The Hills are Alive?

We had our Italian final Friday morning, the last Friday class we will have for a while, and I was lucky to be one of the first to be called in to have a 5 minute convo with Magda. I think I did an ok job at stumbling through it and she certainly seemed to enjoy the conversation we had because she laughed a lot...in a positive way. I hope.

We said “Ciao, Grazie!” and got on a train around 2 for what would be a 10 hour journey to Salzburg. The warmer climate in Lugano definitely made it easy to forget that, although we are in Switzerland, we are the only region south of the Alps, and the northern countries were not yet feeling the spring weather. Our expectation of green hills and a lively town were shattered as the snow whizzed past our windows on the train. We had been so focused on studying for our Italian final that no one thought to check the weather, and find out that the “green” hills of Salzburg would be white that weekend. It was still beautiful though, we just weren't prepared for another weekend of slushing through the snow.

We arrived late that evening and booked a Sound of Music tour for the next morning. We got up and boarded a van and had an (almost) private tour of all the scenes in the Sound of Music. We blasted the music and sang along to our favorites as we drove around Salzburg and the surrounding area to see the hills, the “Von Trapp” house, the (then frozen) lake that Maria and the children tipped their boat in, the “I am 16 going on 17” gazebo, and the “Do, Re, Mi” stairs, and the wedding church. We learned about th real history behind the true Von Trapp family, Hollywood's interpretations and secrets, and some history about the town from a tour guide who was a little too into the movie to be normal, but who was very nice.

When the tour ended, we walked around the town for a little while and made our way to the Modern Art Museum, which overlooks the city. We drank some tea in their cafe and enjoyed the view of the snowy Austrian town before making our way down a winding path to the Augustiner beer hall for drinks and dinner.

We had half a day in Salzburg to finish up sightseeing before we had to take the train back to Lugano. We went to Mozart's residence where I took a tour and learned about his relationship with the city, his family, his upbringing, and his music. We ate Apple Strudel and special Mozart candies that were local to the city. We continued slushing through the city and went to a few touristy shops before getting on the train in our own “reclining” sleeper cabins for the long trip home.