Mozart is stinky!

There is, indeed, a Mozart fragrance now. Ew. Let me just say that I picked it up and couldn't get the smell out of my nose!

Today, I ventured to Schloss Hellbrunn. Very pretty. I wanted to take a bicycle, but I was not going to spend 15 EUROS! to rent a bike to go there. Insane! So I took the bus instead. A tour of the Wasserspiele (Trick Fountains) and the palace. Minus the Octagon Room in the palace, it wasn't that exciting. It was cute to watch the little kids during the Wasserspiele tour...and the water wasn't totally unwelcomed because it was so hot. Quite clever how the fountains work by gravity and water pressure only.

Wandered the gardens and found the pavillion/gazebo from The Sound of Music. A lot smaller than I imagined it, and Hollywood certainly messes with your head! It's not out in the middle with nothing around it as one would imagine. Rather, there is a wall behind it, a playground across the way, and it is right next to the pathway. I am going to have to watch this movie, again, when I get home now that I have seen most of the sights here in Salzburg. ;) 

Those jumps Liesl had to do were actually quite large! Sandly, too, the doors are locked because someone tried to recreate the scene, fell, and broke their hip. The ridiculous part is that if they hadn't done that first, it would have been me! haha!

Picnicked in the gardens, saw some cute little old nuns walking around, and then headed back to town.

As one would expect, I got off at the wrong stop coming back. However, then I wouldn't have seen this cool little Smart Car:

Brilliant! Eventually, I found my way back to Altstadt where I took my adventure yet another step, renting a bicycle for an hour (far cheaper than for the time I would have needed it for Hellbrunn!) to ride down Hellbrunn Allee in search of Schloss Frohnberg, the palace used as the house in the film.

At first, I thought that I must have a death wish to be riding a bike again...and in a city no less! haha! But all was well! (Stop worrying, Dad, I'm still alive!) Only a few curses flew...  Also, for some weird reason, the bike rental dude thought I was from Spain. Never heard that one before!

In typical Samantha fashion, got lost again and was too busy la-di-da-ing looking at the Alps that I even rode past the Schloss by over a kilometer! How I could have missed it, I don't know. Guess too much la-di-da-ing is just distracting. haha! Passed the cute little nuns, again, and they smiled at me as I rode past. I felt like the wird Italian guy Mossimo in THe Wedding Planner...except he rode a moped. haha!

So...now I have pretty much completed my personal Sound of Music tour. :) Didn't see everything, like the lake and such, but got the main points. Also, pretty sure that Hellbrunn Allee is the road that Julie Andrews skips down singing "I Have Confidence." The whole time, I had a medley of the songs going through my head and was quite tempted to just burst out into song. However, I refrained...I did not need to turn into a spectacle. haha!

As I was turning into Mozartplatz, I may or may not have been yelled at by a random police office for riding on the wrong side of the driveway. Oops...

After dinner tonight, I went to the Marionetten Theatre and just may have seen The Sound of Music performed by marionettes. Yes, it is, indeed, true. Um...it was pretty fabulous. Fantastically cheesy, but fun all the same. AND...believe it or not, Jonathon Groff did the singing voice for the characters of Friedrich and Rolf. Impressive, eh?

Also, I have come to three conclusions:

1. In summer, my hair is in a perpetual state of messy, out-of-control-ness that just doesn't look good any way and keep me cool.
2. So many carbs...not enough water...  haha! ;)
3. I have officially crossed over to the biggest Sound of Music geek of all time, and I'm okay with that.

(As I was walking to the theatre, too, I walked past this probably 15-something year old girl who exclaimed, "This is sooo cool! I have now been to the places where Julie Andrews once was!" Pretty sure she is coming close to taking my title. haha!)

Gratitude 239
My bike ride in search of the house. It was pretty darn cool...even if I kept getting lost. It's just one of those things that you look back on later down the road that adds to the adventure and memories/stories you form. :)