Sound of Music - Sound of Austria?

Work wise I was in the lovely Salzkammergut a lot the past month. Several Times in Mondsee, right next the infamous church which was used for the site of the wedding in the movie "Sound of Music". Every time I was there, a horde of Americans and Asians would walk around the square in front of the church, take a look inside the church and fill up the memory cards of their digital cameras with the pictures of the same spots over and over again..

Today I was in St. Gilgen. I got there in the early morning, it was a sunny day and no wind, so the lake was crystal clear and the mountains mirrored in the lake. It was such a magnificent view that I decided to stop for a moment and enjoy the scenery for a while. That’s when the picture from above was taken. I even drove past that meadow where the shot for the infamous original movie poster was taken.

Until I turned 20 I did not knew about the movie "Sound of Music" at all. I first heard about the movie when Americans started babbling about "Sound of Music" when I told them that I was from Austria. It’s funny that a movie that was shot in 1965 still brings Austria to the minds of even young people all over the world.

My colleague from the local tourism office in St. Gilgen told me that one time, a group of Japanese tourists came to her office and asked her about the sights and the movie. Later the Japenese group would gather and sing the infamous "Edelweiss" song.

Sound of Music is barely known in Austria and hardly ever shown on Austrian television. A lot of Austrians think that it portraits a cliché that is complete unfaithful to the real Austria.

But without a doubt, Sound of Music has done Austria a great favor when it comes to the tourism industry and showing the world just how beautiful my home country really is. When I drove to St. Gilgen today and saw lake Wolfgangsee in front of me, I couldn’t help but smiley and think – maybe Austrians are not like in the movie, but at least the movie got the scenery right!

Wine & More

One of my favourit pictures from my recent tour to Lower Austria for some great wine tasting!

More pictures:

Lower Austria, Wachau, Kamptal

Free Tibet!

I think the picture speak for itself! I saw the truck today on my way home from work and could not resist to share it with you! A clever and non violent way to show support.

Chinese Menue

Things you don't want to find on an the menue of a chinese restaurant near you...

Antarctica

I am booked on a tour to Antartica in November 2008! YEAH!

Thank you George W. Bush!

Well, since everyone is giving the current president of the United States such a hard time, I think I personally have to step up and thank him for making one of my biggest dreams come true.

How you might ask?

There is also a little pre-story that I want to share, which dates back to the year 2001, to be precise, the 9th of September 2007. I was travelling around Australia at that time and visiting a friend of mine in Brisbane. We where sitting at the shores of a river watching the Goodwill Games and each one of us was smoking a big cigar. Both of us love to travel and we where mapping out trips that we would love to do in the years to come, up to about when both of us would turn 25. To my own surprise I managed to stick to all the plans I made back then. Which included Mexico, Cuba, New Zealand, South Africa and LatinAmerican. But silently, I added another goal, to visit all continents, including Antarctica before I would turn 30. Back then a ridiculous plan way beyond my financial resources. But the idea kept spinning in my head all the time.

Well, seven years later, and I just got the booking confirmation for my trip to Antarctica. The trip is still months ahead, but I would have never gotten this far without the weak US economy!

When George Bush was elected president of the United States (thanks to Florida…), the Dollar was at an All-time-high, and the trip I booked recently would have cost me a whopping 5.500 Euros.

Fast forward to 2008, the Trip is down to 2.350 Euro, less then half of what I could have paid if the Dollar would have sustained its strength. Since the day George Bush took office, the Dollar has gotten weaker, and by the time the citizens of the USA have elected their new leader, I will have returned from my trip to the frozen continent.

So in a wicked way, I do owe my trip to George Bush and the path the American economy has taken since he is in charge.

Happy New Year!

This year we made this icebar in front of my aunts house!

More Pictures:

Silvester 2007 Eisbar - Ice bar