On a summer’s day in August back in 1967, my family spent a day or two sightseeing in Salzburg. There were 3 little girls, Heather Mary (the sensible one), Jennifer (the naughty one with ginger hair and freckles), and Jillian (the baby of the family). Here we are having fun riding the stone unicorns at the steps of the Mirabell Gardens.
We were there on one of our camping holidays having spent most of the holiday in Istria in Croatia near Rovinj, which was at that time part of Yugoslavia. We drove back via Austria to spend a couple of nights camping near Salzburg and had a look around the Hohensalzburg fortress as well as the Mirabell Gardens. As my Dad said, with three little girls it was all about ice creams and finding toilets, and I’m amazed that we even saw much of the sites.
Roll on 40 years or more and here I am again, this time visiting with my husband and one of my three children, having a ride on the same unicorn. The scene hasn’t changed so very much has it?
And what about this famous picture postcard shot of the gardens looking through the wrought iron gates (the unicorns are just inside on either side) and across the formal gardens towards the Hohensalzburg Fortress on the hill in the background. I wonder whether the gardens were laid out just so to frame that view. Yes, that’s me playing with my sister on the steps in the foreground.
If you’re a Sound of Music fan, you’ll remember Julie Andrews and her Von Trapp children running and dancing through the avenue of clipped trees straight ahead, where now there are plenty of benches to sit in the shade.
Do you have any photos of your younger self that you managed to recreate on a later visit?
Check out these videos about Holidays in Austria
For more information about Holidays in Austria visit the Austrian Tourism Website
My thanks to the Austria National Tourism Office UK for sponsoring* our trip to Salzburg and Wolfgangsee
* More info on my policies page
See also heatheronhertravels’ Salzburg – Mirabell gardens photoset
This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com
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