These are a few of my favourite things.. in Salzburg

Though most people from Salzburg haven't even seen the movie, and those who, have didn't like it, it actually does seem that Salzburg's hills are alive with the Sound of Music (or at least for us, tourists). The old town is comprised of a puzzle of squares. Each square leads into another, and sometimes there are secret passages skipping squares entirely! There doesn't seem to be a straight street in sight. Huge sights could be entirely contained in one square and the next square over, you would have no idea. The Saturday morning market, for examples, was lively and bustling away a few minutes from where we were, but until we rounded the corner, we hadn't a clue.

The squares differed significantly, from the huge Baraque Cathedral to Italian esque fountains, small hidden cemetaries and a parking lot concealed in the mountains. You really didn't know what was coming next (well except for teh fact that the guide book told us). We saw where Mr. Von Trapp (the real one) waited outside the theatre before he sang with the family and the fountain with the pegasus that the Von Trapp family danced around in the movie, Mozart's place of birth and an endless supply of Mozart Balls (yes, I tried them. they are chocolate!) We saw the Mirabell gardens in full bloom, a hide out for the stone dwarfs.

On our second day in Austria, we were drawn back to Germany. Hiking from Bertesgarten to Konigssee (just across the German border). We were again met with breath-taking views of the mountains. This hike led us over the quintessential 'babbling brooks', past a hefty number of Biergartens, and finally to Konigssee and its lake. Idyllic is really the only word taht describes this still lake surrounded by tree covered mountains. The Romantic couples (clearly not us) rented row boats to get a more up-close-and-personal tour of the lake.

We hiked around it for a more gross-and-sweaty type of experience. In total, we hiked 12 kms. That (to me) sounds like a lot more than it really was. Although, maybe the scenery distracted me from the passing time.

Every time (well, both times) I was in Germany, I can't help but think: man, I should have taken Aunt Karin's advice a long time ago, married a German and lived in a cute little German house with flower boxes bursting with flowers in one of the many incredile landscapes Germany has to offer. I'm kidding, mom, don't worry.

On a completely different note, being in Europe makes me realize how limited we are as unilinguals. Everyone can communicate with us because they all know english. I can say 'Danke' in German (and due to the looks I sometimes receive, I have a feeling that I am still pronouncing it wrong). It would be nice to know even a basic level of German because, let me tell you, in Germany, the signs are in German ONLY and (as we learning the hard way) Kein Trinkwasser, does NOT translate into 'CLEAN DRINKING WATER'. Believe you me.

Anyway, we have been bombarded with Maria and the Von trapps and also Mozart, but with all that they have given the world, we feel our parting sentiments are best conveyed by quoting yet another famous Austrian: 'I'll be back!'