing so much emotion behind his eyes. My own eyes swelled with tears. I thought about how scary the scene would be if it were real, and even more so, how important family was to me. The cast that summer felt like family. I come from a household of seven so I’m used to being surrounded by siblings. I think the world of my father and during the play, Mr. Neidenbach filled that role on stage and during a few moments behind the scenes. I still cannot forget the image of his blue eyes looking back at me, both of us nostalgic, torn and filled with tears. I can’t help but think he must’ve been thinking about his family too as he sang. He was a great actor, and from my experience with him that summer, a good man too. It’s funny how certain memories stick with you and how even the smallest interactions are impactful.

Austria is beautiful. It has the most breathtaking mountains I’ve ever seen. Jared and I are two of the more outdoorsy types in the group and we couldn’t help but drool over the mountains. We wanted to hike and explore so badly....so we did! Jared, Natalie, Jackson, Lisa and I took off after the tour and started navigating the nearest mountain. It was a great hike. Hot, but great! We explored the abandoned ruins on the mountain and when we reached the top we found a cool restaurant with the best view of Salzburg. We climbed the walls of the ruins and went off the path and discovered a little campground of sorts with a teepee. It was really cool. In case you don’t know me that well, I love adrenaline rushes and adventure. I’ve been skydiving, white water rafting, rock climbing, caving, etc. So I like to find little things that can give that adrenaline rush. Jared and I found it—we decided to climb up a water or electrical tower or something at the top of the mountain. It was most certainly the highest point in the town of Salzburg. It was phenomenal to make it to the top and catch sight of the view (even if an Austrian spied us and we had to scurry down the tower ladder and book it out of sight). Ah, it was a GREAT day.

The view from the top. My goodness do we have so much for which to be thankful!

Our final day in Salzburg was spent seeing the fortress and relaxing by the river. Apparently the riverbanks are the cool place to hang during the day. If that’s the case, I just might be able to live in Salzburg permanently. We caught some sun and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company for a few hours. It’s always refreshing to be outside. Jared and I taught Lisa how to skip rocks. Hah! It was entertaining to say the least, but she got it!

The Salzburg Fortress

Natalie and I by the river

Jared perfecting the art of skipping rocks

Our last night in the hotel, the power went out. So we all piled in to Chris and Pat’s room to hang out in candlelight. I couldn’t have asked for better company. These people are like family now. The night was full of laughs. It was the perfect way to end our stay.

We walked to the bus in the morning to head back to Verona. Everyone slept on the bus but Jared and I. We talked about how we were raised and our families. Its crazy how similar strangers can be. Anyway, the memories made me miss my family and be reminded of just how cool (and weird) they are. Jared talked about his 1982 pick up truck with crank windows and I chimed in with stories of my big red truck without power locks and with crank windows. We also talked about chores and allowance and how my mom used to put quarters in baby food jars as a means of teaching us discipline. Weird, I told you. However, I like to think it worked. It is always neat to hear about other’s upbringings and to recollect some memories of your own.

When we got back to Verona, we were overwhelmed with that familiar feeling: Home Sweet Verona! It’s a good place to be.

…Ciao! (or should I say, auf wiedersehen!)