The Hills Are Alive!

7/2

Following another lovely breakfast buffet, this time including fresh fruit and hard boiled eggs in addition to the typical bread, meat, and cheese, we were off to walk along the lake side. It was a beautiful walk, but for the surrounding hill sides to remain so verdant, more rain was in store for us. One more trip across the water, back to the train which arrived only minutes after our ferry did, so luckily not too much waiting in the rain. Another beautiful ride through the countryside to Atnang-Pucheim where we transfered trains to Salzburg.

We arrived in Salzburg just a little after 1pm to check into our pension. We dropped off the luggage and headed for the old town, umbrella in hand. It only rained occasionally in Salzburg, allowing us to explore the Dom, Mozart's birth place, the abbey, fountains, and many beautiful churches. We stopped by St. Peter's church and sat in the square to share a beer and pretzel for lunch. We witnessed several weddings today (first Saturday in July must be a popular date.) First we saw several cars honking and racing up and down the main drag, car passengers hanging out their windows to snap as shot of the bride and groom with their cell phones. Another bride and groom casually used a crosswalk headed toward the old town. Finally while we had our snack near St. Peters a couple in traditional Austrian costume, exited the church to be heralded with the jubilation of their guests. We discovered the local confection Mozart balls, which are much better than they sound (hazelnut nougat wrapping a pistaschio center with a chocolate shell). Everywhere there were ads for Sound of Music tours, but they were all four hours long, not ideal if you only have one day to spend in Austria. I was satisfied seeing an Abbey, many nuns and the hills above the city. All day different songs were in my head as background music for the city. When we visited the fountains, I could hear "Doe, Rae, Mi" and imagine Maria marching the Vontrapp children around the city. At they Abbey, I could hear, "How do you solve a problem like Maria." And each time my eyes fell upon the green hills in the distance, "The hills are alive...with the sound of music." We really did quite a bit of sightseeing in our one day. For dinner we ended up in a restaurant with a tavern like feel, "The Wildman's ..." We found very authentic and fresh offerings. The tomato soup was the best I've ever had, spicy rich and piping hot! Greg and I split a dumpling, and a beautifully colorful salad topped with another "lake fish". After dinner we walked the rest of the old town and ended up following the sound of live music across the bridge to find a street fair crawling with locals. The music was all retro American rock and the locals went nuts for it, so maybe Greg's band 90 Proof does have a European tour in their future??? The streets were packed with neighborhood folks drinking apartifs, wine and beer, smoking (which I'm having to accept is a cultural fixture), and dancing and chatting the night away. To move through the crowd, we had to form sort of a human chain, not good for those who get claustrophobic, but an entertaining cultural experience none the less. Back to our room near the station for some well deserved rest!