Salzburg III

July 5

The Hotel Rosenvilla has a wonderful breakfast of many cheeses; dark breads and crackers; kiwi, oranges, and other fruits; made-to-order omelets; a wide array of juices; and delicious sweets. We had a relaxing breakfast with the whole crew, who wandered according to when they had gone to sleep (the last were the cousins who partied until 4 a.m.)

Then, some of us toured the Salzburg castle, which sits high above the town with a stunning view of the countryside. Lots of interesting artifacts inside, including an example of the medal of the Order of the Iron Crown, 3rd Class, which was awarded to my ancestor Simon Biedermann when he was knighted by Kaiser-Emperor Franz Josef in 1860.

Thirty family members fêted at the Winkler Fish Restaurant at the beautiful Wallersee. There were a lot of people who hadn't seen each other in many years and also those who had never met before. The fish and other dishes were delicious, and lots of us were big fans of the palatschinken (crepes), but I especially enjoyed my dessert of "blueberry pockets."

Our family magician, Thimon von Berlepsch, put on a spectacular show with feats of magic that boggled our imaginations--card tricks far beyond the usual parlor-trick fare; mind-reading mastery; objects appearing and disappearing in creative, unusual ways; time-bending phenomena; and jaw-dropping illusions.

Salzburg II

July 4

A large group of us walked through the old city center of Salzburg, which is very touristy, but charming. There's a shop with thousands of painted (real) eggs, then, of course, the ever-present Mozartkugel chocolates, and lots of other souvenirs.

Uncle Pista arrived from France, and we briefly saw Uncle Ernst as well. This evening we went to a wonderful show, Afrika, Afrika! It's a circus show along the lines of Cirque du Soleil with an African theme. Fantastic acrobats, dancers, and fast-paced music and action. Outstanding! So, I really missed the fireworks this 4th of July, but had pretty action-packed day.

The 16 of us here (more to arrive) are having a great time and enjoying catching up on family stories and getting to know each other. Communication has been fun, as there is no language common to all of us. But since everyone speaks at least 2 languages, talk has been flying in Spanish, English, Portuguese, German, French, and Hungarian. We all have to remember who speaks what language, but that's part of the fun!

BTW, gas is €1.53 /liter = $9.28/gallon.

Salzburg

July 3

After waiting a couple of hours for a new fuel filter for the plane, my flight took off and I was on my way to Munich. Long flight, cramped legs, itchy contacts in my eyes. . . such is life.

The Brazilian Thuronyis and Colombian Londoños met me at the airport where I had a delicious and expensive steak for lunch. The dollar is worthless here!

After loading into two vans, we were on our way to Salzburg. But wait--the air conditioning in one of the Mercedes Benz vans was broken. Quick, let's get another one instead. Oh, no. The next van didn't have working AC either. In fact the Hertz people had to try seven vans until they could find one with AC that worked! That put us about an hour and a half off our schedule and we had to miss going to the Swarovksi crystal palace. No matter.

We're in the beautiful Hotel Rosenvilla in the shadow of the Alps. Had dinner and celebrated Dani's 20th birthday at a nearby restaurant where most of us had a delicious shnitzel.