Some American TV Show / Irgendeine amerikanische Sendung

There are times where you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Today, for Peter, it was simply being an American riding his bike home from the post office. He wasn't supposed to be out on his bike. He was supposed to be home waiting for a student to drop by. But he was out on his bike, just having turned into our apartment complex/neighborhood, when he saw a white Mercedes pull off the main road and slowly turn into our neck of the woods. The car caught his eye, or rather, the TV camera man in the passenger seat caught his eye, first. And then when the driver asked an Austrian walking along for directions in American English, Peter had to get involved. Afterall, why would an American be venturing into our going-nowhere-fast neighborhood?

"How do we get to Schloss Hellbrun?" the man asked. He was holding a rounded sign with the words wrapping around the top. As Peter started to explain, the cameraman jumped out, capturing every word on film. The driver, a man, and a woman in the back seat, were in a great hurry to get going, the woman swearing when the cameraman fished out papers and presented them to Peter. The cameraman slammed the door and hissed at her, "I told you if you spoke to anyone, we would have to do this."

As Peter filled out what appeared to be a release form, he asked the cameraman what they were up to. "Oh, it's for some American TV show," the cameraman said vaguely.

"What channel?" Peter asked, fishing for more.

"Dunno," the cameraman said. "But it's a really popular show." With that, he got back in the car, and they raced off, back to Alpenstraße and, if Peter's directions were any good, to Hellbrunn.

Before too long, we jumped into our car to see what was happening at Hellbrunn, where things were definitely amiss. First clue: the parking barrier where you have to pick up a ticket was open, the green light lit. Free parking at Hellbrunn? Never. And then in the parking lot, two over there and two over here, were four white Mercedes with the same English/German advertising on them. All the cars had little numbers taped in the back window, the #11 being the highest that we saw.

From the parking lot at Hellbrun, there are two gates. One enters into the park with the playground beyond. The other is more majestic and is marked, on both sides with signs that read "Schloss Hellbrun." It was obvious where a race pitstop might be hidden, and so we headed towards the gate with the signs. A man in dark clothes stepped out of the shadows. "The castle is closed," he said. "There's filming going on." We were definitely in the right place.

We headed back to the parking lot, knowing there were other park entrances to the Schloss, when another white Mercedes pulled into the parking lot. A cameraman and man with microphone leapt out of the car, while a scantily topped woman and a man climbed out and started jogging toward the park entrance. The camera crew trailed them, and we trailed the camera crew. At least a little way in. They disappeared into one of those park-side entry gates that was suddenly blocked by another man in dark clothes.

Peter headed back to the parking lot to see if there was more to see while Nikolas and I trekked through the park to a third gate which gives you direct access into the Schloss courtyard. Another man in dark clothes stopped us before we got too close to the gate, which was closed but had a perfect view through its metal rungs to the pitstop matt where the cameras were rolling on the man and woman, a man dressed as Mozart, and some famous TV show host.

As we rejoined with Peter, another team, this time a pair of young women, was coming through the park. They were heading completely the wrong way, convinced that lights on statues in the pond area must be their destination. Peter and Nikolas hid behind a tree, but I kept on walking toward them their cameraman trailing them, so filming my face as I walk toward them. One of them dropped their water bottle almost as I was upon them, so they paused and then continued on their quest.

The famous Wasserspiele (trick fountain tours) at Hellbrunn finished for the season yesterday. Today's filming was definitely done at the end of the day, the day after tourist crowds roam the grounds, for a reason. Little did they know that there would be an American entering Wohnunganlage Eruntrudis (our neighborhood) at the same time as a couple competitors needing directions. If you happen to catch the Salzburg episode of 'some American TV show' where people race around the world, keep an eye out for Peter, the bicycle rider with excellent English, and me, the dork who is trying not to laugh as I walk right through the 'search for the finish' scene!