Salzburg & Munich

We left Croatia feeling happy that we took the few days to check it out.  We would go back to explore farther south than we were able to get; it is a beautiful and fascinating area of the world.

View from the Castle in Salzburg

However, our time was running out, as our flight from Frankfurt to Denver was already booked.  Hustling back to catch it, we stopped for a couple nights in Austria, outside Salzburg.  What a treat! 

Our Airbnb apartment was one of the best; one we will remember fondly for a long time.  It occupied the lower floor of a home at the end of a country lane…the very last  house.  Next door was a huge farm perched on the hills.  Nothing but fields, hills and mountains in sight.  (We could almost imagine Maria singing on top of one of them.) The glory of watching the sun set in that breathtaking panorama amidst quiet stillness will stay with us always.

Platz where we watched the Magic Flute, Castle above

Our hosts were a wonderful, interesting couple retired from being a psychologist and university professor.  We liked them both very much.  Our first evening there they invited us to share wine in the little gazebo they had built on the property.  It felt like being in the glass gazebo out of “The Sound of Music” with the gorgeous surrounding hills.  No rain or falling in love, but a lovely setting.  The four of us seemed to be very compatible and it was an evening of wine and camaraderie.

We toured Salzburg, particularly the castle, which was very interesting and in the evening attended the outdoor cinema showing of one of the operas performed at the Salzburg Festival last year.  (The Festival was on while we were there, but getting tickets was an impossibility, both because it was sold out, and even if it weren’t, way too pricey for us.).  

What a nice experience to sit beneath the castle on the cliffs above and enjoy The Magic Flute on film with a bunch of other people munching an outdoor picnic.  Only had to tell the young girls behind us to stop their nonstop chatter once.  Fortunately they got up and left; not interested; don’t know why they came.

Ilsa, Manfred, Sue & Larry

We left this idyllic odyssey and drove on to Munich, where we were welcomed, as usual by dear Manfred and dear Ilsa.  As always, they treated us like royalty.  

Manfred took us to a typical Bavarian “white wurst” meal at a local farm:  long tables lined up, beer for all; lots of chatter and delicious homemade wurst—must be eaten the day it is made.  So delicious and such a neat experience.  On another day, we all went to a Palitinate Wine Festival--where the wine flowed freely.

We visited the beautiful lake where Ilsa and Manfred spend time.  As he said, why would you go anywhere when you have this kind of beauty in your own backyard.

At a Palitinate Wine Festival in Munich

We had some great German meals at home and in restaurants; saw more of the Bavarian area and got to spend time with Sabina and her two adorable daughters, Anna and Caroline.  As usual, we were so happy to spend the time.

We set out for Frankfurt to turn in the car (praying that they wouldn’t make us pay for the scratches we got in the front by scraping a stone wall in Italy—they didn’t; the beauty of leasing is that their insurance covers such stuff).  A stop in Rothenburg, Germay's best preserved walled town, for lunch brought yet more fascinating sights (see below).  We caught our flight (which we just made due to confusion in the airport and bad signage) and headed home.  Weary but happy as our European sojourn ended.

Sue & Manfred, cousins
 What a wonderful time we had from the send off in New Orleans, to the cruise, to the trip through Spain, our fantastic return to beloved Italy, touring another part of the world we were curious about and sharing parts of it with family and friends.  We are so lucky.  Perhaps we are not saving the world, but we are certainly experiencing it.  Who knows, it may lead to something worthwhile.  Right now it is our way of life and will be so until it isn’t.

Horseless Carriage in Rothenburg

Rothenburg's Rathaus

Typical architecture

Old carved door in Rothenburg