With a slight mix up in the trains, it was off to Salzburg, Austria for a day of exploration and journeying through the filming of “The Sound of Music.” The train took about 2 hours, which could have been shorter, but there were lots of stops! The day wasn’t really planned at all, so after getting off the train, it took a while to re-group and get a game plan. Six of us decided to go on The Original Sound of Music Tour that took you to the locations in Austria where the movie was filmed. There was a little time before the tour started, so it was off to the Abbey where the escape scene was filmed to look around before we joined Trudi on our tour.
The four hour tour began with us eating pretzels we bought right before getting on the bus. In Munich, there are pretzels everywhere. Huge, soft pretzels that you can get at breakfast, and just about any other time of the day. These pretzels we got weren’t just any pretzels, there was one chocolate covered and one cinnamon pretzel. The chocolate was okay, but the cinnamon was amazing and tasted almost like a cinnamon doughnut. Actually we snuck eating them on the bus because food wasn’t allowed, but the 6 of us inhaled them, so we were safe.
Some movie background: Austria served as the location for filming the outside scenes of the movie. All of the inside shots were filmed in LA before the cast and crew came to Austria. The filming in Austria was supposed to take 6 weeks, but because of bad weather, rain and cold, the shot took eleven weeks. Surprisingly most Germans and Austrians don’t know what “The Sound of Music” is if you were to ask them. Before Hollywood made the movie, a film was made over here titled “The von Trapp Family” followed by the squeal “The von Trapp Family in America.” These films were popular here, but “The Sound of Music” never was. Both movies were based on the book written by Maria von Trapp about her life.
Most of the story is the similar, but there were a few changes. The family escaped to Italy by train and not Switzerland. They had refused the Nazi party three times, Captain von Trapp wouldn’t serve in the military, they von Trapp kids wouldn’t sing at Hitler’s 50th birthday and they oldest von Trapp son wouldn’t join the military, so the family decided to flee. They found out about the border closings by their butler, who was a Nazi, but who was extremely loyal to the family too. The von Trapp’s left of the train 1 day before the borders were closed. In real life, the oldest von Trapp child was a boy, but this was switched to Liesl. Maria really did become a nun, but not for long because she was sent to be the governess for Captain von Trapp. The real Maria von Trapp was not happy with the Hollywood changes and approached the movies director Robert Wise about it. She also said she wanted to be an actress, so to make her happy, he gave her $90,000 and a role in the movie. If you look, the real Maria von Trapp is the lady in black that Maria in the movie passes singing “I am Confident.”
Stop one showcased the lake where the famous canoe scene was filmed and the location of the house the served as the backyard to the von Trapp home. The outside of the home was a yellow house at another location. So, when you see the scene when they have fallen out of the canoe and Captain von Trapp is speaking with Maria, she is one place and he is another in regards to the backgrounds they are against. No one bothered to ask if the children could swim before this scene and it ended up that Kym Karath, the littlest von Trapp Gretl, couldn’t swim. The scene was set up so that Maria would fall out and catch Gretl. This worked perfect in the first take, but as you see in the movie that used the second version, Julie Andrews falls backwards and the children forward. If you look closely, you can see Gretl fall out, come up for air and then go back under. The scene didn’t go as planned and someone had to go in after here. When the director wanted to shot the scene again, the thought of it made her throw up on one of the other children. Needless to say, they went with the second take and moved on.
Our next stop took us by the villa that served as the outside of the von Trapp home and the row of trees Maria ran down signing “I am Confident” before first arriving at the von Trapp home. This stop also took us to the gazebo where some of the “I am 16” part was shot and also the scene between Maria and the Captain. During the first take of the “I am 16,” the dance shoes Liesl had didn’t get the proper slip soles and she went flying out a window. Luckily she didn’t get hurt, but she didn’t sprain her ankle. If you look closely in the movie, you can see the taped up ankle. The scene between Maria and Captain von Trapp is silhouetted in the movie because the lights being used were making a farting noise and they couldn’t quiet laughing. To fix this, the director had the scene changed to be dark so you couldn’t see them laughing.
To our dismay, Christopher Plummer is not actually singing in the movie, rather Bill Lee is the voice you hear. Plummer did sing during the movie, but decided to have a voice double since he wasn’t good enough next to Julie Andrews. He was also not the only candidate for the part. Others considered were the guy from “The King and I,” Sean Connery and Walter Matheson. He was sort of snobby and for the final scene where the family is walking over the mountain, Plummer wouldn’t carry Gretl on his back because he said she was fat. Rather, they used a body double in the scene.
The bus ride continued around the lake district where we passed Lake Fuschi and Lake Wolfgang that was where some of the opening scene shots were filmed. Also on the tour we passed the Mozart foot bridge that Maria and the kids ran over to get to their picnic. The tour continued to Mondsee, the Austrian town where the marriage of Maria and Captain von Trapp was filmed along with the scenes where the children were hanging from the trees.
We didn’t get to go to the arena where the singing contest was filmed at, but we didn’t learn that the song they were singing was not German, rather it was written by Rogers and Hammerstein, therefore all of the extras had to learn the words. This was a problem since many of them didn’t speak English, so you can see that many of them are “faking it” in the movie. These extras were also mad because they had to wear summer clothes in the cold weather and the scene was shot between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The opening scene in the movie was actually the last shots filmed because of the weather. It took an ox and cart to get Julie Andrews and the crew up the mountain to film. It was shot from a helicopter, but the problem was the downdraft that knocked her off her feet during shots. She wasn’t happy about this, but the scene was finally captured.
The last stop on the tour was the magnificent Maribell Gardens. This was the location for the “Do Re Me” song where the group is on the steps, running around the fountains, running down the arch of oak and rubbing the gnome. As is all the stops, it looked just like it did in the movie and in that case it required us to reenact the scenes. Jordan, Lauren C., Jamie, Sarah, Caitlin and I have video of the fountain scene, corridor scene and gnome scene. It was not only a great trip to see the spots for the beloved movie, but we also go to see so much of Austria in the 1 day that we were visiting.
To explain the rest of the title, “It’s a Privilege to Pee” is from the Broadway musical “Urinetown,” the story of a town that has to ration water because of a shortage and everyone must pay to use the public amenity, or toilet. I feel like that is the case when we have to pay to use the bathroom. It is really a pain and it costs between .50 euro and 1.50 euro, which is $1 to $3! Today there was a man who was taking money and escorting us to the stalls. It really makes you appreciate the US.
The four hour tour began with us eating pretzels we bought right before getting on the bus. In Munich, there are pretzels everywhere. Huge, soft pretzels that you can get at breakfast, and just about any other time of the day. These pretzels we got weren’t just any pretzels, there was one chocolate covered and one cinnamon pretzel. The chocolate was okay, but the cinnamon was amazing and tasted almost like a cinnamon doughnut. Actually we snuck eating them on the bus because food wasn’t allowed, but the 6 of us inhaled them, so we were safe.
Some movie background: Austria served as the location for filming the outside scenes of the movie. All of the inside shots were filmed in LA before the cast and crew came to Austria. The filming in Austria was supposed to take 6 weeks, but because of bad weather, rain and cold, the shot took eleven weeks. Surprisingly most Germans and Austrians don’t know what “The Sound of Music” is if you were to ask them. Before Hollywood made the movie, a film was made over here titled “The von Trapp Family” followed by the squeal “The von Trapp Family in America.” These films were popular here, but “The Sound of Music” never was. Both movies were based on the book written by Maria von Trapp about her life.
Most of the story is the similar, but there were a few changes. The family escaped to Italy by train and not Switzerland. They had refused the Nazi party three times, Captain von Trapp wouldn’t serve in the military, they von Trapp kids wouldn’t sing at Hitler’s 50th birthday and they oldest von Trapp son wouldn’t join the military, so the family decided to flee. They found out about the border closings by their butler, who was a Nazi, but who was extremely loyal to the family too. The von Trapp’s left of the train 1 day before the borders were closed. In real life, the oldest von Trapp child was a boy, but this was switched to Liesl. Maria really did become a nun, but not for long because she was sent to be the governess for Captain von Trapp. The real Maria von Trapp was not happy with the Hollywood changes and approached the movies director Robert Wise about it. She also said she wanted to be an actress, so to make her happy, he gave her $90,000 and a role in the movie. If you look, the real Maria von Trapp is the lady in black that Maria in the movie passes singing “I am Confident.”
Stop one showcased the lake where the famous canoe scene was filmed and the location of the house the served as the backyard to the von Trapp home. The outside of the home was a yellow house at another location. So, when you see the scene when they have fallen out of the canoe and Captain von Trapp is speaking with Maria, she is one place and he is another in regards to the backgrounds they are against. No one bothered to ask if the children could swim before this scene and it ended up that Kym Karath, the littlest von Trapp Gretl, couldn’t swim. The scene was set up so that Maria would fall out and catch Gretl. This worked perfect in the first take, but as you see in the movie that used the second version, Julie Andrews falls backwards and the children forward. If you look closely, you can see Gretl fall out, come up for air and then go back under. The scene didn’t go as planned and someone had to go in after here. When the director wanted to shot the scene again, the thought of it made her throw up on one of the other children. Needless to say, they went with the second take and moved on.
Our next stop took us by the villa that served as the outside of the von Trapp home and the row of trees Maria ran down signing “I am Confident” before first arriving at the von Trapp home. This stop also took us to the gazebo where some of the “I am 16” part was shot and also the scene between Maria and the Captain. During the first take of the “I am 16,” the dance shoes Liesl had didn’t get the proper slip soles and she went flying out a window. Luckily she didn’t get hurt, but she didn’t sprain her ankle. If you look closely in the movie, you can see the taped up ankle. The scene between Maria and Captain von Trapp is silhouetted in the movie because the lights being used were making a farting noise and they couldn’t quiet laughing. To fix this, the director had the scene changed to be dark so you couldn’t see them laughing.
To our dismay, Christopher Plummer is not actually singing in the movie, rather Bill Lee is the voice you hear. Plummer did sing during the movie, but decided to have a voice double since he wasn’t good enough next to Julie Andrews. He was also not the only candidate for the part. Others considered were the guy from “The King and I,” Sean Connery and Walter Matheson. He was sort of snobby and for the final scene where the family is walking over the mountain, Plummer wouldn’t carry Gretl on his back because he said she was fat. Rather, they used a body double in the scene.
The bus ride continued around the lake district where we passed Lake Fuschi and Lake Wolfgang that was where some of the opening scene shots were filmed. Also on the tour we passed the Mozart foot bridge that Maria and the kids ran over to get to their picnic. The tour continued to Mondsee, the Austrian town where the marriage of Maria and Captain von Trapp was filmed along with the scenes where the children were hanging from the trees.
We didn’t get to go to the arena where the singing contest was filmed at, but we didn’t learn that the song they were singing was not German, rather it was written by Rogers and Hammerstein, therefore all of the extras had to learn the words. This was a problem since many of them didn’t speak English, so you can see that many of them are “faking it” in the movie. These extras were also mad because they had to wear summer clothes in the cold weather and the scene was shot between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The opening scene in the movie was actually the last shots filmed because of the weather. It took an ox and cart to get Julie Andrews and the crew up the mountain to film. It was shot from a helicopter, but the problem was the downdraft that knocked her off her feet during shots. She wasn’t happy about this, but the scene was finally captured.
The last stop on the tour was the magnificent Maribell Gardens. This was the location for the “Do Re Me” song where the group is on the steps, running around the fountains, running down the arch of oak and rubbing the gnome. As is all the stops, it looked just like it did in the movie and in that case it required us to reenact the scenes. Jordan, Lauren C., Jamie, Sarah, Caitlin and I have video of the fountain scene, corridor scene and gnome scene. It was not only a great trip to see the spots for the beloved movie, but we also go to see so much of Austria in the 1 day that we were visiting.
To explain the rest of the title, “It’s a Privilege to Pee” is from the Broadway musical “Urinetown,” the story of a town that has to ration water because of a shortage and everyone must pay to use the public amenity, or toilet. I feel like that is the case when we have to pay to use the bathroom. It is really a pain and it costs between .50 euro and 1.50 euro, which is $1 to $3! Today there was a man who was taking money and escorting us to the stalls. It really makes you appreciate the US.
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