Von Trappland

Christopher Plummer once (or more?) referred to The Sound of Music as The Sound of Mucus. Allegedly, anyway. He hated the film. Said it was drippy and sappy.

Austrians know the title but most have never seen the movie. Of course. Why would they?

If you're a tourist in Salzburg, it's a Sound of Music orgy, complete with a sing-along bus tour.

But if you go about an hour outside of Salzburg, along some very snaky roads set deep in the countryside, and you happen upon the hamlet of Vormoos, step out and look around. There are just a few houses here and this is where the priest who helped the Von Trapps escape was born and raised. Lived his whole life here. In the film, he was represented as Max the music promoter, but in real life he was a priest (was his name Warner? I can't remember.)

But the priest also promoted the Von Trapp Family Singers, and they used to have impromptu performances here.