Salzburg, Austria (June 2005)

I love musicals. My grandparents used to have season tickets to the 5th Avenue Theatre and would take my middle sister and I to every musical that debuted. I did not anticipate my affinity of musicals to catch up to me in Europe, but surprisingly enough - it did. Turns out the most famous musical of all - The Sound of Music was filmed in Salzburg, Austria. We discovered this fact while visiting, and while normally aiming to be the "anti-tourist," (ie. not traveling in tour groups, over zealously taking pictures, traveling in large packs, trying to stand out)...my friends and I decided to take the "Sound of Music Tour."
Now I have to say, this tour was impressive. For four hours you are guided through the hills with an Austrian native, going to the sites of the movie. And the best part was - she played the soundtrack while we drove! So we were literally singing "the hills are alive," while driving along the windy back roads of Salzburg, it was surreal.
Our tour guide took us to see the Von Trapp estate where the family lived in the movie, the gorgeous gardens the children run through in song, the church where Captain Von Trapp and Maria were married, the wall Maria runs alongside singing "I Have Confidence," and finally the gazebo-home to the famous duet "I am 16, Going on 17."
So when we arrived at the gazebo there was a crowd of about 20 or so people...and we come to find out, Liesel (the real actress who played Liesel) was there filming a Sound of Music tribute. It was such a unique and pleasant surprise! Our tour guide said in the 9 years she'd been running this tour, nothing like this had ever happened. It was so cool, we got to meet and take a picture with her. And then the entire crowd, led by Liesel herself, joined in for a group singing of "I am 16, Going on 17," my friends and I were just giddy with delight. Kind of dorky I know, but it was such a fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience.