Salzburg

Last week our family left for an extended holiday break, driving to Salzburg, Austria; Schangau, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; Vienna, Austria and back.

We were sorry to miss All Saints Day in Barcs, but so excited to take advantage of our proximity to places we'd longed to visit for so long; and this turned out to be an outstanding time to drive towards the Alps, where the leaves were turning a brilliant red, and everywhere, against the rich, vibrant green of the foothills and the craggy tips of mountains were extraordinary reds and oranges and yellows. And the sun stayed out all week.

Our children surprised me once again for their stores of happiness in taxing conditions -- such as the backseat of a sedan for hours on end. So the five hour drive to Salzburg, which included one 20 kilometer stretch of one-lane road through forest near Kaposvár, was a lovely one.

We stayed in a comfortable Pension across the street from a Turkish bakery, walking everywhere from our room and back again. We visited Mozart's birthplace and apartments, a castle, the river, and mostly spent our time wandering through cobbled streets, gazing at apartments built into the cliffs and gnawing on pretzels, fantasizing about yet another life.

In Salzburg, as in most of our travels, we were served breakfast at the hotel and ate one other meal in a restaurant, snacking the rest of the day. On our second and last night, we had dinner in the Stiegl brewery, where Stephanie and I delighted in our beer and heavy meat and our kids ate gulash.

While the children were very excited to go to the castle, perhaps their favorite find in Salzburg was its playground, near the Mirabell palace gardens.