Salzburg was such a pretty town that it deserves a little more exposure. As can be seen above, Salzburg is now a blend of old and modern, i.e., modern museum, castle, and transmitting tower competing for space.
Old and new. I asked Christine what she saw in this picture. She said, "I see a church at the end of the street. Behind it is a lift, narrow streets with quaint shops".
What I saw----
Germany, Austria, and Italy had the best ice cream I ever had eaten called gelato. At every opportunity we would have one to two scoops and one last cone as we were waiting to board the plane for the return trip.
A word of caution when ordering at a restrauant. "Ice" means ice cream to Germans. So when I ordered iced tea, I got really strange looks, and some non-understandable comments prompted me to change my order to water. I tried to trick one waiter and just ordered tea. I was brought some hot water with a tea bag. Ugh. Real Texans don't drink hot tea.
Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart.
The unique color of Mozart's birthplace provided a good marker to orient oneself in the town. On the other side of the building was the river and main highway; and the other side marked the location of some good restaruants (and high class stores).
All towns consist of people and Sazburg had some interesting individuals.
We spotted this gentleman walking along the street and Christine stopped him and asked if she could pose with him. He said "Ya" so I snapped the picture. Salzburg was having a festival that day so there were a lot of people in traditional dress. Now for all we know, the gentleman may have been from Canton, Ohio but when he said "Ya", that was authenic enough for us.
Cute little girl and her family in costume.
Actually I was taking a picture of the nice green scrub tree at the end of the street when this lady walked in front of me. (We will see if I get this past my editor).
It was really nice to see the gender, age, and range of cyclists everywhere. Note the long row of parked bikes in the background. There were even more bikes in Italy. Maybe so many folks use bikes for everything is because gasoline runs (the equivalent in U.S. value) about $5.60 per gallon.
Just one of the pictures that prove a point made long ago in one of the beginners pages--note that there are not two saddles alike. And I paid attention to the DIFFERENT saddles I saw throughout the trip. Europeans, as with me, are still searching for the perfect saddle.
What better way to end the review of a perfect day than to show the sparkle in the eyes of my bride of 36 years.
Hello Christine, hello Roy,
ReplyDeleteI like this post, with your personal view and experiences and the wonderful pictures.
So, you again had a cultural shock, this time regarding iced tea. I can really imagine the astonished look of utter incomprehension on your waiter's face. What we experienced - in Germany - was how difficult it is to simply get a glass of plain water when you're dining at a restaurant. That's absolutely unusual and they always want to sell you mineral water. Well, that's the main reason: they want to sell their stuff. Well, mostly we were still able to get the water for my wife, except for one restaurant in Berlin, where the waiter adamantly refused to bring us some. He said his boss would not allow him to in quantities other than a shot glass if we needed it to wash down domw medicine. Talking of quantities: that's something else we noticed. Texas-size quantities of water are unheard and unseen of, unless you stay in one place for a couple of days and they get used to your wishes, and you always have to ask for a refill. And one more thing: you never get the water as cold as in Texas. There might be a cube or two of ice in it, but that's all. It's a glass of water with some ice in it, not - as here - a glass of ice with some water.
As to the frequency of bicycles: if you think there are many around in Germany, you need to go to the Netherlands! That country is really chock-a-block full of them. As to why we Germans ride bicycles so much: well, part of it definitely are the gasoline prices. But tghen there's also a "green" attitude that has come up over many years by now. What also contributes a lot are the much better facilities [bike lanes and bike paths] fpr bicyclists. And not to forget: the distances in Germany are so much shorter that it it really much easier to commute by bicycle. This, the smallness of the country, is one of the historical reasons, I think, that makes Germans on the whole less car-oriented than Americans.
Well, that's about all that comes to my mind now.
Once again, I enjoy reading your blog.
Safe bicycling, and best regards from southern Texas,
Pit
Roy and Christine,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the pictures. Its been quite a few years since I was in Salzburg and your pictures bring back wonderful memories!
Christy
@Gypsie. Hi Christy. Good to hear from you. I hope all is well. The way Tyler is growing, he will be on a bike soon.
ReplyDeleteChristine had her hip replacement surgery early this month--recovering nicely. She tells everyone that biking had her in good shape for a relatively speedy recovery.
Tell Brandon hi. Roy.
@Pit Vins. Isn't it the truth about getting water. Several times I made the mistake of just asking for water. They will bring you that carbonated water they call mineral water.
ReplyDeleteAsking for real water didn't work so finally I got what I wanted by asking for still water.
Years ago Christine was stationed in Berlin. She loved it. The wine selections were so good that she didn't worry about trying to get water or iced drinks. She has so many fond memories about Berlin that I bet one of these days we visit the remnants of the Berlin wall which was in place when she was there in 1974.
I remember the water issues too. They feel the water is so polluted, it's not fit to drink. They all drink the bottled stuff there. I loved Salzburg, but it was difficult to communicate and very expensive. I'm happy to have visited Germany, but it is not on my list for a re-visit. I like going where I can communicate better--France, Italy, Spanish speaking places. Then there are those places that non-verbal communications are good too....like the beach anywhere.
ReplyDeleteRosemary
ps. I also wanted to say, Christine, you look fabulous. How is the hip replacement going????
ReplyDeleteRosemary