Cultural Pilgrimage to Salzburg The movie The Sound Of Music was released in 1965 and has been the most successful musical ever since. The Broadway show of the same name had been a hit, but the cinema version was even a bigger success that not only won five Oscars but also became one of the world’s widely recognized movies. Millions of its fans dream of making a pilgrimage to Salzburg, where it was shot. The city is known for its fine old buildings, medieval streets, art museums and Mozart connections. This journey, however, invites you to follow in the singing and dancing footsteps of Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, and those seven children, half a century ago. The horse fountain on the Residenz Square and the Mozartsteg footbridge across the River Salzach are just a few sights of the city that played important parts in the film. Perhaps the most famous one, and the first stop in our tour, is the Mirabell Gardens where the climax of the “Do-Re-Mi” sequence was shot. A few miles away lays Schloss Leopoldskron. There is a scene in the movie when Maria and the children fall out of the boat. Well, that scene was right on this lake. In the nearby gardens stands the pavilion, where Liesl trilled, “I am 16 going on 17” and had her first kiss. The park of Schloss Hellbrunn, which is our next stop, is ideal for relaxation as well as exploring Austria’s most impressive garden architecture. The final destination is the lakeside resort of Mondsee, where Maria walked down the long aisle of the St Michael’s basilica to marry the Captain. To this day, fans of the movie from around the world come to Mondsee to either tie the knot in its baroque church or experience the aesthetic upliftment, marking the end of this route. From the sunny alpine meadows, where Julie Andrews danced, to Salzburg itself, with its castles and churches, the scenery has not lost its beauty and has a lot to offer not only to the admirers of Robert Wise’s movie, but to anyone willing to discover the charm of Austria.