Auf Wiedersehen Salzburg

It was another picture perfect day, with fantastic weather and intensely blue skies. This magical place has captured my heart completely. Today we managed to find the right cathedral at the right time, and enjoyed the noon hour organ concert after the tolling of the bells in the Salzburg Cathedral. All of this for 5 euros. You can't imagine the acoustics in this undescribably beautiful church. It has six majestic organs, two of which were played by Mozart himself.

Do you see that baptismal font? It's from the 14th century, and that is where Mozart was baptised. Also another guy, that fellow who wrote the beautiful Christmas carol, "Silent Night." So much history here, much more than one could ever absorb in just a few hours. Intensely humbling. We had a few hours to fill in before our next stop at the Augensteiner Brewery, so we walked, gawked, and stopped again at the gardens overlooking the Mirabelle palace. Despite the population of this city, the traffic and tourists, it has a palpable feeling of peace. The hours were well spent just sitting reflectively in the rose garden and glancing up at the fortress far above us, where we stood just yesterday. Gratitude doesn't begin to describe my feelings. The brewery was a perfect ending to this part of our adventure, as it too has a centuries-old tradition. When you arrive, you purchase a beer token and are given a stone mug, weighing at least 2 pounds. From there, to a filling station. The stone crock keeps the beer icy cold, despite sitting out in the warm sunshine at picnic tables that can easily seat a thousand people. Inside the brewery is a fragrant warren of food vendors, all featuring the very best of Austrian cuisine. Mackeral with gherkin and dill and sour cream. Barbecued ribs. Sauerkraut. Dumplings of every sort. The portions were generous and delicious, and everything was washed down with a crock of beer in the company of hundreds of other happy souls. Quintessential Austria. And the perfect way to toast this part of our journey. Tomorrow morning, we train to Vienna, and from there, a flight to Barcelona. Next stop, Spain!