For the last weekend before Elena would leave EWS, we decided to have a final trip together. We chose Werfen, a small town in Salzburg with a spectacular castle and even more spectacular ice cave. However, we opted for a third attraction – the picnic meadow from The Sound of Music!
Let’s start at the very beginning…
We got to Werfen later that morning and stopped at a small cafe before heading to the meadow. Having woken up very early and not encountered any coffee machines en route, we were in dire need of caffeine. We sat in the sun with our drinks and desserts, with Elena treating herself to a final Apfelstrudel in Austria. Before starting our walk, we loaded up on snacks for our picnic later.
The Sound of Music Trail began in the village and slowly wound its way up the hills surrounding Werfen. The path was surrounded by hedges so we didn’t see much on the way up. However,we did come across several signs with the lyrics to Do Re Mi, the song which plays during the picnic scene in the film. The song is catchy as it is, but if you see the words to it every few minutes, it will definitely get stuck in your head!
After about an hour of singing and walking, we reached the open meadow. The iconic spot was enclosed by a fence and marked with a sign and a picnic table. We took in the mountain view, as well as lots of pictures, and looked for a spot for our picnic. As it was a sweltering day and the official picnic spot was right in the sun, we set our blanket up between a road and a field of cows. Not exactly what we had in mind, but it was in the shade at least!
A final hike
We still had a few hours before our train back to Tamsweg, so we decided to do some hiking. Due to the heat our progress was slow, but luckily most of our walk was in the shady forest. We reached several viewpoints from which you could see the whole valley, a beautiful sight on such a clear day. Making our way down the hills, we came across fields of cows, geese, and a carp pond where we caught our breath and dipped our feet to regain our energy.
All in all, we had a fantastic day out in the Salzburg countryside, a great way to spend a final weekend with Elena.
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