“Don’t worry, we have our own private tour. It will focus only on informative things. You don’t have to worry about all that kitschy stuff”.
The tour guide was sure she was doing my daughters and their choir group a favour on a recent tour in Austria as they got set to depart for The Sound of Music tour in Salzburg.
I was on that same tour on a different day and time yet we discovered our reactions at the conclusion were similar: that’s it, that’s all, folks?
The tour is based on the hit movie, based on the hit Broadway show, based on an actual narrative that has been famously diluted in the transition. What was added to the film were wallops of sentiment helped along by catchy songs, love interests (no sex though, need that G rating), and sweeping panoramas of the Austrian Alps. Decades later, hundreds of visitors to Salzburg line up daily for a bus tour to various iconic locations. At 40 euros a ticket, I expected at least an insider peek, at most a rollicking ride of sing-along silliness.
I wanted to yodel, dammit.
![]() |
Ready for the bus: I have confidence! |
Have Your Say