Backpacking Austria (Part 2)

It was good to not have any set plans. We felt very nearly suckered into getting the touristy "Sound of Music Tour" tickets whilst in Salzburg, because it seemed like the done thing. But a personal no-no in backpacking is to do anything too touristy. It ruins the high of stumbling upon something by chance. We resorted to marking out interesting things on our map instead, which was great because it left plenty of space in between to discover little cafe's and bookshops hidden in alleyways, far from the tourist track.

(Below: People playing chess in outside the main cathedral square)

Had coffee near the alstadt, in Cafe Tomaselli, a (get this!!) 300 year old cafe in the heart of Salzburg. The coffee was excellent (I had mine black, due to a newly discovered lactose intolerance) and P had her usual Wiener Melange. We people watched from the balcony and as I sipped on caffeine, I thought about how big the world is and how much I havent yet seen.

Mozart was born in Salzburg, and so was Schubert. We walked to Mozart's birthplace; it was surreal to imagine he once walked the same streets we were standing on. The whole city is infused with music, in that sense. Street peddlars sell keychains with music notes on them, and busker's play classical music. I'm glad I didnt take the tour; it was enough to stand on cobble stone streets with my eyes closed, listening to a piece of music centuries old.

For the next 3 days, I walked over the bridge from the new city into the old, and back again, learning new things, climbing hills with unexpected views, improving my non-existent German, sometimes talking, sometimes just being quiet... but all the while, remaining utterly content.