twenty in vienna: {the hills really were alive}

well, our time in italy was up, but i didn't really care because guess where we were headed next?

salzburg

home of the rolling hills, and julie andrews/christopher plummer! (well at least while they were filming the sound of music!)

we took a bus from italy and drove through the alps on our way to salzburg. it was beautiful! there villages nestled in the hills and whimsical lakes along the way.

and finally, we made it to salzburg! we got there sunday afternoon and spent the day getting settled into our cutest hotel and watching the sunday sessions of general conference.

the next monday started off with a DELICIOUS breakfast provided by the hotel. quite possible the best breakfast i've ever had. all you can eat european bread, jam, yogurt, juice, and pastries is, well, heavenly.

then, guess what was on our docket for the day?

THE SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR!

this is what i'd been living for for the past 3 months, and excited is an extreme understatement.

our tour guide picked us up in a bus, and the sound of music soundtrack began over the speakers.

life. was. complete.

we kicked off the tour with nothing less than the pavillion where rolf and liesl share there first kiss and georg and maria confess their love to each other!

i may or may not have cried of excitement... i'll let you decide.

"i am sixteen going on seventeen, innocent as a rose..."

"somewhere in my wicked, miserable past, there must have been a moment of good."

"i have confidence in sushine! i have confidence in rain!"

remember when maria is on her way to the von trapp's house? we were on the same bus company as her, just 40 years later! this is the road where she sings i have confidence! and also the road where captain von trapp brings the baroness to salzburg and sees his kids hanging on the trees!

the castle

me&lucy

on our way through the alps to other filming sites

does this look familiar? it's the house where they tip over in the canoe when they come home to captain von trapp and the baroness!

the convent where the real maria was a nun.

me&becca

aly.me.paiges.alexa.christina.

the church where maria and georg get married in the movie!

the city of salzburg wouldn't allow them to use the chapel where they were really married, so they had to use one about a half an hour away from the city.

the outside of the church

coolest tour bus in the WORLD

mirabell gardens

the "tunnel" where maria and the von trapp children ride their bikes while singing do re mi!

the sound of music museum

"how do you solve a problem like mariaaaaaa"

i've wanted to do this my whole life, and it finally happened.

after we go tour fix of sound of music (and by we i mean everyone else but me, i could have gone all day!) we stopped at the food market and got some fresh fruits, vegetables, and pretzels and sat in the grass, eating in the sunshine. then we decided to climb the mountain up to the castle! we got half way and were blown away by the astonish view of the city. so we spend a good half an hour snapping some candid shots...

... and some not so candid shots!

needless to say, we had a good time and made lots of memories.

i think that's what i will miss the most.

being in some of the most amazing places in the world, with some of the most amazing people in the world, and making memories that couldn't be made any other way.

i mean, we made complete idiots of ourselves trying to take a picture, and it's something i'll never forget.

*sigh*

i'll miss this.

ah paige. i love you!

we finally made it up to the castle and into the courtyard.

i came across this unicorn!

we cuddled for a sec, and it made me feel a little better and temporarily filled the hole in my heart and longing for my sweet carl.

we spent a couple of hours there looking over the mystical city of salzburg. around 7, all the bells to the chapels went off and we got to listen to the music cascading through the city and bouncing of the hills.

first day was a success, and we returned to our hotel more than ready for a good nights rest.

today we went to kontrapunkte chamber music concert at mozarteum. there was a lot of beautiful music! but it was really warm in there and traveling was catching up with me, so i may or may not have dozed off a few times. oops.

BUT THEN

we did something i wouldn't have been able to sleep through even if i tried.

guys.

we took this cable car to the top of untersberg! (it's the mountain that borders austria and germany.)

it was a pretty rickety ride the way up, which i found absolutely thrilling!

some people thought otherwise. (aka alexa lynn collett.)

but we made it safely, all in one piece.

christina.paige.me.alexa

atop the alps!

toms: beginning

me&paige enjoying the fresh alps snow on our hike to the top.

toms: middle.

there were ups and downs the whole hike to the peak, so we without traction on our shows resorted to running down in order to not slip. it worked quite effectively, and i enjoyed myself a little too much.

we made it to the peak of untersberg!!

it was quite an expedition! it seems it would be freezing temperature, but we somehow managed to sweat profusely as we hiked the steep incline. i think i even got sunburned.

the view was incredible.

alexa.paige.aly.me.christina

at the peak

well, after we all made it to the top, we spend a good amount of time taking picture perfect photos and enjoying the scenery. our cable car driver informed us the last car left at 5, and we needed to be at least 10 minutes early if we didn't want to spend the night up here. when our photo ops reached a max, we looked down at our clock and realized we had 10 minutes to make to the cable car! we knew there was no way we'd made it down the steep, slippery slope if we cautiously embarked to the station with our no traction shoes. wellp, desperate times call for desperate measures. yep, you guessed it! we 'skiied' the way down! (bucket list: skiing in the alps. check!)

triumphant trio, UNITE!

we made it to the station with plenty of time to spare, and a few minutes to soak our feet in some sunshine before we went home.

toms: end

moral of the story: don't where toms to climb the snowy alps.

the next day, me and alexa went to the salzburg zoo!

"we're going to the zoo, zoo zoo. how about you, you, you? you can come too, too, too. we're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!"

~raffi

the dead goat.

(just kidding, he was really dead.)

flamingos!

staring contest with the emu.

i won.

you eyein' me, hopscotch?

if i was an animal, and i had to choose a zoo to live in, it would definitely be this one.

look at this cute little monkey just shimmying down the rope in front of the beautiful mountain!

heaven.

the camel who felt so inclined to pose for my picture!

we're best friends now.

petting the goat.

rhino!

alright guys, brace yourselves for what's coming next. it was in this moment that i felt this zoo was especially made for me.

there was a llama petting zoo.

A LLAMA. PETTING ZOO!!!!!!!!!

i was singing praising on high and excited out of my mind.

ooohhooo! the little baby llama was so cute!

i named him hector.

a little too close for comfort, but i didn't mind.

what's his name?? kuzzcooooooooooooooo

after an enjoyable afternoon at the zoo, me and alexa went to hellbrunn palace and enjoyed some fanta in the courtyard, toured the palace, and waited anxiously for our tour of the wasserspiele "trick fountains."

we got a little nervous when we saw people coming out soaked, but we got a few tips to stand in only dry spots and don't go in the grotto.

exhibit a: the king loved to play tricks on his guests. so, he built this outdoor dining table where each seat had a hole in it, except for the mischievous king himself.. now, the custom was that no one stood up from the table if the king was sitting. so, during an enthralling bit of conversation, the king would flip a switch and water would squirt out the seats and directly up the persons bottom! the king didn't have any water squirting up his bottom and remained sitting and therefore, his guests did the same.

i think this is where the 'enema' originated.

i got sucked into the grotto we weren't supposed to go into, but i outsmarted our tour guide and hid in the dry corner until he left and i knew he couldn't get me wet! this is me running out, terrified.

alos, i am the only white person in this picture.

this tricky little fellow seemed innocent enough, until he sprayed me right in the face when i walked by!

sneaky, sneaky.

after a few good laughs in the trick fountains, we took the long way home and walked back into town. we walked down the road where julie andrews sings "i have confidence" and came across the house they used to film the front of the von trapps house when maria first comes to their home.