This morning was our day set aside for visiting Salzburg, so we got up bright and early (ish) and caught the 9am bus to town. Our first stop was at the Hellbrunn palace which is famous for its trick fountains, dating from the 1700s. The fountains were very clever, we were particularly impressed by the village scene, which had a city scene of people (aristocrats and tradesmen) going about their daily business - all propelled by water. Most of the rooms and sculptures were designed to wet people, for example fountains coming out the middle of seats around the drinking table, and various other sprays of water intended to catch out those not paying attention. Our camera bags jacket came in handy to keep our camera dry combined with keeping a close eye on our tour guide. We thought we had escaped mostly dry until we were given a surprise dousing from behind. We didn't mind too much as it made us feel a bit cooler in the 200 degree heat.

The pavilion from the Sound of Music had been set up in the gardens surrounding Hellbrunn, and we got a few photos of that too. It was closed sadly so we couldn't re-enact any scenes ourselves which is a pity as we were both dying to burst into song.

After that we caught another (air conditioned - yay!) bus back into Salzburg. We had a picnic lunch at Mirabell Gardens ... another Sound of Music filming spot. After lunch we had a wander around the gardens and saw the steps and fountain where the von Trapp kiddies and Maria sung the doe-ray-me song :) Ignoring the Sound of Music appeal they were very nice gardens with beautiful flowerbeds and lots of sculptures.

For those not in the know, Mozart was born here, and the Salzburgians are pretty chuffed with his efforts. Lots of things are named after him and we saw his birth house and the house in which he lived until he was 24 when he felt that Salzburg was rubbish and left.

Otherwise, we spent the day wandering around Salzburg and saw more pretty old buildings, statues, fountains and churches. By that point it was approximately 328 degrees so we went back to our campsite to enjoy some more shade bathing.

Once it had cooled to a more moderate 133 degrees we set off for our final Sound of Music destination (Brett really was so excited!) - St Gilgen. This was the place where the opening 'The Hills Are Alive' (sing along, I know you want to) scenes were shot.

We hunted for the perfect dinner spot and found Christerbauer where I was most excited to use the other German phrase I know (i.e. not "Do you speak English"). "Zwei bier bitte" was the statement and was followed by two glasses of golden nectar coming my way (one for Rebecca!). The food was good too and we got to try a weiner schnitzel from the country in which it was born.

- R B e r b e e t c t c a