Happiness is spelled B-E-E-R

We've experienced some serious weather extremes over the past few days. We were in Salzburg, Austria for 2 days. The first day, we visited the largest ice caves in Europe, where the average temperature inside is zero centigrade. The caves are formed due to the trapping of cold air in a 42 km deep cave. Rain and snow falls into the cave and then freezes to form these incredible ice sculptures. Needless to say, we bundled up.

The next day, we encountered warm continental weather: 28 degrees. We visited the fortress of Salzburg, high atop the hill alongside the river. Then, to Mozart's birthhouse and then his later residence. To cap it off, we attended a wonderful Mozart concert in the Golden Hall of the fortress. A string quartet performed a four movement piece. Then, there was a piano concerto, followed by Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. A real throwback to band days in high school. I also had this surreal feeling listening to concert. It couldn't have been more perfect: listening to Mozart in the music capital of the world (well maybe that's Vienna, but this is a close second). Forgot to mention: we bit the bullet and watched The Sound of Music - also filmed in Salzburg. It's on EVERY night in the hostel at which we stayed.

Right now, I'm in Prague where stuff is SOOO cheap. However, we made an extremely important pit stop along the way - to Ceske Budejovice, the home of the ORIGINAL Budweiser Brewery (aka Budvar, aka Czechvar).

I plan to drink a lot of beer over the next few days.... ;-)



Me in front of Mozart's Birth House



Me loving Budvar

Me drinking Budvar