The Sound of Music Tour
- Amaris Scipione
- Mar 11
- 4 min read
Today I’m sailing on Viking Rinda, and we are docked this morning in Linz, Vienna. I’ve chosen an all-day excursion which is themed around The Sound of Music. I haven’t seen the movie in years so yesterday I played the movie whenever I was in my stateroom. I managed to get through the whole movie yesterday in-between excursions, afternoon tea, and dinner.
Buses were parked a short walk from the ship. Three buses for our three groups. The buses are large motor coach buses, and we have enough space where I think each person could have two seats to themselves. There is a bathroom onboard for emergencies as well.
Many European countries feel somewhat futuristic to me. Things that I’ve come across in the US that I question are answered in Europe. One of the things I’ve always questioned is why do buses not have seatbelts in the US? Buses can get in accidents. Buses can rollover. Yet all the motor coach buses and school buses I’ve been on do not have seatbelts. Here in Austria, they have seatbelts, and it is law that everyone needs to use it. None of us had them buckled, but our guide for the day gently reminded us that they existed and to use them. She reminded us every time we got back on the bus.
Our first stop is Mondsee. This is a little town on a beautiful lake with a mountainous backdrop. There is the gorgeous Mondsee Abbey which you may recognize from The Sound of Music. It’s where the wedding scene was filmed. We went inside to take pictures. It was gorgeous just like the several other churches we’ve seen. We want to try something local, so we stop by a small bakery. I buy a topfenstrudel which is basically a cheese danish. Our time is running out, so we power walk to look at the lake and then it’s back to the bus. I think the main purpose of this stop is for a bathroom break, so we didn’t get a ton of time to explore.
I’ve been in Europe for a few days now, but my body is still tired in the morning. It’s the time when I feel the jetlag. I fall asleep between Mondee and Salzburg. Later, another woman comments that almost the entire bus had fallen asleep. I’m awoken by Julie Andrews belting out “The Hills Are Alive.” The bus rustles with movement as we all wake up. We’re in Salzburg!
We start our adventure in Salzburg with a walking tour. Our first stop is Mirabell Palace and Mirabell Garden. Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau had this build for his mistress and their 15 children. We roamed around the garden which had beautiful sculptures and the small signs that spring is around the corner. This is probably gorgeous in the spring and summer! This was a filming location for The Sound of Music. We continue our adventure to a shopping area. Each shop has wrought iron signs that hang above the walkway. It has a very unique feel to it. The reason we are walking here is because Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart birthplace is located nearby. We see the building, but don’t explore inside. It’s lunchtime!
We arrive at the oldest restaurant in Salzburg for our lunch. We go upstairs and Viking has arranged a private banquet for us. The room looks like we’re about to attend a wedding with white tablecloths and fancy servers. Lunch is chicken with vegetables and polenta. As we eat, a musical parade comes by our table and onto the stage. We enjoy listening to the tunes of The Sound of Music while we eat our meal. It was a nice touch for The Sound of Music tour. Lunch was delicious and we’re getting ready to leave when dessert comes rolling out. The dessert looks like three mountains in a white dish. The dish itself was very pretty, but it’s meringue which is not my favorite.
We now have free time to explore so we decide to check out the fortress. It’s a decent hike to the top and we don’t have a ton of time, so we go up the easy way. We take Austria’s oldest funicular called the Feastingsbahn to the top. It doesn’t take long to get to the top. The fortress has beautiful views of the city and there is a bar and restaurant up here. If we hadn’t just eaten lunch, this would have been a great place to have it!
On our walking tour, a shop was pointed out to us. Salzburg is known for a chocolate called Mozartkugel. It’s a chocolate filled with marzipan and pistachios. Cafe-Konditorei Fürst is known for being the first to make this candy so we wanted to try the original. One piece is 2 euros, and I didn’t buy another one.
We met back at the bridge with the locks and then it’s time to head back to the ship. Dinner tonight was delicious as always and we then watched dancers perform the Waltz. Tonight is our last day onboard so it’s back to the room to pack up our bags.
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