Travel News

'Sound of Music' daughter returns to Austria

AP - Fri Jul 25, 6:07 PM ET

VIENNA, Austria - Seventy years after fleeing the Nazis, a woman whose family was immortalized in "The Sound of Music" has returned to Austria to visit her former home.

AP Travel News

  • Maria von Trapp, her brother Johannes and their sister-in-law Erika von Trapp, from left, pose in front of the Villa Trapp on Friday, July 25, 2008 in Salzburg, Austria. Maria is in the house for the first time since her family fled the Nazi regime to the United States in late 1938. The original von Trapp family home was reopened as a hotel on Friday to give guests the chance to lay their head to rest where the von Trapp family once lived, get married in the house's chapel or have a Sound of Music dinner in the family dining room. (AP Photo/ Kerstin Joensson)
    'Sound of Music' daughter returns to Austria AP - Fri Jul 25, 6:07 PM ET

    VIENNA, Austria - Seventy years after fleeing the Nazis, a woman whose family was immortalized in "The Sound of Music" has returned to Austria to visit her former home.

  • The Pennington family from Colorado Springs, Colorado, view a stuffed animal exhibit at Cabela's, a sporting and hunting outfitting store outside Omaha, Neb., Thursday, July 24, 2008. Consumer spending is down and gas prices are up. That's bad math for the scores of destination retailers across the country that want customers to fill up the tank for a gas-guzzling day of retail therapy. From left: Johnny Pennington, 17, Alex Pennington, 7, James Pennington, Mary Pennington and Jayla Pennington, 22 months-old. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
    Destination retailers feel gas price pinch AP - Fri Jul 25, 6:05 PM ET

    CHICAGO - Consumer spending is down and gas prices are up. That's bad math for the scores of destination retailers across the country that want customers to fill up the tank for a gas-guzzling day of retail therapy.

  • S&P downgrades debt of American, United, Northwest AP - Fri Jul 25, 6:03 PM ET

    MINNEAPOLIS - Standard & Poors downgraded the debt of some of the nation's largest carriers on Friday, saying high fuel prices are likely to cause heavy losses this year at American, United and Northwest airlines.

AP Travel Features

  • Hojin Kimmel is seen during breakfast at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2008. Dozens of religious retreats are nestled in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley of upstate New York, many open to visitors seeking quiet getaways and personal enlightenment. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
    Religious retreats: Head to the Catskills AP - Thu Jul 24, 4:29 PM ET

    NEW LEBANON, N.Y. - At the former Shaker village, where the Taconic Mountains roll into the Berkshires and New York touches Massachusetts, Yaqin Aubert read aloud Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Zoroastrian, Judaic, Christian and Islamic texts during the Sunday service at the Sufi religious retreat.

  • Designers Ryan Brouwer and Randy Pease pose in front of the building they designed for Integrated Architecture in Michigan at Grand Haven State Park on Monday, June 23, 2008. The new 'green' environmentally friendly toilet-shower building  is the first of its kind in the state park system. (AP Photo/Adam Bird)
    Campground restrooms becoming ecologically correct AP - Thu Jul 24, 3:57 PM ET

    GRAND HAVEN, Mich. - When nature calls, campers at Michigan's Grand Haven State Park can now go "green" at a new, environmentally friendly toilet-shower building that is the first of its kind in the state park system.

  • Traditional drummers and dancers perform during the annual Kandy festival in Kandy, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007. A centuries-old celebration of Sri Lankan Buddhism, the annual festival is a parade of whirling dancers, elaborately costumed elephants, stilt walkers and fire throwers. (AP Photo/Chamila Karunaratna)
    Buddhist festival: Sri Lankan answer to Mardi Gras AP - Tue Jul 22, 2:15 PM ET

    KANDY, Sri Lanka - A cannon booms and the crack of a dozen whips pierce the warm night. The colorful, pulsating Esala Perahera procession has begun.

AP Travel Columns

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