Exploring the Gardens

Salzburg, Austria, July 1971. We're visiting Mirabell Gardens and Palace, where everything is smaller than it appears in the movies.

July 4

Grand Lake, Colorado, July 4, 1967. Catch up on Americana. (Don't miss The Monkees float).

Visiting the Gardens

Salzburg, Austria, July 1971. We explore the Mirabell Palace and Gardens during the vacation built around The Sound of Music sites.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu

The last of the von Trapp siblings, Maria von Trapp, has died. Heather Menzies-Urich portrayed her, as "Louisa," in "The Sound of Music."

Watch your step.

Suburban Chicago, January 1959. My Mom and my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, return from a shopping trip. Back then, people thought sixty-year-olds were "old," and stores sent you home with "brown paper packages tied up with string."

RIP Eleanor Parker

Parker played the baroness in "The Sound of Music." In that role, Parker was glamorous and icy. She delivered one of the best lines in the film: "And somewhere out there is a young lady who I think will never be a nun."

von Flap

A von Trapp shares some thoughts about the remake of "The Sound of Music."

"The Baroness is hardly a monster for not enjoying a game in which children hurl a ball at her pelvis."

"A Complete Curmudgeon's Guide to 'The Sound of Music'."

Nunspiration

The "favorite teacher" is a topic that arises occasionally on the blog. The sister pictured here, Sister Patricia, was not one of my teachers. She was a member of the Order of Saint Francis, and she served for a time as the Principal of the grade school I attended.

Sister Patricia was my first "nun crush." She and a colleague once met with our family when the parish encouraged teachers to visit student homes. We hosted them in our living room in the early evening, and my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, served tea. As Sister Patricia sat on our sofa, I rested my head against her starched habit, smelled her Ivory-soap-clean hands, and noticed that she, like I, had a cheek dimple. 

After I met Sister Patricia *and* saw The Sound of Music, I was certain I wanted to become a nun.

Melrose Park, Illinois, June 1964. Sister Patricia attends a graduation ceremony.

The countdown begins.

January 4, 2014: The Sound of Music Sing-a-Long is coming to Madison.

I will be ready.

The Baroness: "And somewhere out there, I think, is a young woman who will never be a nun."
 ...

(Later) The Captain: "Maria, there isn't going to be any Baroness. ... You see, you can't marry someone when you're in love with someone else."

Come on, you know the words!

Rolf!

St. Peter's Cemetery, Salzburg, Austria, July 1971. When we visited the cemetery, I wrongly assumed it was the filming location for The Sound of Music's Nazis-hunting-the-Von Trapps scene.

The Sound of Music: Meet Maria von Trapp

Fellow fans: here's a look at the real Maria von Trapp.

(Via Retronaut.)

"Float"

Grand Lake, Colorado, July 4, 1967. It's the Fourth of July Parade, and there's a float celebrating my favorite, childhood movie.

Musical Mountains

During the summer months, the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park, Montana, staffs its facility with college students. The students serve as maids, waiters, and groundskeepers throughout the property. Many of the students also bring their musical and acting talents to the hotel.

When we visited the Many Glacier area in the 1960s and 1970s, the student staff often staged musical productions and concerts in the hotel. We saw "The Sound of Music" and "Funny Girl" in the makeshift theatre on the hotel's lower floor. On Sunday afternoons, groups of students also performed classical music in the lobby of the hotel.

It was such a tranquil place.

Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1966. This is the view of the hotel's entrance from the parking lot. The parking lot is adjacent to the area from which one could launch a horseback ride.

*     *     *     *     *

Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1966. The red Glacier National Park tour buses have pulled up to the lobby entrance. We used to say that this is how the rich people arrived at the hotel.

*     *     *     *     *

Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1966. Student musicians entertain guests in the hotel lobby. A glass wall separates the musicians from the gift shop.

Shopping in Salzburg

My favorite stop during our 1971 European vacation was Salzburg. I fell in love with the city not only because of its immediate connection to The Sound of Music. I also found Salzburg enchanting because of its walkable size and its friendly atmosphere.

Salzburg, Austria, July 1971. Doesn't it seem like Mozart is just around the corner?

*     *     *     *     *

Salzburg, Austria, July 1971. Ah, here are a couple of 1970s maxi dresses on the prowl. The women look like they are on their way to an event. Mom and I lean against a shop window. I very much wanted to buy an Austrian dirndl at one of the folksy boutiques, but my Parents correctly concluded that the getup would not translate well in Suburban Chicago. (The dress I wear in the photo is a home sewn, polyester imitation of a dirndl.)

Years later, when I lived in Venice, Italy, I partially satisfied this taste for Bavarian fashion when I purchased a unisex loden coat. (I love it and still wear it today.)

*     *     *     *     *

Salzburg, Austria, July 1971. The view of the magnificent castle.

Weeping Willows, weep.

Two prominent Weeping Willows anchored the center of my childhood backyard. The trees, you'll recall, substituted as the "Alps" in a production of The Sound of Music. Over the years, the Weeping Willows grew so large that their branches rubbed against the siding of the house.

It was not long after that growth spurt that some bugs common to Weeping Willows starting appearing inside the house. The spider-like invaders first arrived in my Parent's master bathroom.

My Mom arranged to have the Weeping Willows cut down soon afterward.

Suburban Chicago, Summer 1959. It looks like Tatjana is ready to celebrate my birthday. The Weeping Willow branches framing us are from a tree that, at the time, was less than two years old.

The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies. Although we own a copy, it's always exciting when a network broadcasts the film during a holiday weekend. Old school.

I loved the movie before it morphed into the cultish subject of Rocky-Horror style sing-alongs. I fell for the film from the moment I saw it at the movie theatre, in 1965. The Sound of Music combined plot elements that drew me in easily: nuns, Nazis, World War II, romance, refugees, a wicked baroness, and, of course, Julie Andrew, the star of Mary Poppins.

My Best Friend and I staged a backyard production of the movie for the neighborhood. She played Captain von Trapp, and I was Maria. We sang the songs and ran around the Weeping Willows in the yard as though we were in the Alps. As our staging inched toward the five-hour mark, my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, pulled the curtain on our play.

When my Parents and I traveled to the German-speaking countries, our itinerary including a mandatory stop in Salzburg for a "Sound of Music Tour."

Today, I still remember the lyrics of many songs from the film. The other day, someone mentioned Christopher Plummer. A coworker and I burst into "Somewhere in My Youth" without hesitation.

I think the Ländler scene—in which the Captain leads a startled Maria through the steps on the traditional Austrian folk dance—remains one of the most touching moments captured on film.

Suburban Chicago, 1965. I engage in a "Maria moment" at my play table.

Why don't you post some photos from the 1970s?

Mr. Irene asked me that question a few days ago.

So here you go, Mr. Irene. But these snapshots may not be what you had in mind.

In 1971, my Parents took me on a European vacation. The original plan was to go to Norway. My Parents had just seen Song of Norway—the movie about the life of Edvard Grieg starring Florence Henderson—and they thought a tour of the fjords might be fun.

Everyone had the same idea that season, so my Parents scratched the Scandinavian itinerary. Instead, they decided to structure a trip around my Parents' fluency in German and my favorite movie, The Sound of Music. We spent the month of July traveling through Austria, Germany, Switzerland. At the end of the vacation, we realized there was no place as beautiful as Glacier National Park, and we returned there for our vacation the following year.

What do I remember most about the European trip? Four things.

*     *     *     *     *

(1) Air travel is glamorous:

Vienna, Austria, July 1971. Mom and I get our "sea legs" upon landing. The trip from O'Hare to Vienna was my first flight. We flew on a 747 "Jumbo Jet."

*     *     *     *     *

(2) I ate my way through Europe. I gained about twenty pounds in four weeks:

Hungarian border, July 1971. I dive into some rye and goulash at a cheesy place that was part of our tour along the border.

*     *     *     *     *

(3) We dressed up whenever we left the hotel. Mom and I sewed a number of polyester dresses that would travel well, free of wrinkles:

Salzburg, Austria, July 1971. I stand with Mom at a spot made famous by Julie Andrews and the "von Trapp children."

*     *     *     *     *

(4) I got altitude sickness—badly—during the two-hour train ride straight up to the Jungfrau. When we reached the summit, I needed oxygen:

Jungfraujoch, July 1971. Mom and I hang out of the train that took me to a bad place.