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For most tourists who visit Salzburg, the allure lies in its reputation as being the city of Mozart’s birth and upbringing, as well as the home of the original Von Trapp family (you know, the ones from The Sound of Music).

Rock me, Amadeus! Street art in Salzburg.

Rock me, Amadeus! Street art in Salzburg.

As such, much of the sightseeing I did was somehow related to both of these things, and let me tell you: I did not know a lot about either of them! All of this info is probably even on their Wikipedia pages, but I don’t really troll that for this sort of thing, so it was exciting news to me!

Which is funny considering a) how much Mozart I sang growing up and b) the fact that I regularly sang “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” in the shower for most of my high school years, having looked up all the lyrics and memorized them for that specific purpose…

5 Fun Facts About Mozart

1. His sister was a super accomplished musician, too, and traveled with him and their father giving concerts!

2. Mozart was apparently pretty unattractive. The museum at his residence even said so in one of its gracefully snarky captions. There was a lovely exhibit there on Mozart portraiture–ironic?

3. He dearly loved his wife, Constanze, who was actually the sister of his first love!

4. Mozart spent about a third of his life traveling. Way to go, dude!

5. Mozart had blue eyes, and the portrait agreed by his family and friends to be most like him was actually by none other than his brother-in-law (the husband to that same first love!.

I loved singing Mozart in choir–here’s his Kyrie, super fun to sing!

5 Fun Facts About the Sound of Music and the Real Von Trapps

1. Although the real Von Trapps had a huge repertoire, none of their songs were used in the musical.

2. Maria Von Trapp never returned to the convent after she left to live as a governess for the Von Trapps.

3. The Von Trapp children didn’t get any pocket money for their performances from Maria.

4. The Von Trapps eventually settled in Vermont and the family runs a lodge there.

5. People in Salzburg really aren’t interested in the film–in fact, most haven’t seen it and many haven’t even heard of it!

Yes, I memorized both parts and would sing both as I shampooed.