Cameron Hewitt (my wonderful co-author and fellow guidebook researcher) is at it again. He’s giving a sacred tourism cow a hard, non-dewy-eyed look: this time, it’s the Sound of Music tours. On assignment to update the Salzburg chapter of our Vienna guidebook, he was confronted with a classic guidebook researcher challenge: Two companies offer the same tour. Which is the better value for our traveling readers?
To find out, Cameron spent two half-days on buses surrounded by S.O.M. aficionados singing “Doe, a Deer.” In this take — or is it a “takedown”? — Cameron freely admits he’s not a fan of the movie…and it shows. S.O.M. fans, click through only if you have a sense of humor. Here’s the full report. (Full disclosure: The Sound of Music was so big in my family that my father actually named his piano business “Steves’ Sound of Music.”)
Cameron is reporting on his summer European travels on his blog. If you enjoy Cameron’s take on Europe, be sure to also “like” his Facebook page — he’s just wrapping up Austria, and will be reporting soon from Budapest, Bulgaria, and Romania. Don’t miss out on Cameron’s keen insights.
Christopher isn’t the only one who’s not a fan of “The Sound of Music.” I heard that actor Christopher Plummer used to refer to the film as “The Sound of Mucus.”
Sorry … I meant to say “Cameron.”