Yesterday, I did two big things-I took bus #25 to Mount Untersberg, a mountain with a cable car. The views we're gorgeous, and it was peaceful up there. I met a woman who told me to go to Innsbruck, where she was from in Austria,for more mountains, but as much as I love mountains, I have seen plenty between Switzerland and Austria.
Then last night I participated in another tourist trap (and I knew it going in). For 56 Euros, I went to a Mozart Dinner Concert, in one of the oldest dining rooms in Central Europe, complete with high ceilings, classical columns, the whole Baroque look(and no air conditioning or fans when it was 90f out-the only cooling was done by the disposable hand-held fans placed on each table). I was sat at a communal table with two nice guys from Los Angeles who we're starting law school, (I don't know for sure if they we're gay, but they sounded it, and they went to the bathroom together). Also seated at the table was a Cuban-American family of 5 from Miami: Mom, Dad, three grown kids-just a beautiful family. The family was wealthy (as they we're visiting Austria, and they mentioned they we're neighbors with Pitbull) , and just beautiful. Dad was somewhat heavy set, but mom was gorgeous, the two boys we're handsome, and the daughter (the youngest at 19) was just stunning. As you can imagine, being that we we're practically neighbors we had a nice conversation.
The food was typical low-grade banquet food, a soup with a dumpling that looked like a matzo ball, ok rubber chicken with carrots that we're pretty good, and a cake with cinnamon (or some similar spice) on the side that appeared to be Mozart's silhouette. And no drinks we're included-not even tap water. I bought a bottle of sparkling water-and when I was done with it I went to the bathroom to refill it. When I was done with the refill, unbeknownst to me, they removed the bottle.
The saving grace was the entertainment. The artists we're in costumes from the 1700's, and performed Mozart's works beautifully. Male and female singers helped re-create the opera environment. The entire elegant dining hall (or tourists dressed in short sleeve shirts, with maybe a handful dressed more elegantly), was spellbound.
