From Herrenchiemsee we headed towards Salzburg and the Austrian border.  Thinking it would be easier to get the train to Salzburg rather than try and find parking we found a little stop at Bad Reichenhall.  It was a beautiful town at the foothills of the Alps and we spent the evening at the local Rupertus Therme Spa centre which was a very welcome chillout from holidaying – err hmmm.

Next day we headed into Salzburg on the very efficient and clean train service.  Salzburg has been on my list for sometime because I view most things in terms of films and therefore film locations – places just mean more to me because I can relate to them somehow and obviously Salzburg is the home of Sound of Music.

We decided to catch the Sightseeing Hop On, Hop off bus which while convenient I didn’t find the staff particularly helpful or even pleasant with one guy shouting at a passenger for not having his ticket ready to show when he got on the bus – not nice.  Unpleasantness aside Salzburg is beautiful and the tour takes you into the countryside with the first stop being the house on the lake.  It was very peaceful here and the house is now a hotel and conference centre and as it was Saturday it had a wedding going on.  We sneaked into the grounds and took some photos and then had a refreshing glass of Radler in the bar opposite while waiting for the next bus to turn up.

We also went to the gardens where they sang Do, Ray, Me but there weren’t any kids singing just a statue man pointing at the sky.

Of course the real story behind the VonTrapp family is a little less dramatic as they fled Austria before the Anschluss by train to Italy and then on to the USA where they made a name for themselves as singers and still live in Stowe, Vermont.  What is interesting though is that their original house was take over by Himmler of SS notoriety so probably a good job they were gone before he arrived!