T, 7 June 2005 (Salzburg, Austria) It's very cold here, and it sounds like it's been unseasonably like this all week. But the area is gorgeous! I'm reminded so much of Gatlinburg, TN. The mountains are breathtaking and so tall! They're everywhere. The river is wide and very fast flowing. It's a perfect small city and the old town, though maze-like and a bit confusing without our well bought €0.70 map, is just what I expected of Europe. The hostel has no self-service kitchen, though a hearty breakfast is included and I can do laundry here. Plus, The Sound of Music is shown at 8 PM for free.

Matt and I followed a self-guided tour of the cathedral (under construction), and a small and pretty graveyard, and the catacombs, an area for hermit monks dug into the mountainside. Amazing! The two following pictures are of us at the catacombs. The one on the left is me at the altar in the chapel and the one on right is me and Matt at an overlook of the Dom and part of the city.

Then we went to Mozart's birthplace and house, both of which were very good and informative. The house, across the river from the old town, was better because of the music they had with all the parts of the audio tour and the emphasis they put on Leopold, Wolfgang's father. I'm also disappointed to learn that none of Mozart's sister's compositions survived. It appears she was also quite a talented pianist and musician.

For dinner that night Matt and I ate at an authentic Austrian restuarant where they put us at a table with other patrons because of how full they were. I had brautwurst, saurkraut, and potatos...all excellent!

W, 8 June 2005 (Salzburg, Austria)
So Matt and I got an expensive (but fresh) lunch in the market and hiked up to the Salzburg castle. But at €8.40 to get in, we decided it wasn't worth it. And what a blessing that was. We hiked the ridge of the mountain it's on and came upon areas with better views, more old buildings, and a lot less tourists!

	No, I really can't explain the picture on the right. We found it by some closed up food shack and I just couldn't resist the urge for an unusual photo op. On the left is another (slightly saner) photo op that I stumbled across. The steps led up from the road we were on and I thought a shot of me knocking at the door would be nice...who knows what I can use it for in the future? ;)

The views are like nothing I've seen. On some edges, the Smokey's come close, except for the valleys. On others it reminds me of the Rockies near Salt Lake City, but not quite. Some of them dip up into the clouds, some are gradual, some sudden drops. The camera just can't capture what it's really like. The whole way is just small, winding, (mostly) quiet paved pathways. There are so many old towers and walls and gates and fortresses here, and through you can't get in all the way, you can still tromp all aorund them. What a perfect, casual (and not quite as cold as I expected, but still chilly) day.

We soon stopped for lunch on a concrete ledge overlooking the winding road we'd alternatively been following and not. Eventually we came to the end of the mountain and found the path donw. We crossed the river and went to the Mirabell Garden. It's a lovely, well sculpted garden, with a lot of very full rose bushes and various trees and shrubs put into different patterns and shapes. Hidden within are a fountain, a stage, and several statues.

We then followed the Steingasse, which is the oldes road that side of the river. Either it's passed its glory days or it's a real night spot only, because it was dead. So after that we were both ready to pretty much call it an early day, so I stopped to pick up dinner (so I wouldn't have to go out again) and Matt went to a cafe.

On our walk today we passed a store selling clothing from a line called De Puta Madre. Seems prety wild, and I think the clothing somehow fit. Also of interesting note, Matt introduced me to an Australian phrase: stone fruit. It's any fruit with a hard seed inside such as a cherry, peach, apricot, etc.

These last two nights there have been three others in our room besides me and Matt. We had David (actually only there the first night), a member of the choir (and music major) at the University of North Dakota. Then there was Jamie, ...New Zealander, who threw a flip flop at me our first night because I was snoring. He was fun to talk to, and full of all sorts of random world trivia (and seemed to take great delight in being able to verbally or intellectually out do Americans). The last guy literally never spoke a single word in our presence. He was older and the only thing to say about this enigma is that he had his own brightly colored sheets and didn't seem to use the ones provided by the hostel.

On to Italy!