St. Peter's Cemetery
Today I took a trip to Salzburg, ready to be charmed by this Austrian city. Unfortunately, my expectations weren't met and I was left rather disappointed. I mean, it wasn't horrible, but I wasn't blown away by the place either. I spent a nice afternoon taking in the main tourist spots in the city. I got to see where Mozart lived and indulged in a super delish ice cream sundae at Cafe Tomaselli, a cafe he frequented during his time. I also walked St. Peter's cemetery, which was seen in one of the last scenes of the Sound of Music. Oh and of course I was amazed by the fact that this was an entire city way up on a mountaintop. Pretty cool stuff, but other than that , it was, for lack of a better word, shmeh.
What I did enjoy, however, was the ride en route to Salzburg. Our tour guide brought us to all the different little villages in the Dachstein Salzkammergut area. And let me tell you...the view was absolutely phenomenal! We stopped at the small towns of Traunkirchen and St. Gilgen and I was simply in awe of the grandness of the Alps and the 20 some lakes that could be found in the region. Now I've mentioned this before...I am not, by any means, a nature or outdoor person but damn...when you're right in the midst of all of it, you just can't help but be captivated. There's a certain calm...a certain serenity that just grabs hold of you. I could've spent all day at Traunkirchen, just sitting by the lakeside doing absolutely nothing. So grateful to have experienced and witnessed that even if each of the stops lasted only a short 15 minutes.
At Traunkirchen
So though I didn't quite fall in love with Salzburg, the journey there made the trip more than worth it. As the Austrian empress Sisi once wrote, "A destination is only desirable because a journey lies in between"...and today could not have been a better lived example. After all, isn't it more often than not that the journey proves even greater, even more fulfilling than the destination itself? Isn't it in the journey where the magic lies?
