Submitted by:

Chiara Atik
New York, New York

Growing up, I had one dream. I wanted to go to Salzburg.

Actually, it would probably be more accurate to say that I wanted to wake up one morning as the 8^th Von Trapp child in “The Sound Of Music”, and it would preferably be the morning that Maria takes us on a picnic in the mountains and teaches us how to sing “Do A Deer”, after which we would all go on a mad dash around Salzburg and the surrounding countryside, marching gaily, singing lustily, and experimenting with increasingly complicated harmonies.

Salzburg - Kapuzinenberg

I didn’t make it to Salzburg until the summer I turned 20. By then I was much too old to be so engrossed in The Sound Of Music, and much too jaded to think that places and fantasies could ever live up to childhood expectations. In fact, as I boarded my Ryan Air flight from Stansted, I steeled myself in preparation of finding Salzburg to be touristy, one-dimensional, and tiny. But to my immense joy, Salzburg wasn’t one bit disappointing.

In fact, Salzburg was perfect.

For two blissful weeks, I indulged my inner von Trapp, manically skipping around the city, fulfilling every movie-related fantasy that had ever crossed my mind.

Leap frog in Mirabellgarten

If you, like me, are a die-hard Sound Of Music fan (and let’s face it, you probably aren’t.), there are certain things that you just must do if you ever make it to Mecca Salzburg.

• Climb Evr’y Mountain. (Well, I climbed just the one: Schafberg.) Singing. (Yep.)

Yodeling in a cave

• Go to puppet show. Sing along. (Unfortunately, my Magic Flute isn’t nearly as good as my Lonely Goatherd.)

• Eat Schnitzel. (It is good.)

• Eat warm apple strudel. (It is disgusting.)

• Pick Edelweiss. (This is illegal. But.)

• Bicycle along the river. (Preferably singing.)

Fraulein Maria's Bike Tour

• Go to Sound Of Music Dinner Show. (I loooooooooooooved it, omg, I love love looooved it. Everyone you bring with you will hate it. Unless you get them drunk. And then they will looooooove it!)

• Dance an Austrian Folk Dance. (Less romantic, more embarrassing than I had envisioned.)

• Knock on the front door of the Von Trapp home, just like Maria does in the movie. (This is a private residence, and some fence scaling may be involved.  But whatever, it’s worth it.)

• Jump around from bench to bench in the gazebo where Liesl and Rolf sing “I Am Sixteen”. (Of course, there were about 12 other annoying tourists doing the same thing, I was pissed.)

• Go to the patio that overlooks the city and graciously teach people how to sing one word for every note. (They were unappreciative.)

• Protest outside the Von Trapp House, aka Leopoldskron, aka Private Harvard Building. Demand they let you in. (Every Voice Counts.)

Leopoldskron Castle

• Jump up and down the steps mimicking the chords on a music scale in Mirabellgarten. (There will usually be some Japanese tourists willing to help you out.)

• Become a von Trapp. (This one is harder to do in one visit. But. Persistence is key.)

Chiara Atik is a playwright an associate editor at Guest of a Guest.

Photo Credits: Photo of Kapuzinenberg courtesy of Dimitry B.; photo of Leopoldskron courtesy of Ian Lloyd.